Waste not, want not.
It’s an adage favored by a generation that often knew what it was to want — and perhaps need — what it could not have.
A new Pennsylvania company is making it easy for people who want — and perhaps need — fresh fruits and vegetables to purchase that food at prices far below the market rate.
Misfits Market of Philadelphia has built a network that directly links potential consumers with produce, much of which would end up in the waste stream.
It’s an idea that reduces food waste, a problem of vast proportion in the U.S., while also providing nutritious, fresh food (often unavailable from food banks and food cupboards) to families that may otherwise be unable to afford it. And the food is delivered directly to the customer’s doorstep and orders can be placed online.
The company has been operating since August and its reach has been expanding since. Pittsburgh area customers began receiving shipments of “misfit” produce — small, overabundant or misshaped fruits and veggies — since mid-September.
Founder and CEO Abhi Ramesh was struck by inspiration while apple picking, he told Post-Gazette food writer Rebecca Sodergren. He watched farm workers deposit into large bins apples that already had fallen from the tree. He learned that some may be salvaged for cider pressing; others would become feed for pigs; but many of the apples, perfect except for small bruises from having hit the ground, would be discarded.
Further investigation from Mr. Ramesh, who has a background in finance, revealed that trucking companies were dropping excess produce at compost facilities rather than at markets. A business was born. Now, “misfit” produce is being sold to consumers at deeply discounted prices — sometimes half the going rate at a grocery store. Deliveries are being made to all of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Delaware in numbers ranging from 2,000 to 4,000 boxes each week and there are plans to expand the shipping network. He is dealing with distributors from across the country.
Each box of produce (the boxes come in two sizes) contains at least 10 pounds or 18 pounds of fruits and vegetables at a price of $19 or $34, respectively. A sample small box contained bok choy, apples, avocados, carrots, butternut squash, zucchini, potatoes, sweet potatoes, beets, onions and cabbage.
This is an idea with appeal to all people who care about their pocketbooks or environmental stewardship.
Statistics from the U.S. Agriculture Department have pegged food waste at between 30 and 40 percent of the entire food supply, translating to some 60 million tons worth about $160 billion annually. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said discarded food is the single biggest deposit in American landfills. Globally, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, a third of all food that is grown is wasted. That’s a loss of an estimated $3 trillion annually.
This is a travesty of lavish proportion, especially when considered in light of statistics on food insecurity.
Stakeholders in the effort to feed the hungry report that, in 2017, 1 in 8 Americans were “food insecure.” That’s 40 million people in the U.S., including some 12 million children. The agriculture department defines food insecurity as a lack of consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life. And, in the first analysis of global food insecurity, UNICEF reported in 2017 that within 147 countries that were observed worldwide, 41 percent of children under the age of 15 resided with someone who was moderately or severely food insecure: that’s more than 600 million children.
Put simply, food that should be in the hands and bellies of hungry people is filling up our garbage cans and our landfills. We are accepting the unacceptable. Change is required.
Mr. Ramesh’s enterprise is ripe for both praise and emulation.
First Published: January 16, 2019, 12:00 p.m.
