Farmers and Ranchers Have 'No Taste for Waste '

We are blessed to live in a nation with a bountiful food supply. Thanks to the hard work of America’s farmers and ranchers, most of us enjoy access to affordable, nutritious food. But it’s also become too easy for us to take this abundance for granted and become wasteful, even though that’s not our intention. Whether it’s the bag of apples forgotten on the kitchen counter or the peaches not “pretty enough” for the store shelves, food waste may only seem like a few scraps here or there, but altogether it’s really adding up. Every year billions of pounds of food are left uneaten in our country. Farmers and consumers alike can do our part to reduce waste, however. We must all be careful stewards of the bounty we’ve been blessed with.

With that goal in mind, the American Farm Bureau Federation joined the “No Taste for Waste” campaign this spring. We’re proud of the collaboration behind the campaign and our shared goal to take a bite out of food waste. AFBF joined with partners, including Land O’Lakes SUSTAIN, Valent BioSciences Corporation and FLM Harvest, and collaborated with the CropLife Foundation and Meredith Agrimedia to launch the campaign. We’re excited about the online and print resources that not only give consumers practical tips to cut down on waste but also shine the spotlight on what farmers and ranchers are doing.

The “No Taste for Waste” campaign introduces consumers to innovative techniques for not only reducing waste, but finding new uses for it on the farm, like digesters on dairy farms.

America’s farmers and ranchers have made great strides in reducing our environmental impact and are always looking for new, innovative ways to grow our food, fuel and fiber in the most efficient way possible. The “No Taste for Waste” bookazine—on newsstands now—is full of stories about how farmers and ranchers across regions and commodities are using technology to conserve resources, donating crops to local food banks and adjusting what they’re planting to match demand. The range of stories shows that there is not a one-size-fits-all solution to this problem, but that we can each do our part. Most importantly, we know that working together can make a big difference.

The “No Taste for Waste” campaign introduces consumers to innovative techniques for not only reducing waste, but finding new uses for it on the farm, like digesters on dairy farms. The Reinford family of central Pennsylvania, for example, feed their digester with thousands of gallons of manure and food waste from local grocery stores. The digester converts the waste into clean power for the Reinfords’ farm and about 100 nearby homes.

For fresh fruit and produce farmers like the Claytons of Washington and the Boelts of Arizona, donating to schools and area food banks is the best way to reduce waste and get their crops straight to people who need them while the fruit and leafy greens are still fresh. Of course, each of these stories represents thousands more, and this campaign gives us a great opportunity to share with consumers what farmers all over the country are doing each day to be more efficient, reduce waste, and produce a sustainable food supply.

Our nation’s agricultural bounty is a great blessing, and it’s also a great responsibility. I’m proud to be working alongside America’s hardworking farmers and ranchers who take that responsibility seriously.