40 percent of our harvest is wasted annually
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It's harvest time where the combines are rolling and the months of hard work of our farmer friends come into fruition. It's the time of year where we see and celebrate the magnificent yield of our bountiful fields.
And yet, 40% of that harvest will likely end up wasted at some point, either on its way to your refrigerator or after you've bought it. Some of it will even be left in the fields due to "unmarketability."
Food banks have long been at the forefront of diverting the bounty we produce into the homes of families with low-incomes for years.
Over the last year, our member food banks have diverted 19 million pounds of perfectly edible, fresh, nutritious food into the homes of our state's residents visiting our food pantries. This is good but we can still do more. We are working with many agricultural partners to ensure that all of the amazing products they produce find homes with families that may not have the resources to access them.
One such program is Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin's Field to Food Bank program, which works with farmers and processors to extend the harvest season by canning donated green beans, carrots and other crops. We are working on a couple of initiatives to scale this work throughout the state.
We also have another exciting partnership in the works with Wisconsin Innovation Kitchen to help us preserve donated fresh fruits and vegetables, which would increase the amount of fresh food available for our members to distribute.
Learn more about our agricultural programs by clicking here.