The Grade Gap: Part 1

We in the U.S. produce industry have struggled to provide our customers with the best looking fruits and vegetables in the world. Plant breeders work full time to develop the most desirable traits in every generation of seed stock. Growers monitor growing conditions and adjust crop treatments to fulfill the demand for picture-perfect produce. Two things come to mind from the consumption end of the supply chain.

Part One:
A good portion of what is grown is not harvested or is graded out to the cull chute. There are hungry Americans who would gratefully accept this product as nutrition for their families. Marketing orders and minimum price mandates effectively eliminate that product from human consumption. Shame on us for allowing that to happen!  As a group, our industry could feed millions with little extra expense. The production cost of the culls are already factored into the sell price of the #1 fruit. If we utilized our extensive infrastructure to support a local food bank with several thousands of pounds per week of shipper culls, we would make a huge difference.

Stay tuned for part two.