Food waste. Every year, millions of Tons of vegetables and fruits go unharvested or unsold, often fo
Food waste. Every year, millions of Tons of vegetables and fruits go unharvested or unsold, often for aesthetic reasons. Speaking from experience, the amount of fresh produce we cannot sell, that is not paid to us and that is thrown into the garbage by our vendors simply because they are not the standard measurement or the normally accepted shape, is outrageous… deformed carrots, potatoes, cabbage, scarred turnips, etc., mostly caused by certain pests. Perfectly fine, flavorful, edible vegetables. Take the turnips in our picture, we invested our money buying the seeds, tending, fertilizing, watering them, we invested our time and energy sowing and harvesting them, we paid salaries to our small team who helps with the harvest. And in the end hundreds of Kg of turnips are thrown away and not paid by our vendors because they have these scars. These are caused mostly in the Spring and Summer, by the cabbage root fly (Delia radicum), one of the major pests of Brassica crops. These flies lay their eggs at the base of the turnips, the eggs then hatch maggots which make their way down and start feeding off the turnips’ roots, but as you can see in our 2nd and 3rd picture, the damage they do is solely on the surface. Other than their ugly exterior there is literally nothing wrong with such vegetables, they were grown organically, they taste amazing, but because they look ugly and because they do not fit into the standard shape asked by the vendors and customers, they are thrown away. If people knew how many families the amount of these vegetables could feed, they’d probably think twice. But what is even more shocking to us, is that when we decide to give away these vegetables for free -because we cannot sell them, and we simply do not tolerate food waste- the only thing we ask in return is that people come harvest those veggies themselves, and do you know how many come pick them up themselves? Very, very few. Because to them, it is hard to spend 15 minutes or half an hour on your knees or with an arched back picking vegetables from the soil, and it’s easier to go to the grocery store to buy much prettier, non-organic vegetables, in plastic packages. People are unwilling to do the work themselves, they are lazy and stuck in their comfort zone, even when they could get their food for free!! So what do we do with such vegetables? Besides feeding ourselves, our families and donating to local families/nursing homes, we give them to our animals. Sure it is hard not to get as much profit from the money and time we invested in our crops, but at least, no food is wasted, our animals love these treats, and we save a LOT of money on feed. If you are serious about making a living off the land one day, you gotta start thinking outside the box, to find ways to make and save money! Moral of the story: If you have the chance, buy your food directly from farmers. We promise you it is much cheaper, and sometimes you can even get it for free, in exchange of some work, or not. #bloodandsoil #farming #agrarian #growyourownfood #tradition #foodwaste #ecology -- source link
#farm life#farming#turnips#tradition