Mobile Technology Fights Food Waste

Two entrepreneurs from California have found a way to help unsold produce avoid landfills.  Stuart Rudick and Anthony Zolezzi started, Food Star Partners, a company that aids supermarkets in getting rid of unsold produce by alerting consumers of last minute sales. A recent report published by the Natural Resources Defense Council estimated that 40 percent of food goes uneaten in the U.S.  This means that a large amount of our natural resources are going to waste.  Another consequence of food waste is pollution.  A large amount of uneaten food goes to landfills to rot.  These landfills account for almost 25% of methane emissions.  Chemicals used on produce is another example of pollution related to food waste.

With the environmental impact of food waste in mind, as well as the acknowledgement that many people in the U.S. could benefit from access to cheaper food, Rudick and Zolezzi set out to find a way to get food that would otherwise go unused to consumers.  The duo decided that the best way to attack the problem would be to address the waste of produce at supermarkets.  Many supermarkets design their budgets to allow for large amounts of shrink.  The Department of Agriculture estimates that supermarkets lose $15 billion annually from unsold fruits and vegetables.  Food Star Partners has found one chain of supermarkets in Northern California, Andronico's, to use its mobile service.  Andronico sold 2 tons of apples that would have otherwise gone unsold in the first few weeks of using Food Star Partner's mobile app.  Food Star Partners plans to expand to work with farmers to collect produce that would otherwise be thrown away.

Technology Takes on Food Waste