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Food Waste: A Trend we Hope Becomes a Way of Life
Food waste is on everyone’s radar; in the United States, food waste is estimated at between 30- 40% of the food supply. You may ask yourself a few questions like, “how can I help the environment and help feed the hungry?”
We hope this “food trend” becomes a way of life.
What started out as a small idea has turned into what we can only describe as a juggernaut, and we have you to thank. Our UBU, Unusual But Usable™, program hit the ground at full speed, selling MILLIONS of pounds of produce seconds in 2016. Produce is graded by certain benchmarks for size, weight, appearance, and ripeness, and when it doesn’t meet that criteria, it falls into a #2 category, or may not even be used at all.
Think of this poor yellow pepper, it goes its whole life hoping it will get picked and used in your fajitas, but just because its nose is a little curly and looks like a tea kettle, it gets culled. Nevertheless, you can help this pepper and his other lumpy and scarred friends fulfill their destiny.
Our Unusual But Usable program hit the ground at full speed this year, selling MILLIONS of pounds of produce seconds.
Sometimes, yes, you want that perfect produce—for example, a fruit bowl or a display. However, realizing our customers didn’t always need perfect, blemish-free produce for their chopped, sliced, and diced needs was a perfect fit for UBU produce, and it is also less expensive. It’s a win-win.
Did you know: UBU went to Washington…
At the House Ag Committee hearing on food waste on May 25, 2016, John Oxford, CEO of L&M Companies and chairman-elect of the Produce Marketing Association, referenced UBU in his testimony of food waste in America.
Think of the pepper, take a look at your menu and ask yourself, “where can I use a UBU curly-nosed pepper* today?”
*He was sold, but we have more UBU items ready to ship! Contact your rep today and find out what friends of his we have in stock.
Potato and pepper images courtesy of FreshPoint Central California.
Some tools you can use:
Visit freshpoint.com for our seasonal availability guides—and while you are there, check out the FreshPress, our latest market report. Place your orders online with ease at myfreshpoint.com. Did you know you can receive real-time reliable delivery alerts on the day of your delivery? Activate and subscribe at FreshPoint.com/mydelivery
Download our app and take your produce management on the go. Place orders, review flyers, watch videos…all in one spot!
Find out more details about our UBU program, and how we are shining a spotlight on food waste while making value and food safety a priority.
We buy local to strengthen regional economies, support family farms, preserve the local landscape, and to provide fresh-from-the-farm food to our customers. Local.freshpoint.com connects you to your local farmers like never before! Customize your search by zip, city, state, radius…even by crops and growing methods. Pop in your zip code and learn about our local farmers.
Socialize with us!
Did you know we are on YouTube? Head over to our page and check out our 75+ videos. Don’t forget to subscribe, and also be a part of our Bell Team—hit the little bell icon to get notifications when we upload new videos.
Follow FreshPoint, Inc. on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn…and follow The Produce Hunter on Instagram as she finds the best specialty produce at the Santa Monica Farmers Market.