Case Study: Minimizing Food Wastage From Farm to Consumer Products – A Systems Approach

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The Last Food Mile Conference
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Agriculture
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Masser, David
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Sterman Masser, Inc. is committed to minimizing food loss throughout the process of growing, harvesting, and packaging a consumer ready product through the use of cutting edge technology industry leading techniques. Combining Integrated Pest Management with crop rotations and more resistant potato varieties, SMI has minimized the potential for crop destroying fungi and insects to propagate. In response to hazards from rocks in the soil and the stresses from harvesting we have acquired rock crushers capable of pulverizing everything down to a powder and new harvesters designed to reduce the stresses of harvesting. Potatoes, coming from the fields, enter our state-of-the-art cold storage facility that combines ideal climate conditions with treatment by gassing and sprout inhibitors to combat food loss due to decay and significantly extend the useable life of the potatoes. Potatoes entering SMI’s packing facility are processed with low impact techniques and equipment, on a First In, First Out policy designed to get product from the field to the consumer in the shortest possible time. In the past, product not suited for table stock quality was simply removed and discarded. Today, thanks to the construction of the Keystone Potato Products facility, we can salvage what was previously considered waste product. In the event of a natural disaster, KPP has the capacity to process every single potato, no matter what defect, to provide nourishment to those in need. Potatoes with small to moderate defects can be processed into fresh cut consumer products through automated equipment capable of identifying and removing those parts unfit for human consumption. Potatoes unfit for the fresh cut process, as well as the waste generated by that process, can be further refined into dehydrated products ensuring every single potato can be made useable for human consumption. Even the peel waste can be salvaged for use as feed for livestock.

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2014-12-08
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