Everyday there are people in the valley who go in search of food. And everyday thousands rely heavily on the Community Food Bank for their next meal.
"It's very special because when you don't have it, you know and you have to sit there and look at your kids and explain it to them, it's real hard."
The Community Food Bank serves 190,000 people a month. With so much hunger, the thought of wasted food is hard to swallow. But consider this: last year the National Resources Defense Council released a report stating 40% of food produced in the U.S. is wasted. That's equal to 20 pounds of food per person every month. The state agriculture board convened Tuesday to come up with ways to quell the waste.
One way to cut down on waste is by farmers donating more produce like this, maybe not store perfect, but certainly edible.
"It can be a certain color defect anything that doesn't meet a certain size specification. Any of that is perfectly edible and we're able to distribute."
Rick Palermo, the Director of Operations at the Food Bank here in Fresno, says some local packing companies already know to donate blemished produce such as these mandarins from Fowler packing in Fresno. But there are companies not aware of what kind of products can be donated.
"Once were able to tell that story to folks they get excited about donating to the food bank."
The State Ag Board's goal is to double the amount of food donated to food bank programs by 2015. Food bank coordinators say that's food that will not go to waste.
State lawmakers have given growers an incentive to donate in the form of Assembly Bill 152. It offers tax breaks for farmers who donate fresh produce.
TXT 24
Twitter
Facebook