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From VOA Learning English, |
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this is the Agriculture Report. |
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On World Environment Day in June, |
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the United Nations reported at least |
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one third of all food produced is wasted. |
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The report came at a time |
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when many people are concerned about |
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how to feed a growing world population. |
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In the United States, |
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Farmers who are struggling to earn money |
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find the situation difficult to deal with. |
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The United States Department of Agriculture |
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found that more than half |
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of the small farms in California |
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do not make a profit. |
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One California farm family |
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is using social media |
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in an effort to change the situation |
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and reduce wasted food. |
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Nick Papadopoulos is general manager |
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of Bloomfield Farms in Sonoma County. |
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It was difficult for him to watch his employees |
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returning from several weekend farmer's markets |
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with top quality unsold produce. |
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Mr Papadopoulos said |
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he would find boxes of leafy greens, |
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herbs and carrots left in a storage yard. |
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The vegetables would go bad |
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before the next market day. |
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As a result, |
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Mr Papadopoulos came up with a plan |
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to offer the food at a low price |
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by advertising it on the farm's Facebook status page |
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on Sunday nights. |
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The deals were open to anyone |
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using the social media website. |
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One week, several homeowners |
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in a neighboring community bought the vegetables. |
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Another week, the buyers were a group of friends. |
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Nick Papadopoulos began using social media |
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after he went to work on a farm |
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belonging to his wife's father. |
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One night, he began thinking about the issue |
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of wasted food, when he could not find a place |
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to donate 32 cases of organic broccoli. |
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He ended up giving some of the food to chickens |
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and using the rest to make fertilizer. |
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"I don't believe we should let it go to waste, |
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I believe we should share it, donate it, |
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whatever it takes. And if possible, |
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as farmers, we would like to |
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recover a small portion of our costs." |
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After his success using Facebook, |
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Mr Papadopoulos helped to set up a website |
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called cropmobster.com, |
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it is a place where people involved with food production, |
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feeding the hungry. |
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And those who want to buy locally grow food |
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can find surplus produce. |
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Since March, the website has prevented |
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more than 20,000 kilograms of food from going to waste. |
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Have you ever use the Internet to buy or sell crops? |
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If so, tell us about your experience. |
