[00:00.100]From VOA Learning English,
[00:02.750]this is the Agriculture Report.
[00:05.390]On World Environment Day in June,
[00:09.280]the United Nations reported at least
[00:12.380]one third of all food produced is wasted.
[00:17.110]The report came at a time
[00:19.210]when many people are concerned about
[00:21.460]how to feed a growing world population.
[00:24.690]In the United States,
[00:27.230]Farmers who are struggling to earn money
[00:30.260]find the situation difficult to deal with.
[00:33.920]The United States Department of Agriculture
[00:37.670]found that more than half
[00:39.700]of the small farms in California
[00:42.250]do not make a profit.
[00:44.400]One California farm family
[00:47.730]is using social media
[00:50.030]in an effort to change the situation
[00:52.780]and reduce wasted food.
[00:55.590]Nick Papadopoulos is general manager
[01:02.750]of Bloomfield Farms in Sonoma County.
[01:06.640]It was difficult for him to watch his employees
[01:11.180]returning from several weekend farmer's markets
[01:14.960]with top quality unsold produce.
[01:17.510]Mr Papadopoulos said
[01:20.190]he would find boxes of leafy greens,
[01:24.490]herbs and carrots left in a storage yard.
[01:25.200]The vegetables would go bad
[01:27.340]before the next market day.
[01:29.590]As a result,
[01:31.520]Mr Papadopoulos came up with a plan
[01:34.870]to offer the food at a low price
[01:37.610]by advertising it on the farm's Facebook status page
[01:43.040]on Sunday nights.
[01:44.750]The deals were open to anyone
[01:48.040]using the social media website.
[01:51.380]One week, several  homeowners
[01:54.430]in a neighboring community bought the vegetables.
[01:57.680]Another week, the buyers were a group of friends.
[02:02.260]Nick Papadopoulos began using social media
[02:07.280]after he went to work on a farm
[02:09.970]belonging to his wife's father.
[02:12.710]One night, he began thinking about the issue
[02:17.040]of wasted food, when he could not find a place
[02:20.820]to donate 32 cases of organic broccoli.
[02:25.700]He ended up giving some of the food to chickens
[02:29.640]and using the rest to make fertilizer.
[02:33.580]"I don't believe we should let it go to waste,
[02:36.240]I believe we should share it, donate it,
[02:38.430]whatever it takes. And if possible,
[02:40.570]as farmers, we would like to
[02:41.970]recover a small portion of our costs."
[02:43.660]After his success using Facebook,
[02:46.900]Mr Papadopoulos helped to set up a website
[02:50.630]called cropmobster.com,
[02:55.110]it is a place where people involved with food production,
[02:59.990]feeding the hungry.
[03:01.980]And those who want to buy locally grow food
[03:05.910]can find surplus produce.
[03:09.050]Since March, the website has prevented
[03:13.940]more than 20,000 kilograms of food from going to waste.
[03:18.770]Have you ever use the Internet to buy or sell crops?
[03:24.320]If so, tell us about your  experience.