Can you believe it's actually zero food waste!?

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November 6, 2020

In case you didn’t know, Miller’s Bio Farm is a zero food waste facility. I didn’t realize the extent to this conviction until I visited the farm last week.

My family ate dinner with the farmer’s family, and I was helping clear the table. There were maybe 5 beans left in a pot, so I asked the farmer’s wife Rebecca if I should put it in the compost. She said “Oh I’ll save it and put it in some soup.” She put the 5 little beans in a tiny container in the fridge.

This level of zero food waste astounded me. I had always considered composting food as not wasting it. This is not so in the farmer’s Amish community. They are taught as little kids not to waste food.

It actually relates to their Christian religion. According to the Bible (which the Amish read in High German), food is wasted by the foolish.

At the farmer’s table, each child serves themself. They are expected to eat ALL of their food. And, by all of their food, I mean scraping their plates nearly clean.

On the farm, no food is ever wasted. Extra food is shared with family and friends. Skim milk and curdled milk are fed to the pigs. Any meat that’s too old to sell is fed to the dogs. Extra produce is canned or fermented. They do have a compost pile for food scraps from cooking, but it’s small.

Oh how I wish all of America would catch onto this. America may not be a leader in many regards, but it certainly is a leader in food waste! Here are some stats:

80 billions pounds of food (that’s $161 billion worth) is thrown away each year in the US.
40% of the US food supply is wasted every year.
219 pounds of food is wasted per person in the US each year.
$1,600 worth of produce is discarded per American family each year.
21% of landfill volume is food waste.

While 37 million people in the US are suffering from food insecurity, why are we wasting food!?!? It’s a combination of culture and our failing mainstream food system.

Culturally, many Americans are confused by “best buy” and “sell by” labels and throw away perfectly good food. Americans may tend to be impulsive with food buying and only pick “the best” looking produce or meat. And, since many foods are so darn cheap, it makes food seem disposable.

Our food system itself is not set up for zero food waste. Have you ever checked out a dumpster at a supermarket or school or restaurant? And what happens on a producer level if there is oversupply?

Sure, we can legislate the heck out of this. But, I really think the change needs to come through education and personal action.

Check with your food sources and find out more about their food waste practices. Avoiding the supermarket and buying direct from farms is always a good step in reducing food waste.

Check your personal practices at home (I know I am!). Some ideas - find ways to creatively use leftovers, get better at sizing portions, meal plan so you don’t overbuy, and preserve food by canning, freezing, and fermenting. If you have more ideas, I want to hear them!

At least one thing’s for sure. If you buy food from Miller’s Bio Farm, you can be assured you are supporting a zero food waste facility.

Opinion

Farming Practices

Ugh greenwashed labels. What does it take to get ___ on a label anyway?

Not a fan of the confusing, greenwashed labels in store? Yea, me too! And it's especially real for me, because I'm responsible for getting our labels approved with the "powers that be". Here's a little story with a big inside scoop... I made new labels for our bone broth a little while ago. It didn't go as smoothly as planned. Why? I put the little icons about our farming practices on them. They look like this: Yup, despite being 100% accurate and true, they were denied!! We're not allowed to put those statements on our food labels. So, I asked the USDA guy, "What would it take to get those claims on the labels, anyway?" The answer was kinda shocking. First off, there's some guidance on wording. Silly technicalities in my opinion. For example, you can't use the term "No Spray" but you can say "Produced without the use of synthetic pesticides." Or another example is that you can't say "No Routine Antibiotics or Vaccines" but you can say "Raised without routine use of antibiotics or vaccines." Second, the processor needs to update their documents to provide traceability. In other words, they need to document how they make sure the bones for our bone broth don't get mixed up with bones from other farms. I mean, this is pretty simple, especially with small batch foods like ours. But the documentation needs to be meticulous. Drafting it in government-approved language can be time consuming and/or costly. And lastly, once you get the wording and process right, you need proof. This was the real shocker for me: Want to know what proof would suffice for all the claims above? A 2-3 sentence affidavit (AKA a super short letter) signed by all farmers that supply us. That's it!? This lead me to a bunch of questions: What if a company submits a letter from one farmer but actually has other farmers that supply them, too? What if a company changes farmers? Will they submit new letters?What if a company's farmers change their practices in the future? Will they immediately update their labels?Are the "powers that be" checking on this? Is anyone checking on this?Is this why most farms and food facilities don't allow outside people coming in? It seems to me that, if a business isn't doing what the label says, the only way to find out is via a whistleblower. And the only way to make them stop is to take them to court. You know, like what's happening with Vital Farms and their pasture raised egg claim right now. It seems to me that, all that good natural stuff on labels - grass fed, pasture raised, antibiotic free, etc - doesn't mean it's true. Certifications are a little better, but the same kinda thing can be said about those, too. This is why, at Miller's, we choose to NOT sell in stores. No wholesale for us. In fact, we don't even have an on farm store. We only sell directly to our customers via our website. And, we choose to only get certified for what's required. This way, we can make our own natural standards. And, we can provide you will all the info and proof you need. Descriptions, photos, blog posts, test results, and more. So, what do you think? Should we do the affidavit thing to get claims on our bone broth labels? What proof do you need to feel confident in your food choices? I'd love to hear from you. Comment below (no account required - just start typing) or contact us 😊

Can you believe it's actually zero food waste!?

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Miller's Bio Farm, 523 Valley Road, Quarryville, PA 17566