FOOD LOSS ON THE FARM

CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES AND FLORIDA ORANGES

Inefficiencies in farming and fresh food processing keep more than 12 percent of America's agricultural bounty from reaching our tables.

LOOKING across the nation's expansive fields of mechanized modern farms, it is difficult to imagine a more efficient food production system. But inefficiencies in farming and fresh food processing keep more than 12 percent of America's agricultural bounty from reaching America's tables. The cost to the fresh fruit and vegetable farming and processing sector could be as much as $20 billion annually.

The first article in this series, "The Corner On Food Loss" (July 2005), introduced an ongoing …