Field measurement in vegetable crops indicates need for reevaluation of on-farm food loss estimates in North America

The available estimates of edible produce lost in the field are based on assumptions and estimates, rather than field data. This article discusses the authors field measurements of 68 fields of 8 vegetable crops on nine North Carolina farms during the 2017 production season, using a sampling and scaling method, to estimate loss. Combining the unharvested crops of marketable quality and edible but not marketable quality (edible but not meeting appearance quality standards) the average produce volume after primary harvest was 42% of the harvested and sold volume.