Que No Se Pierda la Cosecha / From Food Waste to Culturally Valued Communities

Commodities

Practices

El Departamento de la Comida will
serve as a leader in developing best practices to build capacity
within rural farms, food hubs, small businesses, and community
groups to reduce food loss/waste (FLW) through refining and
sharing our replicable, scalable food hub model for FLW
reduction. We envision our role in reducing FLW as similar to the
role of mycelium in soil—to nourish, sustain, and create
connections between producers, consumers, and food. This project
addresses the prevalent issue of FLW in Caguas, Puerto Rico by
implementing a multifaceted strategy centered on community
engagement, education, and innovative food recovery
methods. 

Collaborating with the University
of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez, our initiative begins with the
development of a comprehensive vulnerability map. We will develop
a map of our local ecosystem of markets, farmers, and consumers
to determine where and why food loss and waste occurs in our
communities. This research will provide crucial information that
will allow us to focus our efforts on critical areas, and track
changes in the locations and distribution of vulnerable sites
over time.

Key objectives of the project
include creating pathways for food rescue and educating local
farmers on sustainable production practices to minimize surplus.
Over a three-year period, we will partner with Trito
Agro-Industrial Services to implement tailored solutions
for underserved farmers and food businesses,
emphasizing producing only what
is needed, integrating
improved harvesting and storage techniques, and planning for
natural disasters. Concurrently, surplus produce will be rescued
and transformed into shelf-stable products through our food hub
kitchen, reducing waste while increasing economic opportunities
for farmers.

Central to our approach is the
establishment of our food hub kitchen as a test site for
developing and refining standard operating procedures to minimize
FLW while upcycling produce. Our food hub will also provide
nutritious meals to food-insecure community members. Through
educational workshops and cooking classes, we will empower
residents to adopt practices that simultaneously reduce FLW in
homes and support local agriculture. This initiative strengthens
food sovereignty and fosters a resilient local food system
capable of withstanding external shocks, such as natural
disasters. 

Evaluation will be integral to
our project’s success. We will track the impact of our activities
on underserved farmers and communities, measure the volume of
food recovered, and align with regional priorities for FLW
initiatives. By continuously evaluating and adapting our
strategies based on data-informed insights, we will achieve
sustainable reductions in FLW, enhance economic vitality, and
promote food security throughout Caguas.

Our project represents a holistic
and community-driven approach to tackling FLW, leveraging local
partnerships and innovation to create lasting positive change in
Puerto Rico’s food landscape. By empowering stakeholders and
implementing evidence-based practices, we envision a future where
FLW is minimized, and every community member has access to
nutritious food options. The lessons learned and materials
produced through this project will be disseminated to other food
rescue organizations as a replicable and scalable model of
successfully implementing FLW in communities that are
systemically underserved and overburdened by the impacts of
climate change.

1. Develop a vulnerability map of
   our local ecosystem, including markets, community kitchens,
   food retailers, farmers, and schools to determine where and why
   FLW occurs. Analyze and share the data collected to inform
   project activities.
2. Create pathways to strengthen
   food rescue from 10 local farms or food businesses and educate
   them to identify FLW in their operations, learn to reduce the
   volume of surplus food generated, and determine other ways to
   increase crops utilized or sold. 
3. Refine and codify standard
   operating procedures for our Kitchen program to minimize FLW of
   bought, donated, and rescued food during processing and other
   operations. 
4. Identify the quantity of
   surplus produce within our food chain and donate to other
   community groups as well as transform at least 25% into
   value-added and shelf-stable products annually through our
   Kitchen program, workshops, and point of sale.
5. Provide value-added and
   shelf-stable products to community members experiencing food
   and/or nutrition insecurity and for events like natural
   disasters where it is likely food access will be a greater
   need.
6. Work with producers and farmers
   to improve animal nutrition through diverted surplus food
   converted to feed.
7. Grow our capacity to host
   educational and training workshops for our community focused on
   reducing FLW, sharing actionable practices and community-based
   strategies and preparing culturally-significant, traditional
   meals. 
8. Engage in a constant cycle of
   evaluation of data collected and trainings offered to
   incorporate iterative changes for continuous, responsive
   improvement of the project. 
9. Strengthen supply chain
   resiliency in San Salvador and neighboring communities
   connected to our food system in order to increase community
   self-reliance in providing for our own food needs.
10. Serve as a leader in developing
    best practices to build capacity within rural farms, food hubs,
    small businesses, and community groups to reduce FLW through
    refining and sharing our replicable, scalable food hub model
    for FLW reduction.