The USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) estimates that about 30 percent of food in the United States goes uneaten at the retail and consumer level – farm to distribution centers or stores. FAO Reports 31%. Over 400 billion per year. One of 76 variables (www.ag.tools) is weather conditions, both droughts and precipitation can negatively impact crop yields and quality, affecting the availability of raw materials, increasing costs and the ability to operate efficiently and profitably.
There are several reasons edible crops do not make it to market. In some cases, market prices for those crops may be too low to justify the cost of making additional passes through the field or orchard to harvest crops. In other cases, not being able to find labor to harvest the crops mean that they are left to rot. Finally, since fruits and vegetables ripen at different times across regions, growers may struggle to find buyers for their produce towards the end of their harvest period, as wholesale buyers switch to other suppliers when better quality produce becomes available in other regions.
Source: FAO & USDA