After dedicating a lot of time and resources to growing fresh fruit and vegetables, farmers often cannot sell all of the crop, even though it is perfectly edible and delicious. This is often down to factors outside their control, like retailer policy, consumer preferences, market unpredictability, and the weather. At a time of price squeezes on farmers, food poverty, and worries about food security, this is no small problem. For the sake of farmers, consumers and the environment, reducing this waste is in everyone's interests. We have all read the headlines about the need to increase the amount of home grown produce, its relevance to food security and the need to get a better deal for the growers of our fruit and veg: so why does so much never leave the field.

Farming Online and Feedback have teamed up in an attempt to get a better understanding behind the problems faced by our growers. We have designed a survey specifically for fruit and vegetable growers to determine the facts behind the rejection and losses of fruit and veg on our farms. We hope that the survey results will help give a better understanding of where the waste happens, who makes the decisions to reject the produce and how we can come up with a better system to ensure more produce makes it to the consumer.

If you are a grower of fruit and or vegetables, be that on an industrial or small plot scale, which you supply to UK markets we would very much appreciate your time in completing this survey. We will report back on the results so you can see how your fellow growers responded. We respect your privacy and all responses will be kept anonymous.

Since 2009, Feedback campaigns for more food to make it from farm to fork see more here

Start the survey - click here