from the farm is a community based effort to break the traditional food supply chain. It connects farmers and other producers directly to retailers and restaurants, which cuts out the middleman distributors. Our aim is to make farm-to-table more feasible!
backend repo can be found here
$ git clone https://github.com/lorynmason/from-the-farm.git
$ cd from-the-farm
$ npm install
$ npm start
The Problem we want to address is the current business model of the food supply chain. There are many steps along the way of the food supply chain, as can be see here. The issues with the current model are:
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Time: It takes a lot of time to get through all the steps in the chain. Tomatoes in the US are stored for up to six weeks before being sold, while tomatoes in the UK may be stored for only about a week before hitting grocery store. Apples from most supermarkets are chemically treated to stop them from rotting, and then stored for 9 to 12 months before hitting shelves. Fresh Produce: not as fresh as you may think.
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Waste: There is a lot a waste along the chain partly because of the amount of time it takes--lots of food rots before it gets to consumers, partly because products have blemishes or are not up to par and get thrown away. Figures for annual waste along the food chain can be see here.
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Money: Food is expensive and farmers/producers don’t see most of the profits. Most distributors use a 18-35% markup and most retailers use a 20-40% markup, so consumers are paying a 38-75% markup.
The alternative to this business model is for retailers to buy directly from the farmer, but this comes with its own set of problems, like being able to find product you need in your area.
