The modern farmer often bears no resemblance to the old stereotype. Many young farmers today are growing much more than just healthy crops. They’re thinking outside the plot to raise healthy communities and lifestyles around organically grown food, school and community gardens, even eco-conscious resorts. Daron Joffe (a.k.a. “Farmer D”) is one such farmer and entrepreneur breaking down the walls of traditional farming. Today, his services and projects can be found all around the country, and the proven results of his efforts are in high demand by some of the most prominent gardeners and companies in America.
About Joe Lamp'l
Joe Lamp'l is the Host and Executive Producer of the award winning PBS television series Growing A Greener World. Off camera, Joe dedicates his time to promoting sustainability through his popular books, blog, podcast series, and nationally syndicated newspaper columns. Follow Joe on Twitter
Let me start be saying I normally really like your show and we do compost and use mostly organic practices in our garden. However I watched this episode today and was shocked to find out that Whole Foods is giving away food to be composted. I understand that fruits and veg do go bad, but how about giving the food away a day or 2 earlier to homeless shelters and food banks?? There are too many hungry people in this country to justify putting the food into compost when you could be putting it in children’s stomachs! I was very disappointed to see the host talking about this practice like it’s something admirable. It makes me rethink how I feel about Whole Foods as well. You’ve done a lot of great shows, including the one on community gardens that donate extra produce to shelters, but this sure wasn’t one of them!
Hi Julia. I agree. Diverting this food to neighbors in need when possible would indeed be the best option here. However, we are not privy to any arrangements that Whole Foods has to address this and the criteria behind when and if that happens. I trust you have contacted them to learn more about their food donation policies. Keep in mind, this episode was not about Whole Foods or all they do (or don’t) to address food donations of their discards. It was about Farmer D and his impact on promoting organic gardening to school children and others. And in part of his mission to promote sustainability, he’s been able to get Whole Foods to close the loop on perishable food that would other be thrown away. We were happy to feature that. But that does not assume that is the only thing they do nor were we there to cover that.