歌词
From VOA Learning English,
this is the Agriculture Report.
On World Environment Day in June,
the United Nations reported at least
one third of all food produced is wasted.
The report came at a time
when many people are concerned about
how to feed a growing world population.
In the United States,
Farmers who are struggling to earn money
find the situation difficult to deal with.
The United States Department of Agriculture
found that more than half
of the small farms in California
do not make a profit.
One California farm family
is using social media
in an effort to change the situation
and reduce wasted food.
Nick Papadopoulos is general manager
of Bloomfield Farms in Sonoma County.
It was difficult for him to watch his employees
returning from several weekend farmer's markets
with top quality unsold produce.
Mr Papadopoulos said
he would find boxes of leafy greens,
herbs and carrots left in a storage yard.
The vegetables would go bad
before the next market day.
As a result,
Mr Papadopoulos came up with a plan
to offer the food at a low price
by advertising it on the farm's Facebook status page
on Sunday nights.
The deals were open to anyone
using the social media website.
One week, several homeowners
in a neighboring community bought the vegetables.
Another week, the buyers were a group of friends.
Nick Papadopoulos began using social media
after he went to work on a farm
belonging to his wife's father.
One night, he began thinking about the issue
of wasted food, when he could not find a place
to donate 32 cases of organic broccoli.
He ended up giving some of the food to chickens
and using the rest to make fertilizer.
"I don't believe we should let it go to waste,
I believe we should share it, donate it,
whatever it takes. And if possible,
as farmers, we would like to
recover a small portion of our costs."
After his success using Facebook,
Mr Papadopoulos helped to set up a website
called cropmobster.com,
it is a place where people involved with food production,
feeding the hungry.
And those who want to buy locally grow food
can find surplus produce.
Since March, the website has prevented
more than 20,000 kilograms of food from going to waste.
Have you ever use the Internet to buy or sell crops?
If so, tell us about your experience.