{"id":363728,"date":"2017-03-21T02:30:19","date_gmt":"2017-03-21T06:30:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/grist.org\/?post_type=grist-50-profiles&amp;p=363728"},"modified":"2017-03-21T02:30:19","modified_gmt":"2017-03-21T06:30:19","slug":"ben-hartman","status":"publish","type":"grist-50-profiles","link":"https:\/\/grist.org\/grist-50\/profile\/ben-hartman\/","title":{"rendered":"American farms waste a ton of food. Ben Hartman shows how more efficient farms can prosper."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"g50-profile__stats-block profile__stats-block--profile-363728 \">Farmer<br \/>\nGoshen, Indiana<br \/>\nAge: 38<\/aside>\n<p>In the United States, 40 percent of the food we produce isn\u2019t eaten. Ben Hartman is trying to put a dent in that figure. Inspired by Toyota\u2019s \u201clean\u201d approach to manufacturing, a production strategy geared around minimizing waste and maximizing efficiency, Hartman and his wife, Rachel Hershberger, have applied some of the most rigorous practices of industrial manufacturing to their small produce farm in northern Indiana.<\/p>\n<p>Six years in, Clay Bottom Farm is more profitable than ever. But it\u2019s also smaller &#8212; just one acre, down from three when they started. Hartman and Hershberger grow only 30 types of fruits and veggies, the varieties CSA and restaurant customers like best, and strategically stagger planting and harvest schedules to maximize crop yield. They\u2019ve even eliminated excess tools and equipment. Hartman says they have one-fifth the amount of wasted produce each week now compared with when they started.<\/p>\n<p>[pullquote]\u201cThe lean system is a coin with two sides. One is cutting waste out of the operation. The other is value &#8212; learning what your customers want and delivering on that.\u201d [\/pullquote]<\/p>\n<p>In 2015, Hartman shared what he\u2019s learned so far in his book <em>The Lean Farm<\/em>, and he\u2019s currently working on a companion guide that\u2019s specifically geared toward small-scale vegetable farmers. \u201cWe need small farmers more than ever, but it\u2019s a very tight marketplace,\u201d he says. \u201cMy mission is to give small farms the tools they need to be competitive.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This farmer champions efficiency.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57007830,"featured_media":490295,"menu_order":36,"template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"coauthors":[10],"class_list":["post-363728","grist-50-profiles","type-grist-50-profiles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","grist-50-food","grist-50-13"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.2 (Yoast SEO v27.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>American farms waste a ton of food. 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