Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue is making stops around the nation to find out the concerns of farmers.
In his current tour, he’s making stops in New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska.
On Tuesday, the secretary made a stop in Colorado Springs- where he toured the FoodMaven facility- the secretary impressed by the business model.
‘In the overall arena of food waste, food maven is doing an innovative and creative idea,’ said Perdue, ‘FoodMaven is kind of the Uber of food waste.’
FoodMaven lets business by excess produce from farms and providers, through an online marketplace.
The company’s CEO says he’s always expected the company to grow beyond Colorado Springs, its already expanded to Denver- plans are in the works to get the company in other big cities.
Secretary Perdue says he believes there’s possibility FoodMaven’s plan can work on a national level.
‘I love the entreprenuerial aspect, I like frankly the for-profit there because there’s nothing more incentivizing than economic reality,’ said Sec. Purdue.
Additionally- Perdue mentioned how a program like FoodMaven could fit into some of the newer programs the Trump administration has rolled out.
Namely, the Harvest Box program for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients.
‘FoodMaven may be able to pilot that product here we can get into the hunger community and really help provide more nutritious food in a box of different choices,’ said Sec. Perdue.
?Secretary Purdue’s tour will continue on Wednesday in Colorado, from there he’ll head to Wyoming. ?
