Produce that is unusable for human consumption and discarded by grocery stores has found a ready use in cattle feedlots.
Viridiun LLC, an Atlanta, Ga.-area-based company specializing in food recycling, is gathering discarded fruits and vegetables from retailers and using them as a part of animal feed, according to reports from Dairy Herd Network.
The company is working with dairy and beef operations in 13 states to supply cattle feed partly composed of processed produce, according to the Dec. 1 report.
Viridiun LLC gathers 175 truckloads — about 4 million pounds — of discarded grocery produce weekly for cattle feed, according to the report.
The company uses an on-farm milling process to transform the produce into a slurry that blends well with other cattle feed ingredients, and can be stored for later use, according to the report. The fruit and vegetable blend is licensed and registered as animal feed in every state that the company operates in, according to the report.
