CropMobster is on a mission to solve the enormous problem of food waste and hunger and they are tackling this challenge with an innovative crowdsourced approach. Their community platform wants to provide a way to solve these huge problems. The idea is based on the concept that there are major opportunities, as well as critical problems, in today’s food systems.
A major portion of agriculture food products, from 40-50%, are wasted. Simultaneously there are a lot of hungry people who could obviously benefit from this surplus. CropMobster wants to transform this huge waste into something beneficial.
CropMobster estimates that up to 50 million people in the United States are food insecure which means they are uncertain as to where their next meal may be coming from. Farm or farmer insecurity is a big issue too. FarmsReach 
reports that 53% of farmer sin the United States record a net loss and struggle to break even and pay the bills. The inefficiencies intrinsic in the current system have engendered an environment where Farmers and food producers need help to break even and stay viable as businesses.
Cropmobster allows any producer, farmer, restaurant etc. to post online urgent and compelling food needs. These alerts are then distributed to the community. So if there is a food product that was unused and targeted for the compost heap or as animal feed, interested people could jump in and claim the food for an incredible discount. In the past 6 months CropMobster has created a new market where over 100,000 lbs of food has been re-purposed in a more efficient manner. The idea, born of the needs from a small family farm, has now grown into a project where the company wants to tackle the issue on a nation – and then global basis.
The platform posts a highly diverse listing of offers. Both producers, those looking for a discount and charities can create accounts and receive the frequent alerts. The innovative platform is on a wave of publicity and has generated interest from all fifty states in the US.
Founded by Nick Papadopoulos and Joanna Ceder, CropMobster has clearly created an innovative approach for an enduring economic and societal challenge.
Agriculture crowdfunding platform AgFunder recently interviewed Nick Papadopoulos who is the CEO and Co-Founder of CropMobster. The video is posted below.
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