S3E8 Behind the farm gate with Melissa Smith, Real Skills Ag Training

S3E8: Behind the farm gate

In this episode, we head straight to the paddock withMelissa Smith — farmer, educator, and Churchill Fellow — to unpack on-farm food waste and the practical steps needed to address it.

Melissa shares lessons from her international researchtour through Europe and the US, where she explored how global producers manage fruit and vegetable waste. From whole crop purchasing to gleaning programs and secondary markets, Melissa highlights scalable solutions that could benefit Australia’s growers.

Key topics include:

The $2B+ cost of on-farm food waste in Australia

How stronger grower-retailer collaboration can reducewaste

Global case studies like Tesco’s bumper crop strategyand Right Revival’s full crop buying model

The role of food rescue organisations and why economic viability must come first for farmers

Value-added processing and how growers can transformsurplus into opportunity

The importance of consumer education and slow cultural change

Why “gleaning” might be the next big step incommunity-driven food recovery

We also explore Real Skills AG Training, Melissa’s family-run business helping farms build safer, smarter operations through practical training.

With just five years left to reach Australia’s goal of halving food waste by 2030, Melissa calls for industry-led action and pilot programs to turn knowledge into measurable change.

As always, if you have questions, feedback, or a storyabout how you’re reducing food waste, we’d love to hear from you.

Drop us an email at [email protected].

And if you want to check out all our previous head to your favourite podcast channel and search for Food Waste Matters.

More about Melissa

After growing up in pineapple country on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, Melissa moved to Northwest New South Wales to help run the in-law's cotton and grain farms aroundMungindi. She later owned and managed a commercial passionfruit farm near Yandina.

More recently, she has worked with End Food Waste Australia to help food businesses and horticultureenterprises improve their efficiency and profitability by reducing food waste through process improvements. With her extensive experience in agriculture, Melissa understands life "behind the farm gate" and that farmers and food businesses need solutions that are both practical and profitable.

Links

Access the reporthere: https://www.churchilltrust.com.au/fellow/melissa-smith-qld-2023/

https://realskillsagtraining.com.au/

https://www.honeyandfox.com.au/

https://thegreatunwaste.com.au/

https://endfoodwaste.com.au/

Social Media Tags

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/troy_realskillsagtraining/

https://www.instagram.com/foodwastematters_podcast/

https://www.instagram.com/honey_and_fox/

https://www.instagram.com/thegreatunwaste/