Myfeld launches crowdfunding against food waste and over-grown vegetables

Vegetables are having a hard time: tasting good is no longer enough - today, vegetables have to meet a strict standard and be as cheap as possible at the same time. The result is that foreign vegetables are imported and imperfect Swiss vegetables end up in the garbage.

At the same time, the weather is making it even more difficult for Swiss farmers; numerous harvests have been destroyed by the rain. In the spring, on the other hand, farmers had to throw away vegetables because of the price war in the retail trade, because they could not compete with foreign prices, like the Blick reported at the beginning of August.

At Myfeld, the vegetables are not styled, they grow naturally and crooked. The start-up wants to support local agriculture and enable the inhabitants of Switzerland to grow their own vegetables. Fresh from the Swiss farm, free of any standards, without pesticides, grown by hand and shipped plastic-free.

To reduce food waste to a minimum, the startup only plants what customers have actually ordered. Myfeld started our first season this spring and was already able to harvest the first zucchettis, fennel and lettuces for customers. But now the startup needs support to develop further.

Therefore, a crowdfunding was started with Wemakeit: 75,000 francs in 30 days is the goal.

Interview

"Agriculture and population must come closer together"

Myfeld CEO Raphaell Schär explains why the startup is now looking for support and what its vision is.

Raphaell Schär, why does Myfeld need support?

Raphaell Schär: Myfeld has set itself the goal, on the one hand, to bring consumers closer to the seasonality of our local vegetables again and, on the other hand, to promote direct marketing from our farmers. However, the project is also very cost-intensive. In order to be able to continue Myfeld in the coming year and to enable our farmers a second mainstay in direct marketing, we are looking for support through the launched crowdfunding campaign.

Why should the project be supported?

Every single franc flows directly into our domestic agriculture. In addition to strengthening Swiss farmers, we are also particularly concerned about the issue of food waste, which is unfortunately a major challenge in the retail trade. At Myfeld, we only grow what the customer orders - so the carrots come straight from the field to the kitchen. We believe that innovative projects are important to address such issues.

What is the money used for?

Farming is expensive - machines, cultivation tunnels and helping hands are needed. Therefore, we would like to use the money from the campaign to further develop Myfeld, but also to support the farmers in the implementation in the field. After all, we want everyone to be able to eat their own vegetables. Healthy nutrition must not be reserved for the wealthy.

What do you get out of supporting Myfeld?

This year in particular, a large proportion of our domestic farmers are struggling with serious crop failures. The unsettled weather has caused them great hardship. By supporting Myfeld, donors are also supporting farmers in Switzerland at the same time. We believe that agriculture and the population need to come closer together again - with each other instead of against each other.