Product Quality
Enhancing the nutritional quality, sensory appeal, safety, convenience and availability of foods in a sustainable manner is a leading challenge within farming and food production.
Product quality is complex and is assessed differently by people throughout the continuum from crop production to consumption. All involved use a large set of criteria to rate the quality of crops and products. In the VPSL, we consider vegetable quality to be the sum of an item's physical, chemical, biological, and sensory properties. The item can be a single root, leaf or fruit to a very large collection of them in fresh or processed form. The properties can include any that affect the transfer of the item between the buyer and seller or the impact of it being eaten.
These quality-centered properties result from the interaction of the crop's genetics and its growing environment. Crops and varieties are chosen by farmers and they help set their growing conditions. In the VPSL, we work to help design and implement growing systems that optimize quality, yield, and sustainability.
