The average American family of four wastes between $1,350 and $2,275 a year in food. Much of that ends up in the kitchen trash can: uneaten leftovers, milk past the expiration date and vegetables that go bad.

As the local food movement becomes more popular, many agricultural and economic experts are beginning to question whether small, local farmers and businesses will be able to hold up in a capitalist economic structure, and whether they should even be elevated from a small-scale movement at all.