What Is Food Upcycling , And Why Roots Farm Fresh Is Leading the Movement

The food system wastes more than a quarter of everything it produces. Not because the food is unsafe. Not because it has spoiled. In large part because it looks wrong. Potatoes that are too small, too large, too knobby, or the wrong shade of yellow get rejected by grocery supply chains before they ever reach a store. They are cosmetically imperfect and commercially inconvenient. The nutrition is identical. The taste is identical. The only thing wrong with them is their appearance. Food upcycling is the practice of rescuing those ingredients and turning them into finished products, converting what the conventional food system calls waste into something people actually want to eat. Roots Farm Fresh was built specifically around this model, and every product in the line is made from certified upcycled organic potatoes that would otherwise have been discarded. Available at Sprouts, Erewhon, Natural Grocers, The Fresh Market, Harris Teeter, Kroger banner stores, and online at rootsfarmfresh.com with free shipping.

The Scale of the Problem

In 2024, approximately 29 percent of the U.S. food supply went unsold or uneaten. ReFED estimates that 25 percent of all food in the United States, roughly 60 million tons, ends up in landfills, incineration, or is left in fields to rot. The USDA estimates that 30 to 40 percent of the domestic food supply is lost or wasted annually. The total value of wasted food in 2024 reached $381 billion.

Food waste is not just an economic problem. Food that decomposes in landfills generates methane, a greenhouse gas significantly more potent than carbon dioxide over short time horizons. The EPA found that 58 percent of methane emissions escaping to the atmosphere from landfills come from food waste, and that these emissions are increasing. Half of the methane produced by landfilled food waste is released within the first three and a half years after the food is deposited. The nutrients, the water, the energy, and the land that went into growing that food are all lost with it.

The problem has many causes. Consumer preferences for uniform produce. Retail cosmetic standards that grocery chains impose on suppliers. Market conditions that make harvesting certain crops uneconomical in certain years. The result is that billions of pounds of nutritious, safe, organically grown food are discarded annually not because of any quality problem but because of appearance.

What Food Upcycling Actually Means

Food upcycling is not the same as food rescue, composting, or anaerobic digestion, though all of those are valuable practices. Upcycling specifically means taking a food ingredient that would otherwise have been wasted and incorporating it into a new food product for human consumption, at the same or higher value than it would have achieved if it had followed the conventional supply chain.

The Upcycled Food Association (UFA) defines upcycled food as food that uses ingredients that otherwise would not have gone to human consumption, is produced and distributed using verifiable supply chains, and has a positive environmental impact as demonstrated by a supply chain analysis. The UFA provides independent third-party certification for products and ingredients that meet this standard.

The EPA's updated Wasted Food Scale, which replaced the agency's Food Recovery Hierarchy in 2023, explicitly places upcycling in the second-highest environmental preference tier, alongside donation, just below source reduction. The EPA concluded directly that "source reduction, donation, and upcycling are the most environmentally preferable pathways because they can displace additional food production" and that "the benefits of pathways beyond source reduction, donation, and upcycling are small relative to the environmental impacts of food production." Composting, anaerobic digestion, and landfilling all rank below upcycling in this framework because they cannot recover the full nutritional and economic value of the food.

Why Cosmetic Standards Drive so Much Waste

The specific waste stream that Roots addresses, cosmetically rejected produce, is one of the largest and most solvable categories of agricultural food waste.

Grocery supply chains operate on cosmetic grading systems that evaluate produce by color, size, shape, and uniformity. A potato that is two ounces too small, or slightly elongated, or has a surface irregularity, can fail a retailer's cosmetic standard and be removed from the conventional supply chain entirely. Strict cosmetic standards can exclude imperfect-looking produce at scale, and certain retailers will refuse to do business with suppliers if a meaningful percentage of their crop fails to meet appearance specifications. Even when retailers do not impose standards, consumer cosmetic preferences at the point of sale create the same pressure upstream.

The result is that a significant portion of every organic potato crop, grown with certified organic practices, tested food-safe, and nutritionally identical to the conventionally sold crop, is rejected before it reaches a store. Some of it is sold for animal feed at a fraction of its nutritional value. Some is composted. Some is left in fields or disposed of through other channels. None of these outcomes come close to the environmental value of turning that food into a premium product for human consumption.

The Upcycling Certification Standard

Certification matters because "upcycled" as a marketing claim has no regulatory definition. A brand can describe its products as upcycled without independent verification, just as a brand can describe ingredients as "natural" without meeting any defined standard.

The Upcycled Certified mark from the UFA is the independent verification that distinguishes audited upcycling claims from marketing language. Obtaining it requires documentation of the waste-diversion supply chain: demonstrating that the ingredient came from a supply chain that would otherwise have generated food waste, that it was processed and distributed in an economically viable manner, and that the practices meet the UFA's verified standards. The UFA conducts third-party review and ongoing certification maintenance.

The Upcycled Certified program has grown 17 percent year over year, reaching 568 certified products from 105 companies in 2024. In 2024, certified companies diverted approximately 1.2 million tons of food waste, equivalent to 248 million bags of groceries. The program now operates in 14 countries and has become the fastest-growing certification seal in the food industry. Market research cited by the UFA found that 62 percent of consumers are willing to pay more for products that fight food waste, and 70 percent showed increased purchase intent when seeing the Upcycled Certified seal on packaging.

How Roots Farm Fresh Uses Upcycling

Every Roots Farm Fresh product is made from certified upcycled organic potatoes: organically grown potatoes that were rejected by conventional grocery supply chains for cosmetic reasons only. The potatoes are grown to certified organic standards on GlobalGAP certified farms. They are safe, nutritious, and organically certified. The only thing that disqualified them from the conventional supply chain was their appearance.

Roots rescues millions of pounds of these potatoes annually. They are cleaned, steam blanched to preserve nutrients and natural starch structure, coated in certified organic cold-pressed avocado oil, and frozen raw. The finished product is a premium frozen fry with two ingredients, both organic, both certified, produced in a facility holding BRC AA certification from the Global Food Safety Initiative. None of the nutrients, the water, the organic farming inputs, or the land that went into growing those potatoes is wasted.

The upcycled supply chain creates a specific economic relationship between Roots and the farms that supply it. Because Roots sources cosmetically rejected potatoes, it creates consistent revenue for growers on crop that would otherwise generate little or no return. That revenue helps make organic potato farming more economically viable at the farm level, supporting the continuation of certified organic growing practices that benefit soil health, water quality, and the farm's surrounding ecosystem.

Where Upcycling Sits in the Broader Sustainability Conversation

Food upcycling intersects with several of the most important conversations in sustainable food systems.

Food waste and climate. The methane generated by landfilled food waste is a meaningful contributor to atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations. Upcycling prevents organic food from entering that waste stream at the highest possible value point, preserving the nutrition, the economic value, and the agricultural inputs that went into producing it. The EPA's framework places upcycling near the top of its environmental preference hierarchy for this reason.

Regenerative agriculture. Organic potato farming, done well, builds soil health rather than depleting it. Certified organic practices prohibit synthetic pesticides and fertilizers that degrade soil biology over time, and cover cropping and crop rotation practices improve soil structure. By creating consistent demand for cosmetically imperfect organic potatoes, Roots supports the economic viability of these farms and the regenerative practices they represent.

Food access. The conventional food system discards enormous quantities of safe, nutritious food while millions of families face food insecurity. The USDA reports that 47.9 million Americans lived in food-insecure households in 2024, including 14.1 million children. Upcycling reduces the volume of nutritious food that is simply wasted rather than reaching people who need it, and Roots' Buy-a-Pound Give-a-Pound program connects the commercial business directly to food access through fresh potato donations with every purchase.

Consumer purchasing power. Most sustainability improvements in food systems require policy change, capital investment, or agricultural transformation that individual consumers cannot directly influence through purchasing decisions. Choosing a certified upcycled product is one of the relatively few ways a regular grocery purchase directly diverts food from waste and creates an economic incentive for the supply chain practices that prevent it.

The Difference Between Upcycled and Organic

These are not the same claim and they address different parts of the supply chain. Organic certification covers how the food was grown: without synthetic pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, or GMOs. Upcycled certification covers what happened to the food after it was grown: that it was diverted from a waste stream and incorporated into a product for human consumption.

A product can be organic without being upcycled. Most organic frozen foods use organic potatoes that came through the conventional cosmetic grading system. A product can theoretically be upcycled without being organic, if it diverts conventionally grown produce from waste.

Roots is both. Every ingredient is certified USDA Organic and certified Upcycled. That combination is unusual precisely because it requires a supply chain built to source cosmetically imperfect potatoes from certified organic farms, which are a smaller and more specialized supply than conventional cosmetically imperfect potatoes. The organic upcycled supply chain requires active relationships with organic growers and a consistent commitment to purchasing the cosmetically rejected portion of their crop rather than only the cosmetically acceptable portion.

What the Upcycled Food Movement Looks Like at Scale

Food upcycling as a commercial practice is growing rapidly but remains a small fraction of total food production. The 1.2 million tons diverted by UFA-certified companies in 2024, while significant, is a small share of the estimated 60 million tons of food that reached waste destinations in the United States that year.

The potential is substantially larger. Agricultural cosmetic rejection rates for produce can range from 20 to 40 percent of a crop depending on the commodity and the retailer's grading standards. If even a fraction of that cosmetically rejected organic produce were consistently incorporated into premium food products rather than directed to lower-value uses, the environmental and economic impact would be substantial. The constraint is not the supply of imperfect produce. It is the supply of brands and manufacturers committed to sourcing it, certifying that sourcing, and building products consumers want to buy around it.

Roots Farm Fresh is one of the companies building that infrastructure. Every bag of Roots fries is a concrete instance of the upcycled food model working at commercial scale: certified organic potatoes that the conventional system would have wasted, turned into a premium product, certified by an independent third party, sold through major retail partners, with the economic proceeds supporting both the farming operation that grew the potatoes and the community organizations that receive donated potatoes through the Buy-a-Pound Give-a-Pound program.

How to Cook Roots Fries

Air fryer (best results):

Preheat air fryer to 400°F.
Spread fries in a single layer, do not stack or overlap.
Cook for 12-15 minutes.
Shake the basket halfway through.
Serve immediately for maximum crunch.

Oven (alternative method):

Preheat oven to 425°F with an empty sheet pan inside.
After 2 minutes, carefully remove the hot pan and spread fries in a single layer.
Cook for 18-22 minutes until golden and crispy.

Where to Find Roots Farm Fresh

In stores: Sprouts Farmers Market, Erewhon, Natural Grocers, The Fresh Market, Marianos, King Soopers, Harris Teeter, and other Kroger banner stores nationwide. Use the Grocery Store Finder to locate the nearest retailer.

Online: Shop directly at the Roots Farm Fresh shop for free shipping on every order, ships Monday through Wednesday for Wednesday through Friday delivery. Packaging is fully biodegradable and recyclable with a 100% frozen guarantee.

Same-day delivery: Order through Instacart for same-day delivery from a local retailer near you.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is food upcycling? Food upcycling is the practice of taking a food ingredient that would otherwise have been wasted and incorporating it into a new food product for human consumption, at the same or higher value than it would have achieved through conventional channels. The Upcycled Food Association provides independent third-party certification for products that meet a verified standard for upcycled sourcing. The EPA's Wasted Food Scale places upcycling in the second-highest environmental preference tier, just below source reduction.

Why does so much produce get wasted for cosmetic reasons? Grocery supply chains operate on cosmetic grading systems that evaluate produce by color, size, shape, and uniformity. Produce that fails a retailer's appearance specifications is removed from the conventional supply chain, even if it is nutritionally identical to cosmetically acceptable produce. Consumer cosmetic preferences at the point of sale create the same pressure upstream. ReFED estimates that 60 million tons of food reached waste destinations in the United States in 2024, with cosmetic standards a significant driver of farm-level rejection.

What does Upcycled Certified mean on Roots packaging? The Upcycled Certified seal from the Upcycled Food Association means the potatoes in Roots products were independently verified to have come from a supply chain that would otherwise have generated food waste. Specifically, they are cosmetically imperfect organic potatoes rejected by conventional grocery supply chains for appearance only. The certification involves documented supply chain review and ongoing compliance with UFA standards, not a self-declared claim.

Is upcycled food safe to eat? Yes. Upcycled food is safe by definition: it is food that was rejected from conventional supply chains for cosmetic reasons, not food safety reasons. Roots' upcycled potatoes are grown to certified organic standards, processed in a BRC AA certified facility that holds GFCO Gluten-Free and Big 9 Allergen-Free certifications. The cosmetic imperfection, an irregular shape or small size, has no bearing on safety, nutrition, or flavor.

Why is upcycling ranked above composting and anaerobic digestion in the EPA framework? Because upcycling preserves the full nutritional and economic value of the food. Composting and anaerobic digestion recover some of the food's value, as soil amendments or energy respectively, but cannot recover its nutritional content for human consumption. The EPA concluded that "the benefits of pathways beyond source reduction, donation, and upcycling are small relative to the environmental impacts of food production," meaning that once food is grown, the most environmentally valuable thing you can do with it is ensure it is eaten.

What is the difference between organic and upcycled? Organic certification covers how food was grown: without synthetic pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, or GMOs. Upcycled certification covers what happened to the food after it was grown: that it was diverted from a waste stream and incorporated into a food product for human consumption. Roots products are both: every ingredient is USDA Organic certified and Upcycled Certified by the UFA. Most organic frozen foods are not upcycled, sourcing cosmetically acceptable organic potatoes through conventional grading channels.

Does buying Roots fries actually make a difference to food waste? Yes, in a measurable way. Each bag of Roots fries uses potatoes that would otherwise have been diverted to a lower-value use or discarded entirely. Roots rescues millions of pounds of cosmetically rejected organic potatoes annually. The economic signal created by consistent commercial demand for cosmetically imperfect organic potatoes supports the viability of organic farming operations and creates an incentive throughout the supply chain to reduce cosmetic rejection waste rather than treat it as an unavoidable byproduct.

The Full Roots Farm Fresh Line

All products are made with certified organic upcycled potatoes and organic avocado oil, seed oil-free, allergen-free, and gluten-free across the board.

White potato Organic Upcycled Potatoes, Organic Avocado Oil

Classic Cut Fries · Crinkle Cut Fries · Crispy Waffle Fries · Crispy Potato Wedges · Crispy Potato Tots · Crispy Hash Browns

Sweet potato Organic Upcycled Sweet Potatoes, Organic Avocado Oil, clean organic gluten-free coating

Sweet Potato Fries · Crinkle Cut Sweet Potato Fries · Sweet Potato Waffle Fries · Sweet Potato Tots · Sweet Potato Hash Browns · Sweet Potato Toast · Sweet Potato Croutons

Available in 15oz bags in stores and online. Subscribe at rootsfarmfresh.com for monthly delivery with free shipping, flexible quantity, and no contract.