Startup uses old-fashioned technique to combat America's food waste problem: 'Why didn't we do this 50 years ago?'

The world wastes 1 billion meals worth of food every single day. 

That shocking fact from the U.N. Environment Programme puts into stark terms the massive problem of food waste, which produces planet-heating pollution and wastes precious resources such as water. 

In a world where around 750 million people go hungry, food waste also highlights the tragic fact that there is enough food to nourish everyone, but the problem is distribution. 

A startup from the University of Arizona is looking to change all that with its innovative yet brilliantly old-fashioned solar drying towers. The towers aim to dry fruits and vegetables before they go bad, making them shelf-stable while retaining their nutritional value, according to University of Arizona News. 

Measuring about 25 feet tall, the solar drying towers work by allowing sunlight in through their transparent walls. Because hot air rises, the air at the top of the tower is much hotter than the air at the bottom. This allows produce to dry in just hours, not days, killing harmful bacteria to make the food shelf-stable, per U of A News. 

By making the produce shelf-stable, it can be distributed wherever it is needed and used as food for humans or livestock feed, thereby reducing hunger and food waste simultaneously. 

Even better, the solar drying towers capture the evaporating water for other uses, which can especially be valuable in Arizona's desert climate. 

"The problem of food waste is massive and urgent," said Renata Coelho, CEO and co-founder of Kuairu, the startup looking to commercialize the solar drying towers. "Farmers put in incredible work, time, and resources to grow crops. It is heartbreaking to see those crops end up in landfills. Our goal is to give that effort a second life."

The solar drying towers are a product of Tech Launch Arizona, which helps innovators commercialize the inventions that they create in collaboration with the university. TLA connected the creators of the solar drying tower with business advisors and investors before licensing the technology to Kuairu. 

A key member of the solar-drying-tower team has been Goggy Davidowitz, a University of Arizona professor. 

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"TLA has been phenomenal," Davidowitz said, per University of Arizona News. "They helped us refine the vision, connect with partners, and think bigger. What started as a research prototype is now becoming a commercial solution."

While the solar drying tower represents an innovative solution to reducing food waste, it is based on a practice that goes back to ancient times. 

"People have been drying food for millennia," Davidowitz said in a YouTube video about the project. "It's nothing new there. And what I did, which is different with the solar tower, is we went up instead of to the sides."

To begin putting their vision into practical use, the team deployed a solar drying tower at Nogales, Arizona, a key border crossing where 300 million pounds of fruits and vegetables are tossed out every year. 

"This is exactly the right place and right time," said Pedro Coelho, one of the company's co-founders. "Being close to Nogales shortens the feedback loop with customers and lets us see the scale of the problem firsthand. Once people see this in action, the question will be: 'Why didn't we do this 50 years ago?'" 

To help reduce food waste at home, you can start by shopping smarter at the grocery store, being mindful of the amount of fresh foods you put in your cart, and not overbuying. From there, you can make an effort to do more with your leftovers, while making sure that whatever food waste you do generate ends up in the compost, not the landfill. 

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