Why you should buy ugly fruit and vegetables

If it’s not bright, red all over and a perfect round shape, I don’t want it and I certainly won’t eat it!

“Every year Australians waste about $10 billion worth of food. In Australia between 20-40% of fruit and vegetables grown are rejectedbefore they reach the shops because they don’t meet supermarkets high cosmetic standards and specifications.

At the other end of the food chain, food waste comprises 35-40% of household garbage. Once it goes to landfill it produces methane, a greenhouse gas.” - ABC

A supermarket chain in France, Intermarche, decided to challenge this and purchased imperfect fruit and vegetables at a reduced cost from producers and sold them at a discount price - they walked out the door. This imperfect produce was also used in an “ugly fruit and vegetable juice” initiative. 

It’s time we considered the outcome of our purchasing habits that contribute to this waste. Overproduction of goods in the quest for perfection, increased expenses for consumers, produce grown in artificial conditions lacking contact with the soil and nutrients required in a healthy diet and increased pressure of our already groaning landfill sites. 

• When did we become so obsessed with how our produce looks before we eat it?
• Have we managed to be hoodwinked by supermarkets that anything less than a perfect shape and colour was not worth eating?
• Or have our purchasing habits over the last decade, sorting through fruit and vegetables in the supermarket, leaving the less than perfect behind, informed their buying patterns?
• Is this a reflection of a bigger issue our society faces?

The power is in OUR hands as consumers!

The knobbly potato, bent carrot or 2 toned capsicum are as nature intended and as worthy of your purchase as the perfectly shiny, round red apple. Purchasing produce with a thoughtful lens can decrease waste, ultimately decreasing the methane production, and eventually reduce the cost of groceries for the average household, keeping nutrient dense, wholesome, healthy food more affordable for Australians.

See you in the ugly fruit aisle!