The ugly fruit and veggie story is two-fold. More like manifold. Yes, there are farmers and retailers who reject perfectly edible fruit and veggies for aesthetic reasons. While it may seem silly to reject crooked carrots and curvy cucumbers, it’s not to say they always land up being wasted. Food waste in this instance, as food waste researcher Lisa Johnson says, is a misnomer. It’s actually food loss.
As much as I hate a battle of semantics, this is an important distinction. Food loss is when farmers can’t sell their produce (sometimes because it’s ugly, sometimes because they’ve produced too much). That’s not to say it goes to waste: there are farmers who have the wherewithal to use it for compost or animal feed. Food waste? That’s on us. That’s on restaurants. That’s on grocery stores. However, that doesn’t mean food loss is acceptable. Both food loss and waste need more management and more research, so we can find more solutions.
Living sustainably can often feel like you’re taking one step forward, then two steps back. One minute we’re told: don’t use plastic bags! The next minute we’re told, use plastic bags sometimes. One minute it’s: buy ugly fruit and veggies! The next it’s: buy them sometimes. The answer? Reduce. The less you buy the less often you’ll be faced with these green conundrums. But we need to eat, and we need our fruit and veg. So how to apply sustainable and eco-friendly habits to the pretty/ugly fruit and veggie scenario? If you’re currently adopting good habits – buying local; buying seasonal; buying the good, the goofy, and the ugly, and most importantly, not wasting it – you’re on the right path.
Read more about the Earth Hero Zero Waste Challenge here.