It recently came to my attention that massive quantities of the fresh fruit and vegetable produce, harvested by UK farmers, is discarded due to its ‘ugly’ appearance. Retailers of fresh produce reject imperfect fruits and vegetables, seeking only perfection for their supermarket shelves. While we can understand the rejection of damaged, bruised or spoiled produce, more fruits and vegetables are actually wasted because of undesirable shapes and sizes.
Haunted by the images of truckloads of tons of perfectly nutritious vegetables destined for a landfill site, I had to find out if this was happening in South Africa. Torn between hoping such waste is not occurring in our poverty stricken country and excitement at the possibility of an untapped, economical food source, I made a single lucky phone call that would set my quest in action.
The UGLY truth
Large quantities of South African grown fruits and vegetables, deemed unsuitable by appearance alone, suffer the same landfill fate. The fact that nutritionally perfect food is thrown out while people starve is shameful and makes no sense. With the devastating drought we are currently experiencing and food prices increasing by the day, we cannot afford to waste beautifully nutritious food simply because it is ugly.
If you grow your own vegetables at home, you will be no stranger to the endless varieties of shapes, sizes and weird formations vegetables grow in. Besides, if you think about it long enough, you will realise that very often the end result of much of our vegetable preparation is far from the original form in which vegetables are purchased.
In a brief but valuable discussion, I learned that while there has been some effort at an agricultural level to reduce this wastage of perfectly nutritious food, it turns out the fate of ‘ugly’ fruits and vegetables falls in the hands of the retailers. Fortunately, however, retailers have a large audience to please and so ultimately the fate of ‘ugly’ fruits and vegetables lies with us, the consumer.
There are many benefits to be gained in saving ‘ugly’ fruits and vegetables from ill-fated wastage. Such fruits and vegetables can be sourced and sold at reduced prices, saving both the retailer and the consumer money. The increased income potential of a harvested crop will help our farmers, battling a seemingly endless drought, and in desperate need of some reprieve. Furthermore, if access to such fruits and vegetables became available to soup kitchens and other organisations feeding the hungry, nothing more needs to be said really.
Please take part in the poll below:
Using ‘ugly’ fruits and vegetables is easy!
PDF Download Ugly Veg Infographic
