![]() One of the most interesting pro-ugly-produce campaigns in Europe is Ugly Fruits. Take the Challenge: Learn easy ways to waste less food and save money. In the U.K., 20-40 percent of produce is rejected because it’s misshapen, according to the Soil Association, so there is still work to do, but influential stores like Waitrose, Tesco, and Sainsbury’s will make a huge difference in public perception. Last year, Sainbury’s, another large chain of supermarkets, began to sell and promote ugly fruits and vegetables, standing by their commitment to take 100% British crops when a season of unpredictable weather created a bumper crop of ugly produce. Since the EU relaxed strict rules on produce appearance in 2008, it has become even easier for stores to carry produce with cosmetic imperfections. In the U.K., Waitrose and Tesco were two of the first large chains in the U.K. All of this picking and choosing is a major factor in the 40% rate of food waste in this country. ![]() ![]() Finally, we consumers tend to choose the best-looking produce at grocery stores and leave behind the not-so-perfect ones. Some of this rejected food is sent for processing or to feed animals-if it doesn’t spoil first-but a strangely shaped vegetable, like a bent cucumber, might not meet the processors’ standards either. If it is picked, it might get “culled,” or pulled out for not meeting those same standards. ![]() Pickers are often trained not to pick fruit that isn’t up to quality standards in terms of shape, size, color, and time to ripeness. Irregular produce is wasted at all levels of the food system, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. Here in the United States, while some charities and food banks have been doing this kind of work for years, many American businesses are just starting to consider the problem and potential of ugly produce. Some of the United Kingdom’s biggest supermarkets have embraced this concept. The idea is simple – by using the edible, but slightly less beautiful fruits and vegetables that are often discarded or never even harvested, we can decrease food waste and feed more people. Commission Regulation (EC) 2257/94, for example, states that bananas sold in Europe must be “free from malformation or abnormal curvature,” though Class 1 bananas can have “slight defects of shape,” and Class 2 bananas can have full “defects of shape.” Bananas were not covered in the ruling, so for now, these standards remain.In recent years, an international movement to embrace “ugly” produce has started to take root. The European Union is well known for its detailed regulations on agricultural items. Several worried that the abolition of European standards would lead to the creation of national ones, said one official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the delicacy of the discussions. That sentiment was not shared by 16 of the union’s 27 nations, which tried to block the changes at a meeting of the Agricultural Management Committee. “It makes no sense to throw perfectly good products away, just because they are the ‘wrong’ shape,” Ms. “This marks a new dawn for the curvy cucumber and the knobbly carrot,” said Mariann Fischer Boel, European commissioner for agriculture, who argued that regulations were better left to market operators. But items that do not meet European norms will still be allowed onto the market provided they are marked as being substandard or intended for cooking or processing. For 10 other types of fruit and vegetables, including apples, citrus, peaches, pears, strawberries and tomatoes, shape standards will remain.
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