UGLY FRUIT AND VEGETABLES

Loblaws, Canada’s largest food retailer, launched a campaign last week to sell misshapen, “ugly” produce at a discounted rate in an effort to curb the country’s food waste problem (annually, Canadians waste some 40% of their food). The campaign offers aesthetically displeasing apples and potatoes at a discount of up to 30 cents in select stores in Ontario and Quebec. The produce being sold in new campaign would have been used for juices or soups, or might not have been harvested at all, due to their appearance. Though the campaign is beginning with apples and potatoes, company officials hope that the program will grow to include other ugly fruits and vegetables in the future. The move offers savings to both the consumer, who can access healthy produce at lower costs, and the Canadian government, which loses some $31 billion dollars annually on food waste.

Source: Think Progress, 3/17/15, Ugly Fruit