SELLING UGLY FRUITS & VEGETABLES COULD MEAN LESS FOOD WASTE

Every year, 40% of the food grown in the United States ends up in the garbage. A lot of that waste happens at the consumer level — about 25% of the food we buy is thrown away. But a lot of that waste also happens between the farm and the grocery store, where strict and sometimes arbitrary cosmetic standards mean that a perfectly nutritious carrot can end up as waste simply because it looks odd.  Jordan Figueiredo is trying to make “ugly” food look beautiful. About six months ago, he launched @UglyFruitAndVeg, a social-media-fueled effort to make Americans fall in love with ugly fruits and vegetables. That campaign, aided by whimsical pictures of misshapen produce accompanied by humorous captions and hashtags, took off — in six months, Figueiredo has amassed over 18,000 followers, claiming names like Jamie Oliver, Alice Waters, and Michael Pollan as fans. Now, Figueiredo has a bolder vision — convince Walmart and Whole Foods, two of the United States’ most visible retailers, to sell ugly fruits and vegetables.

Source: Think Progress, 8/19/15, Food Waste