Imperfect Produce Wants You To Rethink Ugly Food

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When you think of an apple or carrot you probably have a specific shape in mind.

We’ve grown accustomed to seeing perfectly pretty fruits and vegetables, so much so that if they look slightly different we deter from buying them out of fear there’s something wrong with them or that they’re bad.

But this fear contributes to some 72 billion pounds of good food being tossed in the trash, costing consumers $165 billion dollars a year, according to Feeding America. 

Ironically, the U.S. has one of the highest food insecurity rates for a developed country, with 1 in 6 children food insecure and 12 percent of American households being food insecure.

Food insecurity is defined as the lack of available or consistent access to healthy and nutritious food in a substantial amount that prevents hunger for all members within a family.

Now, Imperfect Produce, a new food delivery service, is hoping to make a dent in the amount of food thrown away by delivering only “ugly” food to its subscribers.

All of the fruits and vegetables are perfectly good and healthy, they just have superficial flaws that would otherwise cause them to not make it to store shelves and onto people’s plates.

In fact, produce that is farmed and sourced for large grocery chains go through a culling process. The ones that don’t make the cut are discarded. Perfectly good food tossed into the trash because it’s not pretty enough.

Imperfect Produce sources ugly produce straight from farms where they package and deliver it to your front door. Subscribers can customize their produce selection and enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables at an affordable price.

Boxes range anywhere from $11 to $27 dollars and can be scheduled to arrive weekly or bi-weekly. Serving sizes range from a single serving to a serving size for ten people. Subscribers can even change up their selection once they are ready for a change.

The goal is to hopefully combat food waste while educating people that ugly food can still be healthy, edible food. Carrots, apples, potatoes and beets, for example, can and do naturally come in various shapes and sizes, and should they appear to look out of the ordinary it doesn’t mean there is something wrong with them.

Think about it, once they are chopped and cooked can you tell the difference between a potato that started out perfectly shaped versus one that started out “ugly”?

So the next time you are shopping for produce and find “ugly” fruits or vegetables, remember they are perfectly fine to eat and will make a delicious meal for you and your family.