Each year, nearly 40% of all food produced is thrown away; grocery stores are no stranger to this number. In a report by the Natural Resources Defense Council, $15 billion is lost from unsold fruits and vegetables, alone. Most of this produce is actually perfectly safe to eat, but deemed not ‘aesthetically’ pleasing to the eye. Consumers seek the best looking fruit and vegetables, even though the other, less-than-perfect looking produce, is perfectly safe to eat.
France has already banned grocery stores from throwing away food. It’s no surprise then that it also came up with a great marketing plan to sell those ‘aesthetically’ unpleasing produce. Intermarché, a French grocery store, is selling ugly produce at a 30% discount and even marketing the produce in a new light. Such as “An ugly carrot is a beautiful soup.” By changing the way consumers view ugly fruit and vegetables, France is one step closer to reducing food waste overall. So the next time you go to the grocery store, think twice about choosing that perfect looking eggplant and go for less pretty one to give it a second chance. Once that eggplant is breaded and fried, no one going to notice that i had an extra bump on it.
