Stop Food Waste and save Ugly food movement
Stop Food Waste and save Ugly food movement
A 1/3 of all food produced globally is wasted, thrown away or left to rot, mostly due to the appearance of the produce and to keep the prices higher by not offering the less attractive foods as a cheaper alternative. Unfortunately many veggies and fruit not winning the tick of perfection have become the “ugly” foods and are abandoned, left to decay and forgotten about – this type of activity has been occurring now for decades.
In 2015, the world witnessed France unanimously banning food waste in supermarkets and outlawed the destruction of unsold food waste. Many major Supermarkets are now offering a line of cheaper imperfect produce although some are watching on the side lines.
On an average, 20 to 30 kilos of food per person per year is thrown away. The cost of food waste in France has been estimated at $20 billion annually and $400 billion in the USA. Food that may have imperfections such as specks, marks or odd shapes and although are still nutritionally very healthy and tasty are ending up in dustbins.
Some of the supermarket and large fruit and veg retailers are now selling with labels such as “imperfect picks”, “inglorious fruit and vegetables”, “wonky” and “naturally imperfect”. These labels offer the consumer a cheaper option and are part of the stop food waste campaign. Whilst some of the larger supermarkets are slow to adopt this movement, you cannot ignore the strong public support with over 500,000 Facebook likes, 3.6 million views of YouTube and 24% increase in foot traffic during the initial launch of Intermarché “Inglorious Fruit and Vegetables” campaign.
Stop food waste has only started and every individual can begin this trend with your own food. On a local level we can all help. Rather than tossing out veggies looking a little limp, cook up and make stocks for soups. Left overs can be delicious the next day; consider what you have on hand before rushing to buy another “take out” and avoid over purchasing – which can lead to the bulk of home food waste. Time we all Stop Food Waste and save Ugly food movement to help the future of our planet.
For other related articles please visit:
Just Eat It. A food waste story
