We all have it in our heads that the more aesthetically beautiful a piece of produce is, the better it will taste, but that is simply not true. In the US alone, at least 30%-40% of food is thrown away. Included in that number are grocery stores who throw away all unsold produce, no matter if it’s ugly or beautiful. While 1 in 6 people go hungry in the US, consumers and producers are throwing away tons of valuable food. Here are some ways to can help, starting with buying ugly food.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BkEF4YunazI/?tagged=uglyproduce
The USDA has different visual grading standards for all fruits and vegetables. These standards are solely based on the appearance of the food, not nutritional value or freshness. Supermarkets mostly carry grade 1 food, but if you find any deformed or slightly different looking produce, buy it! There is a chance no one else will, so make sure that all the labor and money that went into that piece of produce gets used.
Also, try to shop at farmers markets as much as you can, as they sell almost all of their products that are grown, whether it is necessarily beautiful or not. This will also help small business grow and gives back to the community.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BifhfM0AArW/?tagged=uglyproduce
