Size, color, and shape are scrutinized by every shopper who visits the market, each having their own set of guidelines for selecting tasty fruits and vegetables. When it comes to buying produce in bags of three or five, the selection process becomes even more meticulous. Ultimately, oddly shaped and misshapen fruits and vegetables are left on the shelves, becoming unsellable and eventually discarded.

As extreme weather intensifies, unpredictable climate conditions during the growing season have caused the fruits and vegetables produced by farmers to become unattractive and small. While processing or lowering prices might be a solution, are there other ways to help the public truly embrace 'ugly produce'?

Vegetables Become Ugly and More Expensive

Extreme weather caused by climate change is likely to exacerbate the problem of food waste associated with "ugly foods" The Guardian reports on the example of Dutch farmer Bastiaan Blok. Last year, he harvested 117 tons of onions, but each one was only the size of a shallot.

"Last spring was extremely damp, and the summer was very dry and hot, so the onions just didn't grow large," explains 31-year-old Blok. Half of the onions were less than four centimeters wide, making them undesirable even for processing. Their final fate might be to be sold for biofuel or sent to Poland to be made into onion oil.

Blok's experience is not an isolated case. In 2022, Europe was hit by severe heatwaves. According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), record-breaking heatwaves and droughts caused fruits and vegetables to become smaller and less attractive. If supermarkets do not "lower their aesthetic standards" and continue to sell only produce that meets conventional appearance preferences, fruit and vegetable prices will become even higher.

Amidst global food shortages, ugly produce is being left to spoil due to poor appearance or even abandoned in the fields. A 2018 study by the University of Edinburgh in the UK revealed that Europe discards up to 50 million tons of fresh fruits and vegetables annually due to aesthetic reasons.

Ugly Can Be Delicious

In May, the Dutch social enterprise "No Waste Army" launched a crowdfunding "lunch subscription program." They sell soups, sauces, pastries, beverages, and jams made from various ugly fruits and vegetables on a seasonal basis. Thanks to this program, along with enthusiastic citizens and a large order from a produce merchant, Blok was finally able to sell all of his hundreds of tons of onions.

Supermarkets also have ways to handle ugly produce by selling it in the same bag as attractive produce, but this approach carries risks. According to research quoted by Euronews, the proportion of ugly produce cannot exceed 60%, and it must be sold at a discount for consumers to buy it.

Cutting carrots into cubes or slicing cucumbers can mask the unattractive appearance of ugly vegetables, but the ultimate challenge is: how to convince consumers that the quality of ugly produce is just as good and that they are willing to pay full price for it?

An interesting example might point towards a solution. Research has found that consumers at farmers' markets are highly willing to buy "ugly carrots with their leaves still attached." It seems that the image of "freshly picked" helps boost sales. More secrets to changing consumer habits remain to be discovered.

Reference:

The Guardian（2024/6/29），‘It’s not beautiful, but you can still eat it’: climate crisis leads to more wonky vegetables in Netherlands

WEF（2022/9/5），Vegetables are changing shape because of the climate crisis

Euronews（2022/9/29），Convincing people to buy ‘wonky’ vegetables could help reduce food waste

Source: Environmental Information Center