At the store reviews section of this forum, I made a review for Hungry Harvest because I am a subscriber of their service. Now I want to discuss their competition, Imperfect produce. It is a similar company with the same intention, Help America save money with more affordable produce and stop wasting of food. Millions of fruits and vegetables are being left to rot even if they are fresh and safe to eat just because of some imperfection. They may look ugly but they have the same taste and nutrition with the ones sold at groceries. These Bananas are left to rot because they are conjoined twins: These peppers don't have the ideal shape so it won't make the groceries. No store want to sell these potatoes even though it is full of heart: If you will buy fruits and vegetables from imperfect produce you will be saving a lot of money because they are sold at a cheaper price. They might be deformed but they have no other difference from the pretty veggies from Walmart aside from their ugly shapes. These rejected produce are sold at a very cheap price and they are safe to eat. You will be saving a lot of money if you will buy ugly vegetables and fruits. You can also help the environment.
In the UK many supermarkets do something called 'wonky' vegetables which are mishaped and are sold at cheaper prices. Not all stores stock them, but due to more pressure to stop waste, supermarkets are stocking them. They are excellent value and make buying vegetables more affordable. They are only available in bigger outlets and not smaller convenience stores though, so those who buy from smaller express outlets probably won't see them.
I think it is a very good initiative. I really liked the picture of that cute eggplant with the very long nose. I actually look out for such eggplants because my son likes to stick goggly eyes on them and have a laugh. Jokes apart, I can think of no reason why no one would want to buy a banana with its twin. I once ate such a banana and its taste was quite good. While in UK for work long ago, I saw how people refused to buy bananas with dark spots and chose only the ones without a single spot. In India, we would never buy unspotted bananas as they are not at all tasty. I only choose bananas with a few spots as they are perfectly ripe and sweet. The shapes of vegetables do not define their taste at all, so why is such produce left to rot?? I guess, looks are importance among the vegetables too now!
I almost shed tears, laughing, when I read that the bananas are left to rot because they are conjoined twins. In Africa, people would scramble for them. Needless to say, that they are sold even more expensive than single bananas. Personally, I would like to support Imperfect Produce for their work. No food should be wasted whatsoever as it takes effort, patience and resources to produce. If there's no health risk involved, putting into consideration that some produce may be stunted due to unhealthy plants, then I believe people should be encouraged to buy, to reduce wastage both economically and environmentally.
I would buy all those especially at cheaper prices than those that are perfect. I guess I never really thought about grocery stores only having perfect fruits and vegetables. I think it is a shame that those foods will go to waste just because they are not pretty to look at. It says a lot about our society. Thanks for sharing this as I would be interested in using this service.
I am already a subscriber of Hungry harvest but I am considering to try the service of imperfect produce because they seem to give more fruits and vegetables. Their boxes are bigger for the same price.
There is a booth in the Sunday market that sells such imperfect harvest, mostly vegetables with non-standard size or unusual shape. The price is just about half of the normal harvest that’s why there is a queue of buyers early in the morning. To think that it’s the same vegetables as the ordinary but cheap due to the imperfection, that’s not really an issue with us. As long as the vegetable tastes the same and has the same nutrition, it’s practically the same vegetable.
Food and medication are two things that i never try to get cheap on, because the consequences can be quite severe.
That is really such a noble deed to sell items of imperfect shape at such a low price. It will help feed the millions especially those that are tight on budget. But for people who are superstitious, it will take some time before they embraced and get used to buying such commodities. But food is food and when it's cooked, only the taste will matter.
@Zero Groceries actually add chemicals to produce. There was a groceries that sprays water with kerosene on tomatoes to make it look more shiny and prettier. So these cheap ugly fruits and vegetables are actually safer than those expensive veggies from groceries. Most of them are even fresher than the ones in Walmart because they came directly from farmers. I rather have a deformed not perfectly round potato than a potato from Walmart that is overpriced for looking pretty. Imperfect produce is actually safe and even safer because mos of them are organic. They are only cheap because of mild imperfections but they are the same fresh and fruit or vegetable. A perfectly round orange has no difference with an deformed orange. The deformed orange is just rejected because it is not round. A giant cucumber got rejected because it is too big to fit inside the styrofoam case. A lot of these reject fruits and vegetables are even better than than the winners of the grocery beauty pageants.
