Asda’s wonky vegetable box contains items that are either oddly shaped, have growth cracks or are smaller or larger than average. Photo: Asda
In our vigilance on the waste reduction front, especially with regard to food, we are tracking efforts globally that we believe we, and our readers, will find interesting and useful.
We have long ago come to understand that the standard definition of beauty as it relates to fruits and vegetables–uniformity prized over flavor and nutrition–has done a huge disservice to the environment, not to mention to the consumers who suffer gastronomically as a result.
Thanks to the Guardian‘s Environment section for this news:
Asda puts UK’s first supermarket wonky veg box on sale
Box of imperfect in-season vegetables will feed a family of four for a week and costs £3.50 – 30% less than standard lines
The UK’s first supermarket ‘wonky vegetable’ box goes on sale on Friday, containing enough ugly potatoes and knobbly carrots to feed a family of four for an entire week for just £3.50.
The Asda box is filled with in-season winter vegetables and salad ingredients at a price that is 30% cheaper than standard lines.
The vegetables – currently carrots, potatoes, peppers, cucumber, cabbage, leeks, parsnips and onions – have been selected from farmers’ crops because they are misshapen, have growth cracks or are smaller or larger than average. The produce is washed but the discount reflects the fact that customers may need to spend extra time peeling it or they might not be able to use the whole vegetable.
Asda introduced imperfect fruit and vegetables into its stores in January 2015 as part of its permanent range in a move championed by chef Jamie Oliver and farmer Jimmy Doherty. During the latest series of the show, Jamie and Jimmy’s Friday Night Feast on Channel 4, the pair revisited Asda’s offering and challenged it to extend the range even further.
The environmental and financial impact of food waste has came to the fore recently with chef and campaigner Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s TV series, Hugh’s War on Waste, which has blamed supermarkets for much of the food thrown away…
Read the whole article here.
Organikos 