Saving the World One Ugly Fruit at a Time

            Have you every rejected a bruised banana or an oddly shaped strawberry? Or thrown out leftovers that have sat in your fridge for too long? In the world, more than half of fruits and vegetables grown gets lost or is wasted. This is especially troubling because nearly 800 million people in the world do not have enough food to lead a healthy active life. Fortunately there are some efforts underway to reduce food waste and make it available to those in need.

            As a developed nation, we are especially wasteful. This is not only an ethical issue, but it is also an environmental issue. Wasted food means wasted water, fertilizer, fossil fuels, and land. Produce is often transported across the country. We like to get California’s avocados and Florida’s oranges up here, but it isn’t so easy. The fruits and veggies get passed on from one shipping truck to another until they reach their destination. From one handoff to the next, more and more avocados and oranges are thrown out. We are already struggling to reduce our carbon footprint; reducing waste can help to do so. Genetically modified organisms, or “GMOs” are also helping to reduce waste. Biologists incorporate genes into their produce that will extend their lifetimes and make them less susceptible to damage. This allows them to survive longer over their journey from the farm to the table.

            Our grocery stores have certain cosmetic standards that need to be met in order for produce to be sold. They worry that the oddly shaped fruit will not be bought, and may actually scare away customers. Often times, entire shelves of perfectly edible shell peas are thrown out to make room for incoming ones, or bundles of zucchini are rejected because they curve too much. The heirloom tomato, a non-hybrid form of a tomato is a fruit that we have transformed artificially solely because of its appearance. Their ridged surfaces, being unappealing to people, were artificially selected against to make smooth, glossy surfaced tomatoes that we see today in supermarkets. Heirloom tomatoes are actually said to have a richer, juicier taste, but because of our obsession with aesthetics, we have diminished these scrumptious tomatoes of those qualities.

           Fortunately, “misshapen” fruits and vegetables are actually becoming a trend. There are organizations that are selling these fruits for less money, so that low-income families can afford them and they don’t go to waste. DC Central Kitchen in Washington DC is one of them. Each week they recover 15,000 pounds of food that they turn into healthy meals.

Fun fact: Many producers actually spend extra to make their fruits and vegetables glossy and appealing by adding an external wax, which does not improve the taste or freshness of the food.

            Though food waste has become a global problem, there are things that we can do locally to address this issue and provide a solution.  First, we can become more aware of how much we actually consume during a given week so that we don’t buy more produce than necessary.  Not only will we be creating less waste in our homes, we will be sending a signal to the produce companies of a more realistic idea of how much needs to be stocked in grocery stores. Second, buying produce locally is a benefit for the environment. It reduces fossil fuels that would be emitted while moving the produce from one far away region to another. Buying produce locally reduces waste because there is less opportunity for the foods to spoil or get damaged during the journey. Here in Montclair we have the farmer’s market that supplies locally farmed foods to our neighborhood from short distances around New Jersey.  If you haven’t checked it out already, I truly recommend J

Source: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2016/03/global-food-waste-statistics/