Modern society has a bit of obsession with perfection. We hold everything up to a flawless standard. Our celebrities have to be sublime, without a wrinkle or hair out of place. We have to wear the latest fashions and never venture out of the house without a heavy coiffuring, and even our fruit and vegetables have to be gorgeous, elegant and stunning.
Why do we need our fruit and veg to be so impeccable? Does anyone ever show off their fruit and vegetables to other people? Do we compare artichokes with our neighbours, or plums with our work colleagues?
The Perfect Dinner Party
Whenever you have a dinner party do you bring the guests through to the kitchen first and say to them,
“This evening, I’m going to be cooking Chicken Fajitas. But before I start to chop them up, I just wanted to show you how elegant my red peppers are. Just look at them, phwoar…!”
The only time you would ever need a vegetable to be attractive at a dinner party would be if you were planning on serving them whole as the main meal. Quite frankly if I went to a dinner party where the main course consisted of a whole (but stunningly beautiful) boiled carrot, it’s unlikely I’d ever be back.
It seems that our preoccupation with appearances in modern society has, at some point in the past, left very little room for wonky fruit and vegetables. Mother Nature ensures that no two courgettes look alike, but you wouldn’t know that from the courgette clones you find in supermarkets. Our demand for perfection means that some two legged carrots and bumpy apples are grown, but never consumed.
The Ultimate Guide to Reducing Food Waste at Home
Download our free PDF guide to reducing food waste. It’s packed full of tips and recipes to help you eat well and waste less.
Indeed it was only recently that supermarkets started to stock wonky fruit and vegetables alongside their more aesthetically pleasing cousins. Most of us seem to have missed that, in these times of austerity, this fresh but wonky produce is available at prices that are sometimes 30% cheaper than the perfect looking produce. And the best bit, there’s nothing wrong with this produce other than it might look a little different. It still tastes great!
The Wonky Fruit and Vegetables Heros
There are now companies such as OddBox that specialise in supplying produce that has been rejected by the main retailers. Seasonal, UK grown fruit and vegetables that are of the highest quality, but which are available at a fraction of the supermarket price.
And it’s not only a matter of price, it’s an environmental consideration too. The Soil Association estimates that every year, between 20% and 40% of all fruit and veg produced in the UK is being buried in landfill, simply because someone somewhere didn’t like the look of them.
However research carried out by Mintel in 2014 showed that consumers aren’t as preoccupied with the attractiveness of fresh produce as major retailers seem to think we are. Most of us are intelligent enough to know that when it comes to fruit and vegetables, it’s beauty (and tastiness) on the inside that counts.
In other words we’re just as happy with wonky fruit and vegetables – and even more so if it’s at a discount!
Pick up some imperfect peppers! Get 25% off your first OddBox with our offer code FOODRUSH25.