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Why You Should Think Twice About Writing Off Ugly Produce

"Food doesn't have to be perfect looking to taste great."
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By 

Intern, HuffPost Video

Would you eat fruit and vegetables that you considered to be ugly? 

That was one of the big questions at this year's Food Loves Tech event earlier this month when "ugly" fruits and vegetables were put on display. The purpose was to showcase how cosmetic standards in the food industry contribute to massive amounts of food wasted in the U.S. Farmers discard 20 to 40 percent of produce for aesthetic reasons alone.

"My initial reaction is to think that it's wrong or I shouldn't eat it," attendee Brittany Agostino said. But after learning more about food waste at the event, she said she "definitely have changed my mind."

Watch the video above to see more from the event and how other attendees reacted to the food. 

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Before You Go

Companies That Fight Food Waste
Imperfect Produce(01 of11)
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Imperfect produce is saving the ugly carrots, potatoes and pears of the world and bringing them to your door (so long as you live in California). They connect farmers with ugly produce they cannot sell to grocery stores with consumers for a discounted price. (credit:Imperfect Produce)
EcoScraps(02 of11)
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"Grow gardens. Not landfills." That's the mission behind EcoScraps. The company gathers food scraps from grocery stores, restaurants, hospitals, cafeterias, public venues, stadiums and colleges, and recycles them into organic, sustainable garden products. (credit:EcoSracps)
Food Cowboy(03 of11)
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A truckload of food can be rejected by a grocery story if a single crushed box is on it. Once that happens, the cheapest thing for a lot of farmers who have to eat the delivery cost is to discard it at the nearest dump. That's where Food Cowboy steps in. They connect truckloads of rejected food to charities and other organizations. (credit:Food Cowboy)
Society of St. Andrews(04 of11)
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The Society of St. Andrews connects volunteers with farms to glean the fields for unpicked produce after the harvest. That produce is then delivered to food banks. They are largely set up in the south, but are looking for efforts all over the country. (credit:Society of St. Andrews)
Food Recovery Network(05 of11)
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Since 2011, Food Recovery Network has recovered 1,324,680 pounds of food. They take leftover food from university dining halls and deliver them to local food shelters. It was started by students at the University of Maryland, and now has 192 chapters across the country. (credit:Food Recovery Network)
Cerplus(06 of11)
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Cerplus connects farmers with wholesale buyers to help them unload their ugly or overly-ripe produce for a cheap price. They also handle the recovery and delivery of the produce. (credit:Cerplus)
Zero Percent(07 of11)
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Zero percent is an app that connects restaurants and stores with excess food to different neighborhood charities that run meal programs in the Chicago area. (credit:Zero Percent)
Organix Recycling(08 of11)
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Organix Recycling collects over seven million pounds of organic waste from over 6,000 supermarkets in more than 34 states every single week. That is huge. And then they recycle it in a number of ways -- such as bringing it to places that can use it as food or composting it if there are no other options. (credit:Organix)
Postharvest Education Foundation(09 of11)
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Postharvest losses count for about 30 percent of a farmer's harvest. And that's mostly a result of poor access to proper storage or because of the long distance goods have to travel to get to market. The Postharvest Education Foundation is seeking to provide innovative programs to help reduce that number globally. (credit:Postharvest Education Foundation)
D.C. Central Kitchen(10 of11)
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D.C. Central Kitchen makes 5,000 meals a day to be delivered to homeless shelters and nonprofits around D.C. They produce their meals from recycled food -- mostly donated from local farms with blemished produce that would have gone to waste. (credit:d.c. central kitchen)
Farm Raiser(11 of11)
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Farm Raiser connects students and schools with fresh, local produce and artisanal products as a healthy option for fundraising. (Say goodbye to the generic chocolate bars.) The company's main mission is not to fight food waste, but to connect farmers with students (which in turn helps farmers sell more product, waste less harvest). The students can earn 53 percent of the profits and 85 percent of sales stays in the local economy. (credit:FarmRaiser)
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