Linda Hall: I’m glad I’m not an apple - it’s time for an ugly produce revolution

These poor carrots wouldn't stand a chance of ending up on the shelves of some supermarkets.

OPINION:

I’m glad I’m not an apple, because if I was, I’d be in the second bin or thrown in the rubbish just because I’m not perfect in every way.

Actually, I’m not perfect in any way - I’m just me. I’ve got a few blemishes on me, I’ve been hit by hailstones a few times and have fallen over a time or two and ended up with bumps and bruises.

I haven’t been thrown out. Not yet, anyway.

I really think it’s about time our fruit and vegetables are given the same courtesy.

But no. One blemish, one odd shape or different colour, and out they go.

Unfortunately, it’s humans that have caused this. The consumer of today wants everything to look appealing. But as we all know, looks can be deceiving. Sometimes the perfect fruit and veges we pay top dollar for can be disappointing.

They might look beautiful, but they lack taste or go off in just a few days.

Food growers in Hawke’s Bay and many other parts of New Zealand have had a terrible year, to say the least. Not being able to sell their goods because they are not visually appealing is disgraceful.

The export market demands perfection, I hear you say, but look on any NZ supermarket shelf and the majority of produce looks perfect.

Linda Hall is assistant editor at Hawke's Bay Today. Photo / Warren Buckland.

I hear readers screaming at me: “And so it should be, for the price they are asking.”

That is my point exactly.

Give us the choice. Buy the imperfect produce from our growers and let the consumer decide what they want.

At the moment, many families simply can’t afford to buy perfection. We don’t need perfection. We need affordable food.

Recently, I cut a potato in half and found an “eye”, as I used to call them. A little black spot. It made me think about how I hadn’t seen that for ages. Cutting the black eye out of a potato was something I used to do often when peeling spuds as a child, and also for my children. It was never a problem. Very rarely did you have to throw out the entire thing.

I would happily buy ugly, bruised, blemished produce — of course, the price would have to reflect that.

Countdown does have “The Odd Bunch”, which is fantastic. They work with “local growers, taking imperfect produce that would usually be thrown away, and selling it at reduced prices”.

Good on them. We need more of this. I was happy to see yesterday that New World in Hastings had whole crown pumpkins for $5.99, but what was even better was they were not perfect. Hooray.

Other products in the shop all looked very glamorous, and the prices reflected that, with half a cauliflower going for $5.79 and half a cabbage $5.49, all wrapped perfectly in plastic.

We don’t want or need perfection. What would be great is if we had the choice. A perfect cauliflower or one with imperfections. The cost for the imperfect one would need to reflect that. I’m not just talking $2 cheaper, I’m talking a third of the price.

Let’s give ugly a chance.

Linda Hall is assistant editor at Hawke’s Bay Today.