b'An Imperfect SupermarketUgly produce is taking the United States by storm with its goal to reduce food waste nationally.Alex Martin amartin@issuesink.comHAVE YOU EVERheard of ugly produce?economically viable food system Its a new phenomenon taking the consumerfor farmers, growers and food by storm.purveyors. Think about all the produce that you see in theWhen not directly grocery. Its all pretty uniform, minus the occasionalthrown out, the produce size difference between a few zucchinis. But now,could be tilled back think about to some of your own garden experi- into the field or sold to ments. I bet youve occasionally picked a tomatoprocessors or animal with a large growth on it, or a carrot that lookedfeed producers for like it has legs.very little, Brock This imperfect produce doesnt usually makesays. Now, instead of it into supermarkets due to standards for size,writing it off as a loss, shape and color. Because of this, 33% of food thatsgrowers can choose grown is either unharvested or left behind in fieldsto sell it to Imperfect, because of the suspicion that it might not meet theknowing that it will go on cosmetic standards of consumers.to feed people. This helps Thats where companies like Imperfect Foodsgrowers sell more of what step in.they planted while feeding Founded in 2015, Imperfect Produce is a sub- more people with less waste scription service that delivers produce to consum- and lets Imperfect pass on ers doors for up to a 30% discount compared tosavings to their customers. grocery store prices. How can they manage that?Despite the fact that They send you produce that doesnt meet super- some ugly produce bins market standards. are appearing in grocery stores Grocery stores have unmandated standardsacross the United States, Imperfect for size, shape and color that prevent buyers fromstill believes that the best way to get this purchasing certain product from their farmers,produce to their customers is directly to their door,80 says Reilly Brock, content manager for Imperfectinstead of marketing to supermarkets. million is the number of Foods. These imperfections are often small quirksGrocery stores are one of the main reasonspounds of food saved in appearance and do not impact the flavor orimperfect fruits and vegetables need rescuing,by Imperfecthealth benefits. Brock says. Though were excited to see more That means all those oddly shaped tomatoes,ugly produce bins emerging, weve found that carrots that look like legs and eggplants with largebringing the produce directly to consumers is a growths on them wouldnt be chucked out of thestronger way to promote change. 767grocery store. Instead, theyd end up in a box onAnd so far, change they have found. To date,farmers andyour doorstep, ready to be cooked with withoutImperfect has saved 80 million pounds of food, 1.2producers are making downsides.billion gallons of water and 110 million pounds ofa better living Imperfects goal was founded on one value:carbon dioxide, according to Brock. reducing food waste across the United States,As we grow to expand to new markets, those whether thats in the field, in the grocery or atnumbers will continue to rise as we redirect res-home. Theyre delivering groceries on a mission.cued and surplus foods back to consumers, he284Forty percent of all food in the United Statessays. For us, the farther we expand our reach, thethousand reduced cost goes uneaten, Brock says, adding that theres a lotgreater impact we can have on restructuring ourboxes haveof standards and regulations that make producebroken food system and bring affordable, qualitybeen delivered tounable to reach the grocery store. Imperfect wasproduce into new areas.SW low-income families.started to solve this major issue and create a more 22/ SEEDWORLD.COMDECEMBER 2019'