The Ugly Produce Movement: Buying Imperfect Fruits And

Vegetables

Might Be The Smartest Thing For Reducing Food Waste

Is Ugly Produce Actually Different?

Columbia Business School research confirms that the bias against ugly produce is one that extends to social psychology, and has no link with biology. It’s like the tale of the 2022 K-drama Extraordinary Attorney Woo, where the main character has autism and hence having trouble getting hired by top law firms. She was top of her class in law school with the same capability as the rest of her batchmates.

People tend to form similar biases when it comes to their food as they do for people they admire or shun based on how they look or might behave. The ugly produce movement attempts to change that, perhaps not as wholesome as one would expect, but a good attempt to sell produce that is perfectly good and as nutritious as the unblemished ones.

Using a filtered lens is only feasible and agreeable when it comes to social media platforms like Instagram and Snapchat. But given the abysmal food waste numbers and the number of stomachs going hungry every single day, the logic of preferring pretty fruits and vegetables can be harmful for the planet.

Food Waste at the Farm Level

Going back to data, when it comes to India, it is seen that a significant portion of food waste in India occurs right at the farm. These are exacerbated with poor harvesting techniques, lack of ample storage and infrastructure, leading to spoilage of fruits, vegetables, and grains. According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), up to 40% of fruits and vegetables in India are lost before they even reach the markets.

At the retail end, the situation is made worse by the same biased appearance-based rejection. Supermarkets know this well, and beforehand, they tend to reject fruits and vegetables for being misshapen, too large, too small, or slightly blemished. The tragedy is that an overly bent cucumber contains the same water content, vitamins, and fibre as a straighter one. So does a chilli that might be too wrinkled and way more curvy than a smooth one.

How Ugly Produce Boxes are Making Inroads in Indian Cities

Globally, the model of subscription boxes filled with imperfect produce has shown that consumers will pay for produce that is cheaper and meaningful. Brands including Odd Produce, Misfits Market, Imperfect Produce, and the Wonky Veg Box have food waste information and statistics on their websites and describe their work in language that normalises and fosters a positive image for these peculiar produce items. 

The pricing is also advantageous for those who can look beyond the aesthetics and register the fact that it is real: companies like Misfits Market and Imperfect Produce sell discarded produce at prices 30 to 50 per cent lower than what you would find at a grocery store. 

In India, the movement is catching momentum in metros like Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Delhi, driven by conscious consumers, restaurant chefs, and food waste startups. Some chefs say that plating is something that takes a lot of effort, and shaping fruits and vegetables to make them more appealing is tedious and unsustainable. This contributes to food waste, as cutting off parts of a perfectly good vegetable or fruit, just because of their appearance, adds to it.

What Happens When Ugly Vegetables are Left in The Field?

Farmers leave up to 30% of their produce in the field because they know it is not aesthetically pleasing enough to pick and sell. This is not just a waste of food, it is a waste of every resource that went into growing it: water, soil, seed, labour, and fuel. An estimated 8-10% of global greenhouse gas emissions are associated with food that is not consumed, as per the United Nations Climate Change portal.

For Indian farmers, many of whom are already stretched thin and work without crop insurance or cold chain access, the rejection of perfectly edible produce by retailers or mandis compounds an already fragile livelihood. Added to that, local weather sometimes drives the price of their produce to unsustainable amounts, causing them to destroy such depreciated produce. Around 33.1% of total production in India is wasted each year due to ineffective and inefficient post-harvest stages of the food supply chain.

Perfect Produce vs Imperfect Produce

What Can You Do With Imperfect Produce at Home?

The best news about ugly vegetables? They are perfectly suited to the way most Indians actually cook, like in curries, dals, sabzis, chutneys, pickles, and wholesome soups, where shape is entirely irrelevant.

Here are some ideas:

• Use misshapen tomatoes in chutneys, rasam, or tomato rice

• Forked or oddly sized carrots are ideal for gajar ka halwa, stir-fries, or sabzis

• Scarred or oversized onions go straight into biryanis, gravies, and add tadkas

• Imperfect spinach or methi leaves are perfect for saag and paratha

• Use blemished bananas in banana bread, milkshakes, or pancakes

The Zero-Waste Wisdom India Already Has

The zero-waste approach that once defined kitchens in India, Africa, and Latin America is now being rediscovered in the West. As movements like nose-to-tail butchery and farm-to-table dining gain traction, they mirror practices that have been second nature in many developing countries for generations. The dadi who used the outer leaves of a cauliflower for sabzi and the peels of a bottle gourd for chutney was practising the ugly produce philosophy long before it had a name.