Embracing Ugly Foods - Diverting Food Waste And Filling My Stomach With Cheap, Organic Produce

anwenbaumeister (71) in farm • 8 years ago

I just received my first order of produce from Imperfect Produce. Imperfect Produce is a new company that has partnered with California farms to source “ugly foods” that otherwise wouldn’t be sold. They sell and distribute the produce to Bay Area residents via their “produce boxes”. I signed up for the extra large organic box and received:

4 limes
4 pomegranates
1 shokichi shiro squash
1 garlic head
2 lbs of grapes
1 butternut squash
1 bunch of cilantro
1 bunch of parsley
2 lbs green peppers
2 honeydews
2 lbs oranges
2 bunches of kale
1 lb rainbow carrots
2 lbs red onions
2 lbs potatoes
2 lbs sweet potatoes
3 lbs yellow peaches
1 lb zucchini.

Guess what...it was all ORGANIC. And, it cost me a total of $52.19 including delivery to my front door!

I have signed up for a weekly delivery and can customize my box to add more of or exclude certain fruits and veggies. I can pause my weekly delivery whenever I want so that I am not paying for produce when I am on vacation or do not need the food.

This is revolutionary in the food movement!!! We are saying yes to weirdly shaped or colored produce that tastes delicious and would otherwise be thrown away. (Wait...how did we get to a point in our food system where that is revolutionary??)

I have taken some photos of my “ugly food” and have added some informative text to the photos. This was inspired by Lexicon of Food’s info art and my friend, Lizzy Elliot, who works there. I hope you enjoy!

Sources

Coleman-Jensen, Alisha, Rabbit, Matthew, Gregory, Christian, and Singh, Anita. 2015, Household Food Security in the United States in 2014. USDA. http://www.ers.usda.gov/media/1896841/err194.pdf

http://www.blog.imperfectproduce.com/blog-1/2016/7/5/why-imperfect-fights-to-end-food-waste

http://foodtank.com/news/2015/06/world-environment-day-10-facts-about-food-waste-from-bcfn

https://steemit.com/writing/@anwenbaumeister/bridging-the-gap-between-food-insecurity-and-food-waste-in-the-u-s-can-we-do-it

Gunders, Dana. 2012, Wasted: How America Is Losing Up to 40 Percent of Its Food from Farm to Fork to Landfill. Natural Resource Defence Council. 12-06-B.

LET'S EAT REAL FOOD :-)

farm food agriculture environment

8 years ago by anwenbaumeister (71)

$275.00

Authors get paid when people like you upvote their post.
If you enjoyed what you read here, create your account today and start earning FREE STEEM!

Sort Order:

Trending

[-]

serejandmyself (70) · 8 years ago

Listen, i think you just gave a me a great idea... why dont we create a similar platofrm to peerhub, only instead, connect steemers who eat organic like yourself, and steemers like @papa-pepper who grow it?

I mean it wouldnt work outside the US, but it would give a freat boost to the SD economy plus society growth.

Do you think its a good idea?

$0.00

3 votes

[-]

steemrollin (69) · 8 years ago

Hey you can list food on Peerhub too... =P

$0.00

2 votes

[-]

serejandmyself (70) · 8 years ago

Yes but we need some sor tof a build in rep system... let me dm you

$0.00

[-]

allgoodthings (61) · 8 years ago

I think it's a great idea. I would love to buy produce through the cold season with sbd's :)

$0.00

[-]

the-stoned-ape (54) · 8 years ago

Indeed. Let's do it! I will find local farmers here and stores that tend to throw away produce and see if I can talk with them.

$0.00

[-]

veryrico (59) · 8 years ago

It's sad how much is wasted because it doesn't look pretty when all we do is cut it up, cook it and eat it all the same.

$0.00

1 vote

[-]

barrydutton (74) · 8 years ago

-- voted/resteemed/shared on my SM accts. Great ideas, approved!!

$0.00

[-]

lemouth (72) · 8 years ago

We are actually trying to buy as much "ugly food" as possible. From my own experience (which means nothing), they are actually tastier than "standardized food" which usually does not taste anything but have instead a perfect shape (or anything like that).

$0.00

[-]

ladypenelope1 (63) · 8 years ago

I can never understand why one fruit that slightly 'imperfect' ( and who decides this?) can not be sold becauce its not aesthetically pleasing to some - still taste the same! - this is a great concept , something all farmers should look to do.
Great share

$0.00

[-]

rubellitefae (61) · 8 years ago

Some taste better. Look at tomatoes. Those from supermarkets taste like styrofoam, but they grow more per plant and are nice, shiney, and red. Farmed tomatoes are delicious and healthy.

$0.00

[-]

anca3drandom (68) · 8 years ago

That is a great idea! And it's organic!

$0.00

[-]

goldmatters (74) · 8 years ago

Resteemed and tweeted!

$0.00

[-]

jonjon1 (63) · 8 years ago

That's brilliant! nothing wrong with a bit of ugly fruit and what a great price. Nice one!

$0.00

[-]

the-stoned-ape (54) · 8 years ago (edited)

Oh nice. I've been trying to get more into eating fruits and vegetables like a monkey used to million years ago. :D I've recently been eating a lot of fruits and vegetables, and some of the ones you listed here I've never even heard of. Fantastic post. Thanks!

I wrote an article on Zen and Squirrel Medidation if you've not seen it yet. I know do yoga and meditation as well and I wanted your opinion of my write up and/or any tips if you have the time. :) The Way of the Squirrel: Master of Zen

Also, how can I get started with something like this here in CO/Denver area? I want to promote this and get more involved w/ the local farmes and produce stores etc. Any tips or advice?

$0.00

[-]

ndbeledrifts (56) · 8 years ago

Thank you for the cool post! I know locally in Oregon there are several farms that do food boxes "cso" I think they call them, and it would be great to get a steem project connecting farmers and their produce-- perfect or imperfect, to people. It would beawesome if they farmers accepted steem!

$0.00

[-]

virtualgrowth (72) · 8 years ago

source: commentsyard.com

$0.00

[-]

steemrollin (69) · 8 years ago

I think I found my new food source! Hope they deliver where I am.. thank you and great find!

$0.00

[-]

jimitations (63) · 8 years ago

I eat misshapen, unattractive produce all the time. A company after my own heart!

$0.00

[-]

rayzzz (51) · 8 years ago

Love this idea. May try it out but I live in Texas. Would it ship well all the way from California? I don't like the automatic shipping. Just let me order one if I want with the option to autoship. Great idea! You might find growers all over the country to drop ship locally while you arrange sales nationwide. Lots of options here... Keep it up !!

$0.00

[-]

quinneaker (74) · 8 years ago

Cool!
Thats great you got to save money but most importantly to me this "ugly food" is being saved from the trash.
IN my day I have saved hundreds of thousands of $$$ worth of food from dumpsters and its not just "ugly" food but food that is past EXP etc.
Did you know that 40% of all food in the USA goes to the trash???
Yes sadly its true. So this is a great way to save some of that straight from the farm and bypass the stores.
A great company, hopefully a lot of people will support them and this model will become much more common. There are literally billions of $$ worth of food being thrown away in America.
Steem ON!

$0.00

[-]

ryanbaer (57) · 8 years ago (edited)

$0.00

[-]

yostopia (64) · 8 years ago

Fantastic post! This ought to be part of the food distribution network everywhere. Your $52 box of food would easily be twice that at the market. Right on Anwen!