The next time you go grocery shopping, don\u2019t turn up your nose to an asymmetrical apple or a forked carrot; they\u2019re just as nutritious as more perfect-looking produce and they cost less.<\/p>\n
Loblaw introduced \u201cNaturally Imperfect\u201d produce last year, offering up to a 30-per-cent discount to whet consumers\u2019 appetites. The line has since expanded to offer more items, including peppers, onions and mushrooms.<\/p>\n
Prof. Mike von Massow, Department of Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics, thinks it\u2019s a great initiative. \u201cWe know that more than half of the food that is thrown out at the household level is fruits and vegetables.\u201d Two-thirds of that waste is avoidable, he adds.<\/p>\n
Imperfect produce usually doesn\u2019t make it to grocery stores because of consumer perceptions that it\u2019s lower quality. Instead, these fruits and vegetables are often sold at farmers\u2019 markets, used in juices or thrown out.<\/p>\n
Consumers have grown accustomed to perfect produce because that\u2019s what grocery stores have traditionally offered. \u201cIt\u2019s clear that it has to do with a disconnect between us and our food,\u201d says geography professor Kate Parizeau, who studies food waste. \u201cWhen we grew our own food it was easy to understand that this carrot next to the ugly one grew in the same conditions. There\u2019s nothing wrong with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Von Massow says food often gets wasted because it\u2019s no longer suitable for its original purpose, but that doesn\u2019t mean it can\u2019t be used for something else. Overripe bananas, for example, can be used in banana bread or smoothies.<\/p>\n
He also recommends keeping track of the food you already have so that you don\u2019t buy the same items at the grocery store. And don\u2019t throw something out just because it has reached or passed its \u201cbest before\u201d date, which is only an indication of when the product has reached its peak, not when it has expired.<\/p>\n
The researchers partnered with the City of Guelph and York Region to analyze food waste and develop strategies to minimize it. Composting food waste reduces its environmental impact, but it\u2019s a costly service for cities to provide.<\/p>\n
\u201cI often tell people that if you\u2019re throwing 20 per cent out, and you go buy five bags of groceries, you might as well leave one at the curb because it\u2019s going to end up there anyway,\u201d he says. \u201cWhy double the trip?\u201d \u2013SUSAN BUBAK<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The next time you go grocery shopping, don\u2019t turn up your nose to an asymmetrical apple or a forked carrot; they\u2019re just as nutritious as more perfect-looking produce and they cost less. Loblaw introduced \u201cNaturally Imperfect\u201d produce last year, offering up to a 30-per-cent discount to whet consumers\u2019 appetites. The line has since expanded to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":1711,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":null,"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":null},"categories":[13],"tags":[53,235],"yoast_head":"\n