Accepting produce “as is” could save consumers money and reduce waste
Canadian society prides itself in supporting diversity and being inclusive—until it comes to fresh produce.
Nearly $31-billion worth of food, much of it fruit and vegetables that are considered cosmetically imperfect or “ugly,” is wasted in Canada every year.
Researchers at the University of Guelph want to change this, as one way of finding solutions to feeding our growing population.
Geography Prof. Kate Parizeau and School of Hospitality, Food and Tourism Prof. Michael von Massow are looking for ways to reduce food waste throughout the value chain, beginning with farmers and ending with consumers. They underline the importance of this message as the New Year brings resolutions to eat healthier home cooked meals.
“In the big picture, we waste too much food at all stages of the value chain,” says von Massow. “But we don’t have a very good understanding of exactly how much food is wasted at each stage.”
One component of Parizeau and von Massow’s research is imperfect produce, which generates waste in several stages of the value chain. Sometimes known as “ugly” produce, misshapen fruits and vegetables are often rejected or overlooked because of consumers’ perceptions that it’s lower quality, even though it isn’t.
At the farm and production levels, this produce may get rejected because it doesn’t properly fit the processing equipment used to prepare frozen foods or juices.
In a recent survey of Guelph residents, Parizeau and von Massow found the average household throws away about four and a half kilograms of food each week. About half of this is fruits and vegetables, some of which is “ugly” produce that was purchased as part of a larger prepackaged bag.
“We’re finding that people don’t value their food very well,” says Parizeau. “Especially with ugly produce, we don’t realize this food is still good and healthy even though it doesn’t look like what we think food should look like.”
Von Massow says ugly produce tends to get wasted because we don’t know what to do with it if it isn’t perfect. He calls this a lack of food literacy, and says if they knew they could incorporate it into baked goods or sauces, they might not discard it.
But while a lack of food literacy may discourage consumers from using imperfect produce, many consumers simply won’t buy imperfect produce whatsoever. For Parizeau and von Massow, understanding this avoidance means solving what they refer to as the “food waste chicken-and-egg problem.” They’re working to determine if consumers don’t buy imperfect produce because grocery stores don’t offer it, or whether grocery stores don’t offer it because they think consumers won’t buy it.
The researchers credit Loblaw for having recently introduced a “Naturally Imperfect” initiative to sell imperfect fruits and vegetables at a discounted price. But they want everyone to know imperfect produce is only one aspect of a much larger food waste problem.
“Eating ugly produce is a great start but it doesn’t let us off the hook,” says von Massow. “There are still huge problems with food waste and we need to start thinking about all the reasons people are throwing food out.”
Also involved in this research is prof. Ralph Martin.
Funding for this research was provided by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and York Region.