Appearances can be deceptive. How many of us have purchased apples just because they look bright red and shiny? Or dumped a banana because of its brown spots? Everyday, millions of consumers globally buy fruits and vegetables based on how they look. Bruised, discoloured, or misshapen or in other words, ‘Ugly” looking produce is discarded, adding to the tonnes of food waste ending up in landfills.
Food quality standards have been set up in many, countries and regions such as Europe, the United States, and India.
As per the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) even a grade B tomato must “not be badly misshapen”. Until recently, the European Union even had set standards for the acceptable curvature of cucumbers and bananas.
Grown on small farms, by marginal farmers, most vegetables and fruits in India may not satisfy aesthetic standards and never make it to the shelf. Result? Thousands of kilos of agri produce are discarded every year.
Deepak Sabharwal, Co-founder and CEO, Earthy Tales is trying to change all that.
A second chance
Ugly Harvest, an initiative by Earthy Tales (www.earthytales.in), a Delhi, India based D2C Organic Food brand is trying to solve this problem. It saves organic, chemical free but discarded produce, which is rejected at the distribution stage and gives them a second chance.
These could be spotted apples, sun burnt Pomegranates (black spots), bruised Bottle gourds or shrunk capsicums. Earthy Tales team sorts, grades, dices these and deliver to their customers these 100% Chemical Free, perfectly edible but NOT SO BEAUTIFUL looking agri produce and thereby helps in limiting food waste – this is sold as a separate SKU by the name of “UGLY HARVEST” on their website and is priced lesser as compared to their usual organic vegetables, fruits range.
“Bruised, Spotted or Not So Good Looking” Vegetables & Fruits like potato, onion, tomato, bhindi, brinjal, green capsicum, ghia, cucumber desi, French beans, Tinda, lemon, green pumpkin, cabbage, Pomegranates, Apples etc. are made available as per the day to day accessibility as part of this initiative on their website.
Looks can be decieving
Says Naman Sondhi, Operations Head at Earthy Tales, “Vegetables with exterior flaws don’t mean they are not healthy and fit for consumption. The natural nutrient value in it matters, not the outer appearance. As a Farmer First venture, it hurts us the most to see an agri produce, especially the chemical free, organic produce go waste just because they aren’t good looking”
The team currently works with its retail customer base, educates them regularly to also adopt and accept this kind of “bruised, shrunk” produce. Lot of their customers now base their purchases on the taste, nutrition and not how they look when they arrive. It also addresses the problem of adulteration or using toxic chemicals to make veggies and fruits look fresh and good for a long time, which obviously is hazardous for human consumption.
And the company is now looking to work with online/offline grocery chains, hoteliers to promote this Ugly Harvest amongst their customer bases. After all, food wastage is a national problem and it requires a community-based solution.
Let’s respect food for its intrinsic value, reduce wastage and walk towards a sustainable world.
Earthy Tales is a community based clean food brand which mentor farmers across the country to move towards chemical free farming and also home delivers organic food in NCR. An Amazon Launchpad winner, a global Whatsapp case study for community building and a Ministry of Agriculture incubated start up, Earthy Tales is also one of the top upcoming 100 D2C brands and pioneering the Wellness and Nutrition movement in India.
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