Help save the planet by eating ugly produce
Food The ListIn America about 6 billion pounds of produce is wasted. That means roughly 20 percent of fruits and veggies meant for the dinner table end up in a landfill. How do we break the cycle? Jimmy Rhoades met up with Jordan Figueiredo, a man who is challenging those wasteful choices and has made it his mission to rescue ugly food.
1. Produce Problem
It’s a lot of perfectly good fresh fruits and vegetables being thrown out. There's nothing wrong with taste, flavor or freshness. It just looks a little different. There are all kinds of implications with wasted produce like water loss, lost labor and lost land. Food dumps are a major contributor to the rising problem of methane, a far more powerful greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.
2. Food Rescue Programs
Several supermarket chains have started programs to sell less than perfect produce. Though not all stores currently put ugly produce on their shelves, there are many, like Sprouts that have taken action to cut down on food waste.
3. Help Make a Difference
You can join in on the ugly produce crusade by signing a petition or even starting your own. Use social media to speak your mind to get the word out. For more information you can go to Uglyfruitandveg.org.
Would you ever consider buying ugly fruit? Join the conversation on our Facebook page, @TheListShowTV.