Project aims to convince people that "ugly fruit" can be edible fruit скачать в хорошем качестве

Project aims to convince people that "ugly fruit" can be edible fruit

(26 Dec 2013) Just because misshaped fruit and vegetables are "ugly", it doesn't mean they aren't edible. That's the message of a Portuguese farm project that wants to reduce food waste by selling to consumers the fruit and vegetables rejected by large distributors because of their appearance. The project is named "Fruta Feia" - meaning "ugly fruit". It describes fruit and vegetables that are perfectly good to eat but don't fit industry standards for size and shape. One beneficiary of the project are the farmers who supply the cooperative and thus earn money for produce that would otherwise be discarded because of their looks. "It's well paid, they pay very well for the small fruit and we also have the satisfaction to be working in a project in which we believe," said Helena Garcia, a farmer in Pero Moniz, north of the capita,l Lisbon, since 2011. The "Ugly Fruit" project was founded by Portuguese environment engineer Isabel Soares in Lisbon in November. She quit her job in Barcelona, Spain, to start the cooperative. In its first few weeks the project had gathered 150 members, and there is a waiting list of nearly 200 more, in addition to the 15 farmers participating. It has also stopped two tons of food from going to waste. Soares says the project has a clear goal - to reduce the amount of food going to waste because it doesn't have that "perfect look." "We thought that now the consumers should be united in saying, "Enough, we also want to have in the supermarket 'ugly' things because we know they are good," she said. In a society with increasing poverty and unemployment, the project also makes consumers happy. Many of them support the project for the lower price of the fruit and vegetables, compared with those sold in the traditional market. Some also reckon that the "ugly" fruit and vegetables taste better. "It looks ugly but it is delicious and I prefer the ugly fruit instead of the beautiful and 'waxed' fruit," said civil servant Luisa Maia after paying 3.5 euros (4.7 US dollars) for a basket full of carrots, onions, pears, potatoes, tomatoes and chives from "Ugly Fruit". Like Maia, many consumers think that throwing food away should be frowned upon, even when there isn't an economic crisis. In Europe the average food waste produced by farmers amounts to 30 percent of their production. In Portugal this figure could be up to 40 percent depending on the season and the product, or approximately 1 (m) million tons of food waste a year. The project expects to go national next year. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...