Misshapen produce back in British shops
Farmers have been campaigning, in the circumstances, to avoid the wasting of perfectly good food, just because it happens to be slightly misshapen.
The response has been a relaxation of the rules by retailers, leading to shelf displays not seen in the country since the introduction of a series of "quality regulations" were introduced in the 1950s.
There are even hopes now that, as the slightly odd looking produce has found acceptance this year,it will be welcomed back on to the shelves next season also.
The EU is often blamed for the selection of perfectly straight and unblemished fruits, but, actually, retailers commenced such moves prior to similar EU regulatiosn, which have since been relaxed anyway.
Lee Abbey, a horticulture adviser at the National Farmers Union, said it has already been a tough year for farmers because yields are below average. Apples are almost a fifth down on last year.
"The NFU has been calling on supermarkets to relax their standards because we do not want perfectly good fruit and vegetables rejected," he said. "Common sense should be applied."
The supermarkets chains, Asda, Waitrose and Sainsbury's have all agreed to sell fruit and vegetables they would ordinarily classify as "outgrade."
Alan Wilson, Waitrose’s Technical Manager in Agronomy, confirmed consumers do not care how the food looks as long as the fruit and vegetables taste good.
"This season, from a dry start, has become one of the wettest we’ve ever known which has given farmers all kinds of challenges, from poor germination, crops rotting in the fields to simply not being able to access land to harvest.
"To help our farmers we operate a system that allows us to sell good quality but cosmetically imperfect fruit and vegetables. This can be from simple things such as accepting more mud on peas and beans than usual to shorter carrots, thinner parsnips or smaller strawberries."
Source: telegraph.co.uk
