More than a third of the fruit and vegetables grown in Europe is wasted because it looks a bit wonky, research says. A study estimated that over 50,000,000 tons of fresh produce is thrown away each year because they don’t meet supermarket and consumer standards.
The paper described food loss and waste (FLW) as ‘one of the great scourges of our time,’ when 10% of the world’s population is chronically hungry. The study examined how much food is thrown away within the European Economic Area before it gets on to shop shelves. Their findings stated: ‘The use of aesthetics for classifying and accepting fresh food for sale and consumption is built into food quality standards and regulations of the European Union. ‘The food distribution sector in Europe and the UK is oligopolistic in nature; a small number of supermarket chains control a large market share. The influence of these “multiples” enables them to impose additional proprietary “quality” criteria.
Produce that doesn’t meet these standards may be lost from the food supply chain, never seeing a supermarket shelf – it may not get past the supplier, or even leave the farm. ‘Our estimates suggest over a third of total farm production is lost for aesthetic reasons.’ The university said the climate change impact of growing the wasted food – some of which may be ploughed back into fields, used in animal feed or otherwise reused – is equivalent to the carbon emissions of almost 400,000 cars.
The scientists suggest that greater awareness among consumers, and a movement towards shopping sustainably, could encourage the sale of more ‘ugly’ vegetables.
Source: metro.co.uk
