Inglorious Fruits and Vegetables.....

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manda
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Inglorious Fruits and Vegetables.....

Post by manda »

Did anyone see about this?....INGLORIOUS FRUITS & VEGETABLES


I know that there has been the discussion on here re is organic better but putting that aside I think it's interesting the results that Intermarche have had with the Inglorious Fruits & Veg.....just goes to show that the "PR geniuses" aren't as clever as they think they are....people want to be able to afford their 5 a day not whether it's pretty or has a standard look about it.....maybe the supermarkets should have a rethink ...and maybe the customers should start putting pressure on them to do just that.

If youhave the time watch the video in the link above ..it's only a couple of minutes long abut I thought very interesting.
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silverback
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Re: Inglorious Fruits and Vegetables.....

Post by silverback »

It just makes so much sense, supermarkets have conditioned us to only accept perfect looking fruit and veg, right colour, right shape etc, but those that grow their own produce use whatever they're given!, and the plus side!, this produce is cheaper! )t'
There is a similar campaign by Hugh Fernley Whittingstall with fish, all the non so called acceptable catch from fishing is thrown back into the sea! which is perfectly good to eat, but EU rules stated it had to be thrown away! }hairout{ , I believe the campaign has been very successful )t' )t'
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Re: Inglorious Fruits and Vegetables.....

Post by Mo »

The Basics range (or whatever they call it) from Tco & Sby do this with carrots tomatoes & apples. Sometimes the carrots are broken so you have to be careful to use them before they rot, or cook and freeze if they've been in the fridge too long.

You used to be able to buy small apples at our local grower and shops. It made sense with children - an apple is an apple, small ones were cheaper / pound and more apples in the pound. But (possibly due to EU rules) most growers started turning the small ones into juice which is a bit of a waste of all the rest of the apple.
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Aspasia
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Re: Inglorious Fruits and Vegetables.....

Post by Aspasia »

That's brilliant, Manda! I hope our shops and supermarkets take a leaf (or fruit, or tuber) out of their book!
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manda
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Re: Inglorious Fruits and Vegetables.....

Post by manda »

What infuriates me is that someone getting paid a lot of money in the advertising department decided what we "like"...or rather what we should like......I think I'm old enough to do that for myself!

Perhaps the suppliers should start selling the Inglorious Fruits & Veg themselves direct to the public (own shops, coops,markets etc).... now that would create a stir wouldn't it. )de:
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Re: Inglorious Fruits and Vegetables.....

Post by Aspasia »

The farmers would definitely do a lot better out of it if they could do direct sales, because supermarkets are notoriously awful to their suppliers (just one example: all those BOGOF offers are funded by the suppliers, not the supermarket, and the suppliers have no choice but to fund them whenever the supermarket decides to have an offer, regardless of the supplier's own circumstances). But I'm pretty sure that supermarkets insist on exclusive contracts with farmers, so they are not allowed to sell any part of the crops that they are contracted to grow for the supermarket to anybody else. Even if that means additional expense for the supplier in destroying the 'waste'.
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Re: Inglorious Fruits and Vegetables.....

Post by silverback »

Aspasia wrote: But I'm pretty sure that supermarkets insist on exclusive contracts with farmers, so they are not allowed to sell any part of the crops that they are contracted to grow for the supermarket to anybody else. Even if that means additional expense for the supplier in destroying the 'waste'.


That is exactly what happens, the supermarkets buy the whole crop!! {mr.angry} }hairout{
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Re: Inglorious Fruits and Vegetables.....

Post by kitla »

I was told of a local farmer that was questioned as to why he was plowing
up a field of lettuces, his reply was that they were the wrong size for the
supermarket that he was contracted to. They couldn't even be sold as 2nd class
or donated to charity, what a terrible waste!
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Re: Inglorious Fruits and Vegetables.....

Post by Mo »

Not always true, I went round a dance club members greenhouses. They had to sort according to what the supermarkets decided they wanted (and if they wanted them in a different box to last time, then do it again). But he also sold wholesale, he said the market traders would take a box of ripe and a box of less ripe (carefully sorted to T's spec) and mix them before they sold them so that the customers could chose.
Mind you that was 14 yrs ago.
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manda
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Re: Inglorious Fruits and Vegetables.....

Post by manda »

I just don't get the issue with the shape / size of things surely the obvious thing would be to have everything priced by weight so if people want something smaller they can rather than the uniform produce that might be too small for some too big for others.....

When you look at all the waste in the world (I read approximately 300 million tons of food is wasted in a year) and the messages that come through all the time about it...

Intermarche's campaign just goes to prove how awful it is...their only problem was they kept selling out ...and this is only in one country !!

If I was the CEO of a supermarket chain I'd be looking at those spin doctors in the AD / PR departments and wondering why they were being paid at all....although I'm sure I wouldn't have thought was the right way to go in the first place......what makes me laugh if they say the customer is always right....well take a leaf out of Intermarche's book all you supermarkets because in my opinion they've tried to dum customers down ....that it's all about beauty and not about the food.....who's the dum ones now?
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Re: Inglorious Fruits and Vegetables.....

Post by silverback »

Manda wrote: that it's all about beauty and not about the food..


Your right Manda, but it's also about "profit!"......
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Re: Inglorious Fruits and Vegetables.....

Post by fabindia »

Interesting topic.

To some extent, I have double standards. I wouldn't buy sub-standard stuff from the supermarkets; why should we - it our own hard earned cash. But it's different when taking stuff from the garden. I'll trim the odd strawberry that's been a but bruised, etc.

However, it is a shame that the super markets absolutely insist on a set 'standard' at the risk of wasting other perfectly good produce.

Many on her grow a least a bit of our own fruit and veg and keep a few hens. As a consequent, we know how to manage and recycle less than perfect or an excess of produce.
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Re: Inglorious Fruits and Vegetables.....

Post by Aspasia »

I don't know, Michael. If they're selling the 'imperfect' fruit and veg at a lower price, then it's probably worth it to a lot of people. There are a lot of individuals and families struggling to afford fresh produce right now, and having a cheaper - but still fresh - option might make all the difference.

My parents used to live next door to a single mum on benefits, and they would buy a sack of potatoes every so often and give her half the sack. It worked out cheaper for them to buy that way than to buy half the amount in smaller bags, and they could also help out their neighbour. My mum said the woman was always embarrassingly grateful, and told her that the kids loved the fresh potatoes, because she could only ever afford to buy Smash. This made absolutely no sense to me, as Smash is more expensive. But then a friend of mine fell on hard times and was on benefits for a while, on her own with a baby. Despite being a farm-worker's daughter, raised on fresh produce from the garden, she told me that she bought Smash and frozen or canned fruit and veg because benefits were only paid fortnightly, and Smash etc keeps for longer than fresh produce. Also, she said it is easier to measure an exact amount every time, and so avoid using too much in one go, leaving not enough - or nothing - to eat at the end of the payment period. It was a budgeting decision that made it possible to be sure that she would have enough food to last her and the baby the whole period and not run out, even though it cost more initially.

I really don't know how people will cope if benefits actually do start to be paid out monthly instead of fortnightly: it is difficult enough for people to budget for two weeks at a time when on a very low income. In any event, though, cheaper produce might mean that some people can better afford fresh produce for themselves and their kids, even if only as a treat for the first week of their benefit period.
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Re: Inglorious Fruits and Vegetables.....

Post by kitla »

Since I've been buying organic & noticed the difference in appearance (usually) I
actively avoid buying the "perfect" sized, brightest coloured veg. It all looks
unnatural and hydroponically grown to me. I wouldn't buy damaged stuff though
unless they sell it off really cheap, which they rarely do.
At the farm shop I use they sell several types of English apples from a local grower
that are...well just like they been picked off a tree really! all sizes, natural taste,
and at the end of the season any leftovers get bagged up & sold off very cheap for
horses or wildlife. Same with their own grown asparagus, anything substandard
gets sold off cheap as "soup asparagus". No waste, just good sense, everyone gets
what they want.
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