By Scott Mechura EBS FOOD COLUMNIST
We say we are tolerant. We say we are accepting of those
that are different from us, that looks aren’t important, it’s what’s on the
inside that’s important. But do we really believe that?
Consider one tomato in particular that regularly finds
itself advancing deep in the flavor bracket. It is grown in abundance,
reasonably priced and not at all expensive—which would make it seem as if this
tomato checks all the boxes.
But there’s just one problem: this tomato is not visually
appealing. In fact, it’s downright ugly: Florida’s UglyRipe tomato, one of the
most flavorful tomatoes on the market and also one of the least expensive.
Because these tomatoes have deep grooves and crevices, they
are deemed not attractive enough for commercial sale. Therefore, they are hard
to get outside of Florida.
So on one coast, we routinely experience shortages with
items like tomatoes. Too much rain in the Salinas Valley, they say. Too dry in
Mexico. It’s always some type of weather challenge that compromises the
produce, which inevitably creates a price increase for the consumer.
Yet on the opposite coast, we grow a tomato with superior
flavor and lower price, yet simply due to its appearance, the Florida Tomato
Committee, which is a collection of growers of “beautiful tomatoes,” has banded
together to prevent the sale of the Ugly Ripe outside the state.
Simultaneously, we talk of the perils of starvation, food waste and world
hunger.
It seems our hypocritical vanity has no bounds. But it’s not
just tomatoes. A variety of produce doesn’t pass the beauty test.
A study conducted earlier this year by the Journal of
Marketing found a fascinating conclusion. The number one reason consumers avoid
unattractive but perfectly edible fruits and vegetables was that purchasing unattractive
produce negatively affected their perception of themselves and lowered their
self-esteem.
You can’t be serious, I thought. Are we really this fragile?
Farmers leave as much as 30 percent
of their produce in the field because it would be perceived as unsightly to the
consumer. I have been on tour with farmers and walked endless fields of
strawberry (yes, strawberry fields forever). And walking the rows, I had
beautiful strawberries at my feet in the dirt that were vibrant red and
delicious. Why on the ground? Because they would be spoiled by the time they
reached the grocery store. Instead, they pick and package under-ripe fruit so
that they turn red by the time you see it in your local market.
And groceries trash over 15 billion dollars in produce
annually that is still quite edible. Restaurants do their fair share of
discarding produce as well. We can utilize less than stellar fruits and
vegetables, depending on the dish or preparation, but the challenge is that we
are the end user, which means once we even receive these items, the spoilage
clock has already been ticking for days.
Thankfully, there are companies popping up that, much like a
meal kit, will sell weekly and monthly boxes of produce that is categorized as
“too visually unappealing for consumer sales.”
Let’s go America. What would Lady Liberty say about such
unloved produce?
“Give me your wrinkled, your twisted, your huddled bunches
yearning to be picked, the discarded produce of America’s salad bowl. Send
these, your tempest under soil, I lift my cutting board and knife to you.”
Scott Mechura has
spent a life in the hospitality industry. He is a former certified beer judge
and currently the Executive Chef at Buck’s T-4 Lodge in Big Sky.