Walmart Unveils New Lines Of Ugly Apples And Potatoes

[Kel Varnsen]

Walmart has started to see the beauty in ugly produce.

The nation’s largest grocer on Tuesday announced a new initiative to sell “ugly” apples in 300 Florida stores, according to a blog from the company. Beginning in May, the company also started sellingmisshapen potatoes in and around Texas that would have otherwise been wasted.

These announcements come three weeks after The Huffington Post launched its Reclaim campaign to spotlight the issue of food waste. Part of our effort targeted Walmart in the hopes of getting the chain to stock its shelves with a variety of imperfect fruits and vegetables across its massive network of stores.

Up to 40 percent of food in the U.S. goes uneaten, according to a study from the Natural Resources Defense Council. Some of the food is composted or turned into animal feed, but most of it winds up in landfills, according to the organization. A significant contributor to the problem is grocery chains rejecting produce because it does not meet standards for ideal size, shape or appearance, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.

...

Both items will be sold to customers in bundles at a lower price per pound than traditional potatoes or apples would be, according to Ales.

This is really good news. I hope they expand the program nationally and with other foods.

We waste entirely too much food and it doesn't make any sense to waste it because it doesn't look perfect. This will also get more whole foods into the hands of more people because the food will be cheaper and available at a massive retailer.

 

[puckhead]

I don't shop there but I'll applaud this move.

 

[Dback Jon]

I don't shop there but I'll applaud this move.

Ditto

 

[DeAnna]

Why not just donate it to food kitchens/shelters?

 

[BigRedRage]

Why not just donate it to food kitchens/shelters?

no profit in that

 

[HeavyB3]

Every grocery store should do this and we, as consumers, need to accept the fact that a oddly shaped apple or potato is as good as a "regular" shaped version. So much fruit and vegetables are wasted because they don't look pretty.

 

[BigRedRage]

Every grocery store should do this and we, as consumers, need to accept the fact that a oddly shaped apple or potato is as good as a "regular" shaped version. So much fruit and vegetables are wasted because they don't look pretty.

I only eat supermodel apples.

 

[HeavyB3]

I only eat supermodel apples.

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[cardncubfan]

Ditto

Trippo or whatever the word is after ditto.

 

[Linderbee]

Trippo or whatever the word is after ditto.

Quadrupo.

 

[oaken1]

my local walmart has been selling ugly produce for a few years now....picked too early, stored to long...damn stuff is green and rotting at the same time.
I started buying most of my produce from roadside vendors and local farms....I grew up in Cali and my mother worked in the tomato industry for 45 years...it really pisses me off to go into a local store and see nothing but Mexican tomatoes...the USA grows tomatoes, there is zero valid reason for any store to import them. Before I moved out of Louisiana I launched a pitch and complain campaign on my local walmart...every time I went I tracked down the produce manager and complained about the Mexican tomatoes,....told him I would pay $5 a pound for USA tomatoes before I would pay .50c a pound for Mexican tomatoes....it took a couple months but he started stocking USA grown tomatoes.....oh wow,...only .15c a pound more...and surprisingly they are the first ones to sell out...

so far here in Mississippi the walmarts appear to keep good stock of home grown produce for the most part,...they often even stock from local farms which I prefer.....still give most of my business to the roadside vendors but it is nice to know there are options. you can get some pretty funky looking stuff when buying from local farms but the quality just cannot be touched by any of the big box stores...ripened in the field, picked yesterday, and on my burger today...just the best.

 

[BigRedRage]

a burger sounds great right now

 

[DemsMyBoys]

I grew up in Cali and my mother worked in the tomato industry for 45 years....

I can remember driving behind trucks loaded with fresh-picked tomatoes headed for the Hunts factory in Fullerton. The tomatoes were so hard that they'd hit the pavement and bounce.,..not squish.

Tomato picking is brutal work. So is working in the factories that process them. Hats off to your mother.

 

[oaken1]

I can remember driving behind trucks loaded with fresh-picked tomatoes headed for the Hunts factory in Fullerton. The tomatoes were so hard that they'd hit the pavement and bounce.,..not squish.

Tomato picking is brutal work. So is working in the factories that process them. Hats off to your mother.

thank you...my mom is an amazing woman....she was the first woman to do every job in that plant and had to earn everything she ever received...she has a box full of employee of the year awards,lol...and never looked at a single one...
the last one, I came by her house when she got home from work,..and I saw this plaque tossed in the corner of the couch...I ask her what it is and she says, " oh, I don't know...employee of the week or something, I have lots of them"...I turned it over to see it was the 2008 employee of the year...I called my brother and we took her to dinner, she was so embarrassed, lol. The next day I was over while she was putting it away....she had four boxes of plaques for employee of the week, month, and year....such a big switch from her first ten years out there when all the guys would flash their junk at her everyday and pinch her butt all the time.
It cracks me up a bit because I often get accused of being a woman hater and nothing could be further from the truth.... it is possible I am guilty of holding women to a higher standard I guess...the shrinks say men compare women to their mothers...and maybe I do,..my mother is a hard act to follow.