Walmart, America's largest grocer to start selling ugly produce!

by Sarah Phillips, CEO and founder, Ugly Produce is Beautiful

​This week, a brand of apples from Washington state, called “I’m Perfect,” will make its debut in 300 Walmart stores in Florida as a test run. This is part of their mission to help stop food waste.

Apples can become ugly from a hailstorm, high winds or even a string of very hot sunny days. This can damage the exterior skin of fruits. While the texture and flavor remain perfect, the exterior damage usually renders these fruits unsellable in the fresh market because they fail to meet traditional grade standards.

​Imperfect produce often ends up in landfills instead, contributing to food waste, which, in turn, is a major source of methane greenhouse gas emissions. For apples, blemish-related losses can reach as high as 30 percent, according to data from Columbia Marketing International that Wal-Mart cites, but no one really has a good handle on the exact statistics.

This is a big giant step in the right direction to help alleviate food waste.! The next big step will be for WalMart to source locally, such as selling ugly Florida oranges in their Florida stores, for example. That would be huge! 

Consumer food waste in our industrialized nation is the biggest piece of the problem. That's what we aim to help reduce through our recipes, education, and how tos.

​What do you think? Read some comments already post on my @UglyProduceIsBeautiful Instagram account.

​Join UPIB and follow @UglyProduceIsBeautiful and @food on Instagram.
There are hundreds of pages of recipes, tips, techniques, and food information on my site, www.CraftyBaking.com

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