Naturally Imperfect

The Following is an article I wrote for CMU's Student Newspaper, the Doxa. You can read the Doxa's digital edition here.






 On March 12, 2015, Loblaws announced that they would begin to sell “Naturally Imperfect” produce in their Ontario and Quebec Stores. In most cases, produce has to be just the right size, shape and colour without any imperfections or else a grocery store will not sell it. Life is not perfect. There is plenty of good food out there that gets thrown out because a carrot has a weird bend in it or an apple isn’t red enough. Loblaws will begin to sell this type of produce at a slight discount.

Canadians waste $31 billion dollars each year in food waste. This is a huge issue. If we can redirect some of this waste, especially when there is nothing wrong with it, then more people could afford to eat healthily.

One organization that is doing this is Ontario Christian Gleaners, an interdenominational organization that receives donations of produce that farmers can’t sell to grocery stores. They then dehydrate the fruits into snacks, and the vegetables into soup mix, and give this food to development agencies that can use it in famine situations.

When I heard the news that Loblaws was going to sell this naturally imperfect food, I was concerned that it would impact organizations like OCG, so I reached out to them for comment. Shelly Stone, OCG Manager, responded to me.  OCG processes 25,000 pounds of donated vegetables every week, the amount of produce that Loblaws is going to prevent becoming food waste is not going to significantly affect them.

Shelly told me that the amount of food waste in Canada is “astounding” and hopes that as Loblaws makes this option available, consumers will become better informed about their food. She writes that 25-30% percent of some farmer’s produce never makes it to market. This can be because it is too small, or a stone in the soil caused vegetables to twist around it. “We do applaud Loblaws for leading in this initiative”.

You too can help to reduce food waste. Perhaps one day Loblaws will expand this program in Manitoba as well. Until then, when you go to Superstore, you can see pink “Reduced for Quick Sale” stickers that offer 30% off of perishable items. This is because the food is reaching it’s “best before date” or “sell by date.” As Shelly notes, the food is still fine to eat at this point and hasn’t reached its expiration date. By purchasing this food, we can prevent it from ending up in a landfill. Or, if paying for food is too mainstream, you can fully embrace your identity as a hipster CMU student and go dumpster diving since so many retailers throw out food that is still safe to eat.