In Brussels (the Belgian city, not the sprouts), EU officials have decided to lift the ban on crooked, bent, or twisted perfectly-edible fruit and vegetables. For the past 20 years, 100 pages of regulations have required that produce be uniform in appearance, and sold without any odd curves.
But not all fruit is exempt from standards of beauty — appearance regulations for apples, strawberries, citrus fruit, kiwi, lettuce, pears, peaches, nectarines, sweet peppers, table grapes, and tomatoes will still be on the books, although each country can decide whether they want to enforce them.
Produce sellers in a few countries, like Italy and France, worry that after the ban is gone, consumers will purchase less fruit and vegetables because they will be scared away by deformities. Even if you discriminate against ugly, yet edible, food, should the law be able to?
Ben Sherman
Paul & Joe
APC
ugly fruit?? c'mon!!!!!
1Um...I don't understand why there was a ban in the first place. That seems really wasteful.
2This was a law?! REALLY?! For crying out loud...
3What? That is very odd.
4Most countries wanted the ban for certain vegetables because it made transport much easier. Transport costs are high in Europe, especially in countries that charge for the use of motorways.
5Oh my god that's hilarious! How racist!!
Poor fruits and
veggies..
6But how would banning ugly produce make transport easier? I still don't get it
It
seems like it would make it harder to pack and ship produce when you have to pick out all the misshapen ones.
7I wonder what other "problems" Brussels has...
8They should just ban produce that doesn't taste good...like Brussels sprouts.
9Thank god the discrimination is over.
10Lmao Jude! As far as shipping, I guess they'd rather waste time nitpicking than waste space? tiny, tiny space..
11
I'm with you Jude!
12I wonder if ugli fruits were allowed to be sold there
13Omg, the awful puns
14did they just throw out the "bad" fruit? That would be just great you know, with all the starving people out there.
15You know the people whose job it was to sort out the homely produce went home every day with lots of free fruits and veggies every day. At least I hope they did.
16things that don't fit end up in market stalls, i buy them myself sometimes cause they're a lot cheaper! I think they lift it because of climate change. I think this is good! Farmers can use less chemicals to make them look the same, great for the environment and great for farmers, they can get a fairer price on fruits/vegs.
17they should make carbon footprint label compulsory as well. We need it believe me.
18thanks for that blue!
19sorry didn't mean to come across as little miss know it all, food is my area, i won't share in what way, but it's what i do for a living.
20There's lots of over-production in many other agricultural sectors, but since there aren't any official solutions for it yet, the food usually gets discarded. Getting rid of this ban doesn't really solve any problems regarding high food prices.
21The EU pays a lot of aid to the agricultural sectors (since the farmes in many countries can't live from it anymore), which is why they often over-produce. High food prices in the EU are a complex problem I think, and lifting this ban won't change anything about it (but ugly cucumbers, rejoice!)
Surplus food goes to developing countries, it doesn't stay around here for so long, we dump them there and make these countries buy them cheaply from us. But you maybe right this might be a move to lower food prices but mind you these food weren't so expensive anyway, it was the meat to me that went up the roof! Oil prices have come down also. Climate change might be a factor in lifting it, they might want to change the intensive nature of food production, this might be a tiny step forward.
22I used to hate Brussels Sprouts..until a friend made me try them her way. Steamed, with salt, Parmesan cheese, and just enough butter to make the cheese stick. Yum!
And yeah, banning deformed fruits and vegetables seems silly.
23I bow to the most idiotic law of the land. :bow:
Does anyone know why the law was put into place to begin with?
24Haha, farm subsidies cause overproduction so a law is made to mandate that only some of the produce may be sold to consumers. Sounds pretty backwards.
25UnDave35 supermarkets push that law! So that the products can look beautiful in a neat package.
26Ugly fruits need love too
27Heirloom tomatoes look pretty strange and ugly but people (other than myself...I hate tomatoes) seem to love them.
28blue, I've tried them a few times and never really been impressed. Maybe I have a strange palate.
29I had no idea of this but this explains why the fruit in Northern Ireland was so freakly identical. It looked artificial, I found it repulsive. I'm pretty sure in Spain the law is way more relaxed, even though it might be in place too.
I'm glad of the change. Hopefully, "ugly" fruit will be cheaper.
30Calimie! In Ireland everything is traceable no? I was there not so long ago in Connemara and everything was traceable from supermarkets! That is fantastic
I enjoyed everything. It was so yummy, your lamb, organic salmon and apples.. I was blown
away by the country and the food.
31Heirloom tomatoes.. LOVE 'EM (at least the ones I have tried)! More meat, less seed.
... did that sound gross?
32I highly recommend reading 'How to Pick a Peach' if you want to learn more about the produce industry and how to pick out the best stuff from the grocery.
33I haven't read all the comments but this is pretty ridiculous...there are people world wide starving, and living below the poverty level and they are worried about cute food? Ugh!
34amy-
No, it decidely did not. I am a HUGE fan and look forward to tomato season every year.
35awwwww... don't hate on the Brussel sprouts... they need love too
36me too, kranky!
37
38Pervert!
39I love brussel sprouts! don't be hating. I would totally be on the "Equal Rights for all fruits and veggies" committee.
40geebers-
Doncha mean you'd be the 'Produce Czar'?
41Sarah... Pervert? Who? ME???!!!!!
42Truth hurt?
43I absolutely love Brussels sprouts.
44Maybe you guys who hate Brussels sprouts are "super tasters".
45They do taste bad if they're overcooked. Some kind of chemical reaction.
46I never got the whole thing over not using fruits/veg. that are bruised or have a spoiled spot. Just cut it off. My old room mate used to toss fruits and veg. all the time and say she can't be bothered with cutting off the bad parts. Just another testament to the amount of food we waste.
47well i can understand sort of why they had this in place to begin with but depending on how you're planning to use the fruits and veggies - does it really matter what it looks like when you buy it? for myself - if i'm making a salad or using veggies in a cooked dish, then who cares if it's not the Perfect 10?
48I am so...so very glad they overturned this piece of tripe!
(or potato. or carrot.)
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