6 Billion Pounds Of Perfectly Edible Produce Is Wasted Every Year, Simply Because It's Ugly

The Huffington Post  |  By Kate Bratskeir Email Posted: 05/19/2015 11:40 am EDT 

Lemon

An estimated six billion pounds of fruits and vegetables are wasted every year in the U.S. because they are ugly, according to report by the Natural Resources Defense Council. That means more than 20 percent of the produce grown for human consumption is rejected by grocery stores and goes uneaten because of its appearance.

Founders of a crowd-funded company called Imperfect are attempting to minimize this waste by working with farmers to source "cosmetically challenged" seasonal produce and deliver it to subscribers' homes on a weekly basis.

Parsnip

Tomato

The California-based startup reached its fundraising goal earlier this month and plans to begin service in Oakland and Berkeley this summer. Farmers should profit, making money off crops that would have otherwise been trashed in landfills. Customers benefit because the fruit and veggies cost 30 to 50 percent less than they would at the grocery store, and tastes exactly the same as its physically attractive counterparts, the company pledges.

"You're going to feel good, knowing that by eating Imperfect, you're helping to reduce food waste and protect the environment from the green house gasses that rotting food emits," Imperfect promised in its IndieGoGo fundraising video. more