Ugly But Good

Don’t miss out on delicious food just because of its strange looks.

Way back in 2014, I was in a grocery store in France and saw several colorful posters throughout the store. They were hilarious, captivating, and they had a powerful message.

And they were also part of a nationwide campaign to creatively solve a massive problem the French grocery stores and farmers were having — thousands of pounds of produce being thrown away because consumers didn’t like the odd look of them.

These display posters were in front of huge bins filled with perfectly healthy fruit and vegetables — except they were weird shaped, asymmetrical, and quite often looked like balloon animals. It was awesome — when was the last time you laughed when you bought carrots??

In 2014 the European Union announced it as the European Year Against Food Waste and Intermarche, the third-largest French national grocery chain — stepped up to the plate. They created the Inglorious Fruits and Vegetables campaign that “offered fruits and vegetables 30% cheaper, gave them their own aisle, their own labels, and their own spot on the sales receipt.”

It was a MASSIVE SUCCESS and they gave samples of products to convince consumers, that just because something looks “ugly” doesn’t mean it isn’t delicious and good for you. Honestly, you really should watch the video.

Now aren’t these hilarious? I just heard you laugh.

And really — shouldn’t we ALL be talking to our local grocery stores and telling them that this is what we want? Let’s hear it for Weird Fruits and Vegetables!

The Ugly But Good philosophy doesn’t end at the French supermarket. Oh. No. It. Doesn’t.

Ugly but Good applies to the food in your fridge too.

Let’s take a look in your fridge right now. Hmmm.

I see some wilted celery, carrots, and mushrooms that you were definitely going to toss out tonight. Well — listen. Vegetables that are wilted are just that. Wilted. Because they are just dehydrated by the fridge. They aren’t rotten. (Rotten food looks sort of moldy, murky, or liquidy. And it smells funny. I don’t know about you — but if I’m not careful my Crisper looks like a Souper.)

But wilted vegetables and fruit are just drying up. Ever had a dried apricot? How about a raisin? What do you think it looked like during the process?? They weren’t winning any modeling contracts.

Wilted vegetables are still good to be chopped up and made into soup or you can freeze them and use them another day for chili, stew, or casserole.

And weird wrinkly apples make amazing applesauce or apple crisp or apple pie and no one will know those apples once looked like your ancient Grade 2 teacher. The black bananas can hit the freezer and be used for banana bread, pancakes, or chocolate cake. They are dark brown because the fruit is so ripe and it has high natural sugar content. YUM!

And how about leftovers? You look at them and think — “Oh — its been in there for 2 days — I should pitch it.” Think again, please.

Turn the chili into sloppy joes, or use it as a base for Mexican soup. Use all the odds and bobs of cooked veg and meat and add it into your weekly Clean Out The Fridge Soup or Stew— so good and no one will even figure out what you’ve been up to. If you don’t have enough of your delicious, ugly food — then you put it into a container, label the sucker and date it, and put it in the freezer and keep adding to it until you’re ready to rock and roll.

We had some leftover cooked ground beef from tacos a few days ago and so I whipped up a spicy soup with beef broth, canned tomatoes, sautéed onions and celery, some limp carrots and sad-looking broccoli, and a 1/2 package of mini cheese tortellini from the freezer.

I made it for lunch for my husband and some friends who’d dropped by. They ate every last drop — “This soup is amazing!” I smiled and said, “Thanks!” And deep inside, I had a secret chuckle.

Yep. Ugly but Good. It’s a beautiful thing.

Thank you for reading! I have loads of food essays (recipes too!) and simpler living essays waiting for you: