Skin deep – does food have to be beautiful?
Harry Smith with small and large apples from Smith's Farm Shop, Chapel Brampton.
ANYONE who grows fruit and veg will know these foods do not always end up looking like those perfectly formed specimens one so often finds on supermarket shelves.
If allowed to flourish, courgettes will soon become marrows, carrots can become twisted and misshapen and, depending on the weather, sometimes veg will grow too much, or not enough.
It seems that modern society, which is so often accused of being obsessed with the perfection of human beauty, also has a standard when it comes to fruit and veg, but is this imposed by the government and supermarkets or by the consumers themselves?
Recently Laura Sandys, the MP for Thanet South, has called for more supermarkets to promote and sell fruits and vegetables of non-standard shapes and sizes and now wants to set up a company to sell “ugly” food.
Admittedly the rules on what certain foods should look like have been relaxed by the European Union in recent years, but restrictive rules still apply to many types of fruit and vegetables, which can lead to farm wastage and a greater cost to the consumer.
Alison Pratt, a spokeswoman for the Northamptonshire branch of the National Farmers’ Union, said she believed there were still too many rules governing the sale of fruit and veg.
She said: “Things like potatoes or vegetables can go for stock food but the value reduces dramatically if they are not for human consumption.”
She continued: “There are too many rules. This sort of thing does cause issues as the food is perfectly good, although we realise the rules are there to protect people from substandard goods. But it does seem difficult that we are wasting food because it might have a slight blemish on it.”
Smith’s Farm Shop in Chapel Brampton sells some vegetables bought externally – which come in already graded and classified – as well as certain home-grown products.
Adrian Smith said he sold certain varieties of apples, for example, which might be deemed too small or too large by some supermarkets.
But with public interest in locally grown and home grown foods continuing to soar, Adrian said the tide was turning away from the old customer habit of only buying pristine and perfect fruits and veg.
He said: “There are always going to be customers who take the first bite with their eyes but I like to think our customers are beyond that really.
“It all goes back to the golden delicious apples which were perfect to look at but the flavour wasn’t there.
“English apples have really risen in demand over the last few years as people are appreciating flavour more, it is an apple and that is that.”
He continued: “Flavour is coming back. English celery comes to us dirty and we sell it dirty, it is covered with soil but is so popular. “The Spanish celery comes to us all clean but English has more of a flavour, people know it is quality and they search for it. But when you see it on the shelf it looks like a messy veg.
“It would be unfair to say people aren’t sharp enough to realise that it is not looks that determine quality and flavour.”
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