Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Most “ugly” produce gets turned into soups, sauces, salsa, jam

twitter.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 229 posts

Re: Most “ugly” produce gets turned into soups, sauces, salsa, jam

#81

Post by seszett »

Kalium wrote: post #71
loosetypes wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I always remember that Noah's Bagels would make certain to throw away excess bagels at the end of the day. It's probably, unfortunately, America-specific, but when I asked why staff said if they gave away "old" baked-goods and someone were to get sick they would be liable to lawsuit.

Generally speaking, there are Good Samaritan laws that avoid that. The issue more often is that stores don't want to deal with the headaches that can stem from being a place for those who are unhoused to congregate for free food. It's rarely good for business.

Usually though (in France at least) it's not the shop giving out free bagels at the back after they close down, they hand the leftovers to local associations that do the redistribution part.

Re: Most “ugly” produce gets turned into soups, sauces, salsa, jam

#82

Post by oasisbob »

mijamo wrote: post #59
travisjungroth wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have never done this, and I gently suggest you stop. Do you really need those extra few days of milk expiration? If the milk with the soonest expiration date was the only one available, would you buy it or just walk out without milk? A good rule to avoid tragedy of the commons situations is to think “what if everyone did as I do?”. This is a pretty classic example here.

Depends where you live and your household consumption . In Sweden milk expires usually 3-7 days after you buy it. If you are alone and don't drink that much, it does make a big difference buying the one that expires in 7 days vs the one in 3-4 days (there is no discount except if it expires 1 day after purchasing)

Very true. The last milk I bought was Darigold here in the US, and the sell-by date was sometime in March.

I don't know what they're doing to extend its shelf life so much, but as a childless sometimes-uses-milk home, I love it, and couldn't care less about the exact dates.

Re: Most “ugly” produce gets turned into soups, sauces, salsa, jam

#83

Post by icebraining »

vasco wrote: post #42
jeswin wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess the author was upset that a great many people parroted the 'ugly fruits get disposed' line without doing any research. I might have mentioned it myself, because it was all over the news. I can understand why someone who works in the industry would find this frustrating - it's basically just fake news and the damage is real. A rebuttal would get nowhere near the press the sensationalist original story would ge…

What is the damage? What does it matter which fruits are bought first at the supermarket?

The ugly fruit movement is much bigger than that, and has its own markets and sale areas. Farmers (often in collaboration with startups (not all for-profit)) will divert this produce to sell to the middle-class people worried about this, since they pay more than the jam makers, but at the end of the market day some will throw away leftovers which are not worth the time to haul back, sort, etc. So it can actually increase food waste.

Re: Most “ugly” produce gets turned into soups, sauces, salsa, jam

#84

Post by skookumchuck »

loosetypes wrote: post #63
Sharlin wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Products nearing the best before date are typically sold at a discount at least where I’m from. And those that don’t get sold but are still edible get increasingly donated to the needy instead of just being thrown away. There’s a big movement going on to reduce retail waste. In France grocery stores are required by law to donate food that doesn’t get sold.

I always remember that Noah's Bagels would make certain to throw away excess bagels at the end of the day. It's probably, unfortunately, America-specific, but when I asked why staff said if they gave away "old" baked-goods and someone were to get sick they would be liable to lawsuit.

I know a bakery operator who said the health code required throwing away unsold baked goods with butter content at the end of the day, when I asked him about donating to the homeless.

It's not evil or stupid. It's the law.

Re: Most “ugly” produce gets turned into soups, sauces, salsa, jam

#85

Post by [deleted] »

seszett wrote: post #81
Kalium wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Generally speaking, there are Good Samaritan laws that avoid that. The issue more often is that stores don't want to deal with the headaches that can stem from being a place for those who are unhoused to congregate for free food. It's rarely good for business.

Usually though (in France at least) it's not the shop giving out free bagels at the back after they close down, they hand the leftovers to local associations that do the redistribution part.

[deleted]

Re: Most “ugly” produce gets turned into soups, sauces, salsa, jam

#86

Post by icebraining »

yzb wrote: post #75
feross wrote: post #3

> The "eat ugly fruit!" movement is classist as FUCK. You've got to have a debilitating level of ignorance to assume that if Whole Paycheck Market doesn't stock ugly fruit, it must be getting "wasted." It is possible to not know much about the agricultural industry without being "classist as fuck." There are an infinite number of things one can learn about and a finite amount of time. While the content is interesting…

By calling something classist you're showing you're a leftist, which is necessary in certain circles where not being politically aligned is a death sentence; see "virtue signalling": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtue_signalling

I (as a left-wing sympathiser) actually agree this is signaling; the people who make up the ugly fruit movement are mostly on the same circle as those who use "classist", and using the same language will get them to pay more attention.

Re: Most “ugly” produce gets turned into soups, sauces, salsa, jam

#87

Post by drewmol »

loosetypes wrote: post #63
Sharlin wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Products nearing the best before date are typically sold at a discount at least where I’m from. And those that don’t get sold but are still edible get increasingly donated to the needy instead of just being thrown away. There’s a big movement going on to reduce retail waste. In France grocery stores are required by law to donate food that doesn’t get sold.

I always remember that Noah's Bagels would make certain to throw away excess bagels at the end of the day. It's probably, unfortunately, America-specific, but when I asked why staff said if they gave away "old" baked-goods and someone were to get sick they would be liable to lawsuit.

It's unfortunately a popularly repeated belief it's just FUD without any supporting evidence. Usually the real answer is simply that it's cheaper to discard.

Re: Most “ugly” produce gets turned into soups, sauces, salsa, jam

#88

Post by gmueckl »

kalleboo wrote: post #79
travisjungroth wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have never done this, and I gently suggest you stop. Do you really need those extra few days of milk expiration? If the milk with the soonest expiration date was the only one available, would you buy it or just walk out without milk? A good rule to avoid tragedy of the commons situations is to think “what if everyone did as I do?”. This is a pretty classic example here.

When I was single, yeah. I regularly had to pour out milk I didn't have time to drink before it went bad. Now that I have a kid, I'm happy to buy the discounted short-expiration-date stuff since it'll be gone in 2 days no matter what.

I also have this more general problem of struggling to use what I buy before it goes bad. Some of the worst offenders are items that are prepackaged, spoil too quickly after opening and are sold only in packages that are too large for my needs (e.g. cream).

Re: Most “ugly” produce gets turned into soups, sauces, salsa, jam

#89

Post by aaron695 »

feross wrote: post #3

> The "eat ugly fruit!" movement is classist as FUCK. You've got to have a debilitating level of ignorance to assume that if Whole Paycheck Market doesn't stock ugly fruit, it must be getting "wasted." It is possible to not know much about the agricultural industry without being "classist as fuck." There are an infinite number of things one can learn about and a finite amount of time. While the content is interesting…

> It is possible to not know much about the agricultural industry without being "classist as fuck."

That's fine, so you won't be in anyway part of the "The "eat ugly fruit!" movement" would you?

Unless you're a classist fuck who just likes the arrogance of the appearance of eating better fruit and veggies than others.

Re: Most “ugly” produce gets turned into soups, sauces, salsa, jam

#90

Post by lucideer »

feross wrote: post #3

> The "eat ugly fruit!" movement is classist as FUCK. You've got to have a debilitating level of ignorance to assume that if Whole Paycheck Market doesn't stock ugly fruit, it must be getting "wasted." It is possible to not know much about the agricultural industry without being "classist as fuck." There are an infinite number of things one can learn about and a finite amount of time. While the content is interesting…

The offputting tone wouldn't be quite as objectionable (imo) if the argument wasn't so FUCKing wrong.

> Most "ugly" produce gets turned into soups, sauces, salsa, jam, ice cream, etc. You think that stuff gets made from the pretty fruit & veggies?! jeebus, think about it for a minute

I've thought about it, and yes, that stuff gets made from the pretty fruit & veggies. Sure, a LOT of it gets made from the rejected "ugly" fruit from other supply chains, and—also—even in cases where it's being made from the pretty ones, they're not filtering out the "ugly" ones, so generally all the food is used in those cases. BUT, no, we don't have a perfect interoperable system where every ag supplier has equal and complimentary arrangements with supermarkets and salsa factories. Not every packing house is the same (not every one separates out the uglies), and not every one supplies salsa makers. There is PLENTY of waste in between.

> The amt of produce wasted bc of labor problems (can't get a crew to harvest) & bad weather (melons that rot in the field bc it's too hot & wet, etc) WAY outstrips produce thrown out bc it's "ugly."

She may be right here (would like to see some data, but still—the statement seems plausible), but in what way does that nullify the fact that plenty of produce is still thrown out? In what way does labour/weather-problem-related waste mean we shouldn't also try to reduce waste in areas where we very easily can?

> IT GOES TO THE GROCERY STORES THAT POOR PEOPLE SHOP AT

This sentence from the same person who just used the phrase "classist as fuck"!?

Post reply on HN