Willing to reject that plantain just because it has lots of dark spots? In Latin America, people eat it like that because it has a better, sweeter taste. As for the green plantain, it is excellent for patacones.
Want to stop food waste? Then stop being so picky
The misconception of good quality mostly in United States is making people throw away perfectly edible food.
Haven’t you noticed when you go to a super market you are always looking for the perfectly non spotted bananas? or the beautiful shaped cantaloupes? Or pretty strawberries with the ideal red?
I know you want to spend that money of yours on the best product you can possibly find, and also, I don’t blame you, as a designer I understand everything has to be visually pleasant most of the time.
However, USA has become in to the worst food waste machine in the world, just because media like T.V. and advertising give people the wrong idea of how good quality food should look like:
It is estimated that 25 – 40% of food grown, processed and transported in the US will never be consumed
-Feeding America
Here is a very simple explanation for this sad phenomenon, let’s talk for example about the process imported bananas have to go through in order to end in people’s kitchens.
1- CULTIVATION : farmers have to throw away the ugly bananas because consumers only like the pretty perfectly shaped ones.
2- TRANSPORTATION: companies have to throw away the ugly bananas because consumers only like the pretty perfectly shaped ones.
3- DISTRIBUTORS / WHOLESALERS: have to throw away the ugly bananas because consumers only like the pretty perfectly shaped ones.
4- STORES: have to throw away the ugly bananas because consumers only like the pretty perfectly shaped ones.
5- PEOPLE: throw away the ugly bananas because they were spoiled by the company, the wholesaler and the store.
Basically, it is our fault.
This process, ladies and gentlemen, involves thousands of companies, farmers, transportation, gas, water, soil and workers just to please the misconception of good quality bananas.
Next time you go to the supermarket, remember this :
A bunch of spots are not a synonym of rotten, an asymmetric shape doesn’t suggest the fruit is damaged and a non vibrant color doesn’t mean lack of flavor.
Let me add something that comes from my personal experience. I was raised in a small town in Costa Rica named Guápiles, where my parents have an organic farm. I remember when I was a child, I used to climb up the guava trees, grabbed 5 of them and went back down the grass to eat them all. From time to time I used to find some guava worms… I ate them too. They are completely harmless, they are part of nature, they never made me sick and I’m sure they never will.
This is what basically happens when people have no idea of how a guava should look like:
We are a spoiled society which is always demanding for perfection, (without even knowing what that really means) It is time to analyze that we are part of the problem, as a matter of fact, we caused the problem.
Here is a suggestion, when you go to the fridge and grab a tomato for the salad you’ve been craving for, and suddenly you find there is a small white/ dark spot suggesting a fungal thing on it, just cut that piece, seriously, I’ve done it my entire life, never got sick. As long as the tomato tastes good, there is no reason to throw it away.
Quit being picky, you’ll stop throwing away food, resources and your money.
