Food Waste: Why Curvy Carrots May Be the Key to Our Planet’s Future


The numbers on food waste are staggering. According to a 2012 report published by the National Resources Defense Council:

  • 40% of food in the U.S. goes uneaten – that’s over 20 pounds of food per person per month
  • The average American consumer wastes 10x times as much food as someone in SE Asia
  • The economic cost of wasted food in the U.S. is estimated at $165 billion each year
  • Reducing losses by just 15% could feed more than 25 million hungry Americans every year
  • Almost all of our uneaten food ends up in landfills, where organic matter accounts for 16% of our country’s methane emissions

So what’s behind our wastefulness? Inefficient business practices are partly to blame. But much of the fault lies directly with us—consumers who don’t know how to shop wisely or are too finicky to accept produce that isn’t cosmetically “perfect” in appearance.

This is just one more reason that more people need to learn to grow food on their own. Home gardeners and organic growers know that without applying an overabundance of harmful chemicals there is no such thing as the “perfect” carrot or the “ideal” strawberry. Organic gardening requires a willingness to accept imperfections—things like curvy carrots and spotted pears. This is a good thing, something to celebrate!

Balancing Act

An obsession with perfection leads to quick fixes (e.g., pesticides, synthetic fertilizers) instead of long-term solutions (e.g., organic compost, soil remineralization).  But put yourself in Mother Nature’s shoes—balance is far more important than perfection. More often than not, the key to growing healthy, balanced plants begins with the soil.

Here are just a few steps to follow to ensure the long-term health of your soil:

  • Add well-composted organic matter to your soil (for best results, make sure that sources of organic matter are as diverse as possible)
  • Plant cover crops between seasons to build soil fertility and improve soil structure
  • Follow steps #1 and #2 to maintain a loose and healthy soil structure that doesn’t require tilling
  • Remineralize with volcanic basalt to replace minerals and trace elements (such as magnesium, calcium, silicon and iron) that have been depleted and which are essential to plant and human health

For more tips, read “Eight Steps for How to Make Better Garden Soil.”

Last but not least, learn to embrace imperfection. The “fruta feia” movement (which translates to “ugly fruit”) is gaining ground in Europe and already has its champions here in the U.S. To which we say…it’s about time!