Awkward potatoes, conjoined carrots, bulging strawberries and hail-blemished oranges have long had an image problem. Unloved by food retailers, they are among the millions of tonnes of food wasted in Australia each year.

The ugly – or imperfect – food movement is, however, gathering momentum, as entrepreneurs seek to change our perceptions. In a period marked by steep increases in food prices, they might also save shoppers more than a few dollars in the process.

Josh Ball, co-founder of imperfect box delivery company Farmers Pick, says citrus is among the most discarded produce, with up to 50% rejected from food retailers and left on farms to rot.

He says there was hail in parts of the Riverina in New South Wales, a major citrus area, during a recent growing season, leaving small marks on some fruit smaller than a five-cent coin. This would typically be rejected by major retailers, but is increasingly being added to cut-price imperfect fruit and vegetable subscription boxes, including those delivered by Farmers Pick.

“Just look at the way that citrus is packaged by nature to just be the perfect snack on the go; you peel the skin off and the fruit is juicy and ready to eat,” says Ball.

“The impact of the cosmetic appearance on the actual fruit was next to zero. It’s not even ugly.”

Australia produces 7.6m tonnes of food waste each year, according to government figures. About 2,600 gigalitres of water is used to grow food that isn’t consumed, and there is significant land used along with emissions generated, for no benefit.

There is an almost philosophical debate over who is to blame for our desire for perfectly shaped and unblemished produce that has created such waste.

Food retailers point out that consumers will reach for good-looking produce over something that has an impurity, even if it is solely cosmetic. Others believe major retailers have conditioned shoppers.

“We’ve definitely been conditioned because it never used to exist,” says Josh Brooks-Duncan, co-founder at Farmers Pick.

“We used to eat bananas when they were almost brown because that’s when they taste the best. But over time, we’ve been conditioned to eat them when they are yellow because it makes it easier for the major chains in the supply chain to process them.”

Oranges deemed too small for supermarkets are salvaged by Farmers Pick

She says that while eating ugly produce is a good change to make, many households don’t realise how much food they are wasting, imperfect or not.

“It’s not just about eating imperfect food, it’s also about whatever you buy, you need to consume. And you need to buy what you need to consume,” she says.

“Cooking, shopping and eating have become so habitual we don’t put a lot of thought into it. And when we don’t put a lot of thought into it, we don’t realise we’re being wasteful.”

Read it straight from The Guardian here