New report: Up to two-fifths of fruit and veg crop is wasted because it is 'ugly'

Up to two-fifths of a crop of fruit or vegetables can be wasted because it is "ugly", a report on food waste has shown.

Produce grown in the UK that does not meet retailer standards on size or shape or is blemished is often used for animal feed or simply ploughed back into the ground even though it is edible, with as much as 40% of a crop rejected.

The report, commissioned by the UK's global food security programme, also showed that the average household throws away more than 5 kg. of food a week, and nearly two-thirds of that waste is avoidable.

The waste costs £480 a year per household on average, and £680 per family.

Households throw away a fifth of the food they buy, wasting it for reasons ranging from cooking and preparing too much food to not using it in time before it goes off, the study showed.

Tackling waste globally is a major part of the action needed to provide enough food to feed a growing world population sustainably and tackle hunger, which affects one in eight people worldwide, the report concluded.

Around a third of food produced globally is lost or wasted.

Read the whole article at theguardian.com.