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Fruits and vegetables are facing a dilemma-- 300 million tons of them are being thrown away each year. The reason for the waste lies behind the appearance of the produce. Specifically, anything that doesn’t fit the norm is tossed. Intermarché, the third largest supermarket chain in France, decided to recover imperfect and undesirable fruits and vegetables. As a result, Intermarché launched the “Inglorious Fruits and Vegetables”, a glorious campaign to reduce food waste. It ingeniously markets the unique features of five fruits and vegetables that would generally be thrown out: The Ridiculous Potato, The Failed Lemon, The Unfortunate Clementine, The Disfigured Eggplant, and The Ugly Carrot. As well, these unattractive fruits and vegetables are sold at a thirty percent discount over the pretty ones, raising awareness about food waste. Intermarché purchases from their growers the products that would usually be thrown away and instead, sell them in their stores. To get people to understand that these fruits and vegetables were no different than the prettier ones, they designed and distributed inglorious vegetable soups and inglorious fruit juices. Overall, it was an immediate success. On average, 1.2 tons of the fruits and vegetables were sold per store during the first two days. In addition, there was a 24% overall store traffic increase. This is a brilliant way to refocus people onto food quality rather than its appearance. This initiative alone has increased awareness about food waste, reaching over 13 million people after one month. Coorsh, Karolyn. "Would You Buy 'ugly' Vegetables? That's How a Grocery Chain Fights Waste." CTVNews. 29 July 2014. http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/would-you-buy-ugly-vegetables-that-s-how-a-grocery-chain-fights-waste-1.1938024 -- Kimberly D. Hafner Undergraduate Intern 2014 BioEnergy & Sustainability School Soil and Water Science Department [log in to unmask]