More than one-third of food produced for human consumption is wasted,根据世界资源研究所的说法—adding up to a$1 trillion global crisis.
Fresh produce makes up a staggering portion of food waste, both around the world and in the U.S. Last year, approximately6.7 billion pounds of fruits and vegetables根据联合国食品和农业组织和世界经济学论坛的最新研究，种植者没有被种植者投票或未售出。
Some of this agricultural waste is the result of poor weather conditions and shortages of crop gatherers, but much is caused by a factor that exists at the opposite end of the supply chain: consumer perception and taste.
The power of the 'beauty mystique'
维拉诺瓦大学营销和商业法副教授贝丝·瓦伦（Beth Vallen）告诉《食品潜水》：“我们用眼睛吃饭。
Vallen and fellow researchers explored the evolutionary drivers behind this visual bias in the scientific study“The Squander Sequence: Understanding Food Waste at Each Stage of the Consumer Decision-Making Process.”“浪费序列”指的是在点e food supply chain where consumers cause waste, beginning with the grocery store point of sale.
Consumer desire for aesthetically pleasing produce and distrust of fruit and vegetables that are bruised, oddly-shaped or marked by insects shape a phenomenon that Vallen and her fellow researchers refer to as the “beauty mystique.” This leadsconsumers to reject damaged or blemished produce — likely because of subconscious health concerns.
“丑陋的苹果像非苹果一样健康吗？安全吗？从进化上讲，我们经过培训，可以寻找这些完美的物品。”瓦伦说。
Rejection of suspicious-looking fruits and vegetables first occurs in the produce aisle, but causes major ripple effects upstream. Produce aesthetic — particularly in terms of color, size, shape and skin texture — is heavily controlled by food suppliers and grocery chains in order to ensure consumer interest and sales, according to the study.
The study says that “appearance grading” also causes most fresh produce waste before items even get to the grocery.
瓦伦说：“如果一个西葫芦或南瓜的领域进来并且完全畸形，有人可能会打电话……（那是）离开（它们）更经济。”“这些视觉提示会影响从农民到消费者的分销渠道的废物。”
致命的反馈循环
What causes more food waste, consumers at the end of the "squander sequence," or industry anticipation of consumer preference along the supply chain?
It’s difficult to quantify, but is present everywhere, Vallen said.
“If you look at the numbers, there is a lot of waste that’s caused at the hand of the consumer. … They’re quoting somewhere between $700 and $1,500 a year is what the average consumer disposes of usable food, and the retailer numbers are obviously larger because there’s more food (that they deal with),” Vallen said.
Regardless of the amount of food wasted, it is exacerbated by the feedback loop between consumers and producers. As producers and retailers scramble to accommodate unrealistic consumer expectations for produce appearance, it reinforces those expectations as “normal.” In turn, this shrinks the amount of produce deemed pretty enough to purchase.
A key factor of the beauty mystique and consumer expectations is the concept of abundance.
“If you think of this from the retailer perspective, stores that flourish are the ones with full displays of beautiful food,” Vallen said. “Consumers want to see big displays of beautiful things. …To be successful, (retailers) have to anticipate what consumers want.”
Grocery stores have become more experiential than ever, the study says, with retailers striving to maximize symbols of abundance and convenience to draw shoppers and beat competitors. This is evident throughrecent grocery trends,就像hot and cold buffets, meal stations and in-store dieticians.
According to the study, “marketer actions both reinforce and are a response to consumer product preferences and desires for variety and abundance, creating a cyclical pattern that can promote waste in the system.”
为了改变这种现象和遏制食物浪费，瓦伦认为该系统需要从自下而上进行大修。
好，坏和丑陋：减少废物策略
研究指出，生产商和制造商不一定会忽略食物浪费问题。取而代之的是，食品行业尤其是杂货店，可能会将他们的精力纳入诸如粮食捐赠之类的成功策略。
“Down the line there has been fairly large-scale efforts to get food retailers to donate unused food,” Vallen said. “I think we’ve seen more of that in the past five years or so.”
Even if food is donated, Vallen said, people who get produce from food banks may fall victim to the same beauty mystique that in-store consumers do, rejecting fruit and vegetables that are still nutritious and safe to eat, but show wear and tear.
The retailer’s role in consumer education
Food donation is not enough to change the state of the industry, Vallen said.
瓦伦说：“如果我们打破了'美丽的好'之间的这种联系，那么我们会改变消费者购物的方式，即改变零售商的商品的方式，这可能会改变农民出售食物的方式。”
“That makes it sound very easy; it’s not. But we can make concerted changes and really reflect on why consumers are doing these things and start to address them perhaps via a retailing effort too, where retailers try to teach consumers (about food waste reduction).”
Some of this education can be achieved through targeted marketing campaigns, such as French grocery chain Intermarche’s“Inglorious Fruits and Vegetables”TV and print initiative, which celebrates malformed produce.
According to the study, the campaign contributed to the sale of 1.2 million tons of unattractive produce in its first two days.
American retailers are also getting on board with this strategy.Whole Foods partnered with Imperfect Produce to sell “ugly foods”at discounted prices at select locations earlier this year. The store dedicated displays to unusually shaped fruits and vegetables.
Whole Foods also purchases "ugly" produce to use in prepared foods at in-store juice and smoothie bars.
Wal-Mart, the largest grocery retailer in the U.S., beganselling varieties of ugly apples全食片开始后不久，在其佛罗里达州的300家商店中，该商店很快就开始了。华盛顿州的“我完美”的饱和苹果are sold at a discounted price, encouraging consumers to try them despite their less-than-perfect exteriors.
The retail giant has also marketed a line of unconventional potatoes dubbed "Spuglies" for lower prices in more than 400 Texas stores.
Neither Whole Foods nor Wal-Mart have moved to expand these initiatives chain-wide, though 62% of American consumers would be "somewhat comfortable" eating ugly produce,according to a survey by The Harris Poll. The initiatives were launched in response toactivist petitionsfor the sale of small, unattractive produce items to reduce food waste, showing a shift in consumer expectations of food appearance.
Vallen believes that if more retailers sell more "ugly" produce, the entire food industry could see long-term waste reduction.
瓦伦说：“随着我们开始在商店中看到更多的丑陋农产品，可能会开始改变看法。这可能通过零售展示来实现标准化。”
