I have tried many different types of tomatoes: green, heirloom, cherry, plum.
Photography courtesy of Imperfect Produce.
Reilly Brock, who is the content manager at this California-based startup, assures me that what I am calling “nosey tomatoes”—tomatoes with a long, nose-like appendage growing off their side (with what, on some, looks possibly like two nostrils flared angrily)—taste exactly the same as their better-looking counterparts.
“Ugly” root vegetables are one of many types of produce a subscriber might find in his or her weekly box delivery.
“Historically, farmers have had to make peace with bad outcomes because of increasingly narrow standards for grocery stores,” says Brock.
Radishes from an Imperfect Produce box. The company currently delivers in Los Angeles, Orange County, and the greater Bay Area.
Imperfect Produce has rescued more than 4.5 million pounds of “ugly” or unwanted produce, like this misshapen daikon, from farms.
Cosmetically challenged carrots.
“We want it to work for your lifestyle—we want your box to be approachable, affordable, and accessible, not just one size fits all.” Users can suspend their service (for an upcoming period of travel, for example) as well as opt to remove or add specific items.
Grocery stores typically have certain “specs” for acceptable produce. Each box comes with a recipe card containing ideas for how to use more unique items.
Imperfect Produce provides subscribers with a recipe card that offers suggestions for how to use rescued produce.