Imperfect foods — oddly shaped carrots, slightly brown bananas, strawberries with small soft spots — are usually still perfectly fine to eat. Yet they often seem to flip a switch in our brains that says, "Don't eat me!"
One TikToker shared a great reminder that even your imperfect produce is probably still edible, along with some tips on how to tell if your produce has gone bad.
The scoop
TikToker Sabrina (@sabrina.sustainable.life) is sharing tips on how to live more sustainably, and one of her videos was picked up and reposted by TikTok's social impact account (@tiktokforgood).
The video discusses how we're often quick to judge produce — assuming that it's inedible because of small imperfections when in reality, it's usually still good.
Sabrina offers a few simple tips to be able to tell.
First, inspect the produce. If you find any bruises, then try smelling it or tasting a small amount. If it smells and tastes normal, remove the damaged bit if necessary, and the produce is good to go!
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"Ugly food is totally different from spoiled food — it might not be a looker but it is perfectly fine and has the same nutrients," Sabrina says.
@tiktokforgood Just because your food has imperfections does not mean that you can't make beautiful meals from them! Learn how to rescue ugly food with @sabrina.sustainable.life! #TikTokForGood #TikTokTaughtMe #ReduceFoodWaste #FoodRescue ♬ original sound - TikTok for Good
How it's helping
It's important to confirm that your produce really has gone bad before you throw it out — it saves you money when you're food shopping and cuts back on the need for excess grocery store trips.
Plus, cutting down the amount of food that gets thrown out helps the environment.
According to Feeding America, around one-third of all food in the United States is thrown away each year. On average, one person wastes around 219 pounds of food per year.
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Thrown-out food often ends up in landfills where it decomposes and releases toxic, planet-warming gases, the Environmental Protection Agency reports.
What everyone's saying
Commenters on the post expressed their struggle with keeping imperfect produce, while others confirmed the claim.
"I needed to see this," one said.
"This is true I've worked in harvesting fruit and vegetables," one user wrote. "And the ones that are not perfect get thrown away."
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