Don’t judge fruit and vegetables on appearances alone, urges expert

MISGUIDED AESTHETIC judgments of nature’s larder need to be challenged further, despite the success of ‘wonky veg’, a fruit growing expert said.

Clifford Cain showcased 80 varieties of English apples at Countryside Live, including the lesser known Dog’s Snout and Fillingham Pippin. Visitors could also taste samples.

All of the fruit was grown either at the Great Yorkshire Showground or in Doncaster where Mr Cain’s Fruitscape enterprise is based.

“I’m trying to show people the differences in flavour. Some are sweet but some have a more acidic bite to them,” said Mr Cain, inset, who offers expert care to amateur fruit growers.

“Apples aren’t just red and green, they come in odd shapes, some have rough skin, but they are perfectly edible,” he said. “It’s this idea there’s something wrong with them if they look different. If you accept this is what an apple is supposed to be like, it isn’t a barrier. ”

A quarter of all UK grown apples are discarded on cosmetic grounds, according to a parliamentary report on food waste published in 2017.

A study by Edinburgh University found that more than 50m tons of fruit and veg grown in Europe each year is wasted and that the climate change impact of growing that food is equal to the emissions from nearly 400,000 cars. Retailers began selling ‘wonky’ branded fruit and veg in 2016. Bradford-based Morrisons has reported selling 500 tons of wonky fruit and veg each week.