A new initiative has been spawned in the U.S., patterned after a similar effort in France focused on marketing unlovely produce such as “the grotesque apple and the ridiculous potato.”

The premise is built on the realization that just because these foods may have an inferior exterior in comparison with the beautiful darlings on display in fruit baskets, it doesn’t mean they’re not edible and nutritious.

Especially in wealthy countries like the U.S., it’s only the most perfect specimens that grace produce shelves — the crop version of the Rockettes, all having the same shape, uniform skin and general appeal.

For the Love of Ugly

One of the biggest flaws in society is that perfection is practically deified. One thing this ideal has led to is the wholesale waste of fresh, misfit produce that has been deemed unmarketable.

The downside of having plenty is that people feel they have room to be discriminating.

Anything “flawed” needs to go away, so it does — into the garbage heap. Unfortunately, the amount of pitched fruits and vegetables has been estimated at around one-third of what is produced — around 133 billion pounds of food per year.

The sad fact is we’re all to blame. Whether we’re consumers who allow good food to deteriorate in little plastic coffins in our refrigerators, or obsessive “safety first” freaks who actually believe they should purge anything past its so-called “sell-by” date, there aren’t many of us who aren’t guilty of this type of squander.

Growers sorting bumper crops of fruits and vegetables for the marketplace regularly toss produce that isn’t necessarily the best looking, or they simply plow it under.