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I've always had an issue with the "people should buy ugly food" argument. It strikes me as being somewhat elitist, and I have my doubts that the people making t

I've always had an issue with the "people should buy ugly food" argument. It strikes me as being somewhat elitist, and I have my doubts that the people making this argument actually follow through themselves and pick the ugly food at the supermarket, or really know if actually makes any difference. I feel like I am doing the right thing by buying fruit and vegetables instead of processed food. Do I now need to make further consideration and question the impact of my choices because I am ignoring the ugly apples? Humans developed a highly sophisticated discernment of fruit quality for a reason.

carlmr 6y ago
My local store sells 3Kg of potentially bruised apples for the price of 1Kg non-bruised. I often buy the bruised ones and cut off the bruised parts before eating. But I make this choice because while I do see a lower value in bruised apples, I don't see the value lower by a factor of 3. I usually cut off just 10-20% of the apple. If I paid full price for a bruised product I'm right to feel taken advantage of.
- thayne 6y ago
  but that is a very different situation than paying the same price and getting bruised apples where you have to cut off 10-20%.
- jaclaz 6y ago
  "bruised" is non-ugly uglified by (mis-) handling/transport/whatever. Before that there are lots of "ugly" food that never make it to the shop, related previous thread and single point anecdata: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18212680 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18212680 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18214314 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18214314
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
kerkeslager 6y ago
> I've always had an issue with the "people should buy ugly food" argument. It strikes me as being somewhat elitist, and I have my doubts that the people making this argument actually follow through themselves and pick the ugly food at the supermarket, or really know if actually makes any difference. I wouldn't go so far as to say "people should buy ugly food"--I'm merely observing that there's nothing inherently better about pretty food. But if you want to take my comment as a personal attack on you, I can't stop ya. I get my fruit and veggies mostly from a CSA, so your accusation of hypocrisy based on "having your doubts" doesn't land. > Do I now need to make further consideration and question the impact of my choices because I am ignoring the ugly apples? I don't think so. There's only so much micro-optimization an individual can do in their life, and the impact here is pretty low. The impact of delivery services as a whole, however, is a lot higher. > Humans developed a highly sophisticated discernment of fruit quality for a reason. Really? And what reason is that? Your entire post is basically, "I think this is wrong because if it were right I'd have to feel bad about my actions", when in fact nobody is trying to make you feel bad, and if they were, your logic would make no sense.
claudiawerner 6y ago
>Humans developed a highly sophisticated discernment of fruit quality for a reason. Humans also developed a highly sophisticated way of absorbing ideas and images of their environment, some of which portray ideal fruits and vegetables as examples of what should be eaten, and anything outside that norm which was passed down by parents and through the media should not be eaten, or at least looked upon with suspicion.

carlmr 6y ago

My local store sells 3Kg of potentially bruised apples for the price of 1Kg non-bruised. I often buy the bruised ones and cut off the bruised parts before eating. But I make this choice because while I do see a lower value in bruised apples, I don't see the value lower by a factor of 3. I usually cut off just 10-20% of the apple. If I paid full price for a bruised product I'm right to feel taken advantage of.

thayne 6y ago
but that is a very different situation than paying the same price and getting bruised apples where you have to cut off 10-20%.
jaclaz 6y ago
"bruised" is non-ugly uglified by (mis-) handling/transport/whatever. Before that there are lots of "ugly" food that never make it to the shop, related previous thread and single point anecdata: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18212680 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18212680 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18214314 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18214314

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

kerkeslager 6y ago

> I've always had an issue with the "people should buy ugly food" argument. It strikes me as being somewhat elitist, and I have my doubts that the people making this argument actually follow through themselves and pick the ugly food at the supermarket, or really know if actually makes any difference. I wouldn't go so far as to say "people should buy ugly food"--I'm merely observing that there's nothing inherently better about pretty food. But if you want to take my comment as a personal attack on you, I can't stop ya. I get my fruit and veggies mostly from a CSA, so your accusation of hypocrisy based on "having your doubts" doesn't land. > Do I now need to make further consideration and question the impact of my choices because I am ignoring the ugly apples? I don't think so. There's only so much micro-optimization an individual can do in their life, and the impact here is pretty low. The impact of delivery services as a whole, however, is a lot higher. > Humans developed a highly sophisticated discernment of fruit quality for a reason. Really? And what reason is that? Your entire post is basically, "I think this is wrong because if it were right I'd have to feel bad about my actions", when in fact nobody is trying to make you feel bad, and if they were, your logic would make no sense.

claudiawerner 6y ago

>Humans developed a highly sophisticated discernment of fruit quality for a reason. Humans also developed a highly sophisticated way of absorbing ideas and images of their environment, some of which portray ideal fruits and vegetables as examples of what should be eaten, and anything outside that norm which was passed down by parents and through the media should not be eaten, or at least looked upon with suspicion.