‘Ugly courgette’ farmers sell 800kg after online plea
A family-run organic farm in the Tarn-et-Garonne that complained it was forced to throw away most of its crop due to consumer and greengrocer demand for ‘perfect’ fruit and veg, has sold 800kg of courgettes directly.
Caroline and Cyril Roux, whose organic (biologique) farm is in Lafrançaise, have been inundated with interest after they posted a humorous-but-exasperated post on Facebook showing a photograph of a pile of fresh yellow courgettes, which, they said, would all go to waste because greengrocers and consumers “only want” uniform, perfectly-shaped produce with no patches of green, or any slightly unusual shapes.
The couple urged consumers to consider that even a non-perfect-looking courgette is still fine to eat, and has been cared for and harvested by a farmer trying to make a living, and highlighted that each courgette crop to be “rejected from the greengrocer’s casting” of perfect yellow courgettes costs the farm around €5 000.
Now, the couple’s pleas have been answered, with 800kg of the otherwise-doomed crop sold directly from the farm, to friends, neighbours, and local restaurants, in just three weeks.
The amount is still a drop in the ocean compared to the 10 tonnes the farm claims to have lost overall, but farmer Cyril was pleased with the outcome.
Speaking to French news site 20 Minutes, he said: “We received lots of messages, and lots of people came to see us. Consumers know that an ‘ugly’ vegetable is still fine to eat. It’s reassuring.”
The couple has always focused on twice-weekly farmers’ markets and greengrocer sales to shift their crop, but they will now look to concentrate on direct sales, and in future seasons will also consider other longer-lasting methods, such as drying or pickling.
