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I came across some cheap fruit and veg at the local supermarket last week.  Initially, I laughed because the clever marketing caught my attention as it had intended to do, with a fun logo and bubble writing that told the world this was The Odd Bunch.

But as my eyes scanned the rest of the message, I felt my mood drop, these unusually shaped, perfectly edible fruits and vegetables were referred to as ugly.

Perfection is something we often strive for, consciously or unconsciously we all do it because it is promoted and applauded by our society: the perfect body, the perfectly behaved child, the perfectly aligned garden, the perfectly clean house, the list could go on forever.

The problem with this is the angst we cause ourselves and our kids in our desire to be perfect, praised, approved of.

To Be Different Is Good

Once vegetables are mashed no one remembers that they were once disfigured – the odd bunch – ugly fruit – I don’t think it is ugly.  It’s just different and that’s ok.  In fact, I’d go as far as to say each piece is unique! To me, it has taken on a form of its own, broken the mould, one of kind and that is good.  To be different is good.  Often, we stress over our children ‘fitting in’ and I’m sure all mums will admit that at least one of their kids wasn’t in the popular group at some point during their school years – some are upset by this, others rejoice.

Sometimes we see a new baby and our initial reaction is to notice how ugly we think it is.  But this opinion is truly in the eye of the beholder, that mother does not see what you see.

Sometimes the deviation from our vision of perfection is a wonderful surprise – that’s how new recipes are created (when the ideal one failed); that’s how artwork develops; that’s how growth takes place in all areas of our life.

On behalf of all disfigured things that come from Mother Nature, I would like to encourage you to look beyond first impressions.

We are all imperfect and that’s ok!

Share your comments below.

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  • i remember as a kid it was always exciting if you found a weird shaped veggie….they always seemed to taste better

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  • I’ve seen these veges many times and bought them as well. I agree it shouldn’t say they are ugly. Why not call them different or, yes, unique. Either way I’d still buy them and prove how perfect they really are.

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  • Love it & fully agree. I hope it changes to unique, not ugly. I’m also disappointed that the odd bunch is not so odd… Where are the “double bananas” we use to hunt for? It felt like we one the lotto when we found one… and not one of my odd bunch carrots has been anything but straight… standards are still far too high

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  • I agree with what you say and the sentiment behind it.

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  • Its a marketing ploy that works. Honestly, I haven’t likened it to other areas of life. They’re veggies. They’re ugly and misshapen and chepa and that’s okay. I feel like the author is reading into the labelling of normally rejected fruit and veg way too much.

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  • I love the odd fruit and veg and its part of my regular shop

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  • I agree with your message – I’ve never thought about it like that before!

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  • I just love that the imperfect produce is now being sold and not being thrown out. That is a travesty. I think we should all embrace the odd bunch.

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  • seriously don’t make this into something it’s not. It’s just a clever way to sell fruit and veg that gets overlooked.

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  • We always buy the odd bunch veggies, it’s annoying to know that it can’t be sold with the rest of the veggies. Who cares what it looks like, it all tastes the same!

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  • I’m glad that there are people who buy the odd bunch, awful to think that it would go to waste just because it doesn’t look perfect.

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  • I hate waste so love the odd ones. Although not really always cheaper as least we are stopping the waste of delicious food.

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  • I love the odd bunch fruit and veg, not always a big saving but to know it is not getting wasted and thrown out because they are “imperfect” Not sure I agree with what is written in this article, what do you suggest we call them ‘rejects” because that is what they are when fruit and veggies are packed for supermarkets.

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  • While i agree that society is focused on the beautiful and stunning and i too disagree with the first impressions from looks alone i think this is a slight overreaction to wonky veg being called ugly. I myself admit my home grown root veg turn out like the odd bunch, i happily call them ugly. This does not mean their feelings will be hurt or that they will strive for the unachievable beauty. We should be accepting of the shops actually selling the less perfect not growling at them.

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  • Omg. Is she for real? They’re fruit and veggies. It’s not like a potato is sitting there crying because a sign says they’re ugly ????????‍♀️


    • That was supposed to be a facepalm emoji not all those question marks lol

    Reply

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