We need our crooked cucumbers and crinkly carrots

A leading supermarket chain has been forced to ditch a healthy eating campaign after discovering individual shop staff could be prosecuted for selling ‘ugly’ fruit and vegetables which fail to pass strict EU regulations. Sainsburys had planned to sell knobbly carrots, ‘zombie brain’ cauliflowers and ‘ogre toenail’ cucumbers - and other misshapen fruit and vegetable as a fun alternative to sweets for kids at Halloween but the supermarket chain have pulled out of the project and have now launched a ‘Save our friuit and veg’ campaign to force the EU to relax its strict specifications on selling ‘imperfect’ produce. The store’s bosses have written to the UK Environment Secretary, Hilary Benn, and the EU Agriculture Commissioner, Mariann Boel, expressing concern over the (somewhat ‘bonkers’) regulations. The store quite rightly points out that these regulations, which affect the shape, size and appearance of 36 different fruits and vegetables mean that twenty percent - yup - 20% - of British farmer’s produce goes to waste. Amongst those whose crops have been rejected is the Prince of Wales whose organically farmed carrots have been rejected. To be fair the EU has alreday begun looking at the rules covering 26 different fruits and vegetables and there is a meeting planned for the 12th November - but no changes planned until July 2009.  In the current credit crunch and in a world where climate change and resource issues are bcoming more and more important surely the waste of 20% of the UK’s fruit and vegetables because they are ‘wonky’ should be top of any politicians menu?