Quote:
Originally Posted by quiet walker
" Bendy cucumbers, knobbly carrots, puny cauliflowers and naked onions are among 26 misshapen fruits and vegetables that will make their way to supermarkets Wednesday after the European Union rescinded a two-decade-old regulation in an attempt to end what it calls unnecessary marketing standards."
I heard this interesting story on NPR's All Things Considered last night. I wonder if Mooseketeer can give us a first hand report  3 1/2 minutes - Listen or download the podcast: In Europe, Irregular Produce Makes A Comeback : NPR |
Finally reason prevails ! I am strongly pro-Europe but this really was a ridiculous rule. The idea of regulating the shape of vegetables is ludicrous, apparently you could store more cucumbers if they were straight !
I mean really who are those people making the rules ? Don't they have anything better to do ?
Seriously what a gross waste of time, effort and money. I like my vegetables to look as though they have actually come out of the ground not as though they ought to be on "Miss World Carrot 2009" or "how knobly does my turnip look to you"....
As far as I know though the rule has never been enforced that well and I have seen plenty of irregular vegetables since the ruling.
Also the rule does not apply for Organic vegetables, as the whole pointo f Organic is to be a little more "au naturel"....
Some Brussel bureaucrats were obviously having a slow work month and sitting there bored in their swanky offices , staring at the ceiling : " mmmm, what could we legislate on... let me see... that's it by Jove I've got ... knobbly vegetables !!!" ....
Personally I am highly suspicious of a vegetable who does not look a tad mis-shapen. It implies a sort of un-natural intervention which rings alarm bells in my head.
Apparently though the majority of the public likes regular vegetables as it makes them forget that it came from under the soil, probably had manure spread over it and lived happliy until it was plucked with little wriggly worms and other creatures.
We all seem to want to be as remote from our food source now and I know a lot of people who won't buy vegetables which are at all irregular. Silly but true.
The good thing with European directives and rules though is that when they are silly a lot of people ignore them and I am sure mis-shapen vegetables have been smuggled in and out of various European countries, maybe under the cover of Darkness.
It's a bit like Pasteurised cheeses. You can still find a lot of unpasteurised cheeses all the way through Europe, it's a question of asking the right people...
Stephen my SO and I always laugh though when we come to the US or Canada and see that vegetables ( including potatoes) are polished within an inch of their little vegetable lives... What is that about ?
Does the North American public need to be able to see itself in a tomato/potato/aubergine to want to buy it ?
It's weird.
Common sense wins out at last ! Also a lot of people are suffering economically with this recession and supermarkets now have the option of putting a premium on perfecly shaped bland vegetables and offering cheaper mis-shapen veggies.
The idea that vegetables would have been rejected and thrown away because of their irregular shape is obscene beyond belief.
What a ridiculous society we can be in the West sometimes.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
