Stalker was happy to see that the EU has reprieved the lot of the misshapen vegetable and fruit.
The EU's Management Committee for Fruit and Vegetables is expected to amend the minimum size and shape standards for fruit and vegetables when it meets in Brussels. Knobbly carrots and bum shaped mushrooms should hopefully be saved from the tip.
If the 27 national EU experts agree, the rules defining minimum shapes and sizes would be repealed for 26 fruits and vegetables.
These are apricots, artichokes, asparagus, aubergines, avocados, beans, Brussels sprouts, carrots, cauliflowers, cherries, courgettes, cucumbers, cultivated mushrooms, garlic, hazelnuts in shell, headed cabbage, leeks, melons, onions, peas, plums, ribbed celery, spinach, walnuts in shell, water melons and witloof/chicory.
Is this a victory for commonsense in the age of waste.
The impetus to change the regulations, which prevented the sale of the perfectly safe but misshapen produce came from the EU commissioner for agriculture, Mariann Fischer Boel, earlier this year. Give that commissioner a heart- shaped artichoke. Marketing standards will be retained for apples, citrus fruit, kiwi fruit, lettuces, peaches and nectarines, pears, strawberries, sweet peppers, table grapes and tomatoes.
It is likely to be agreed that member states can exempt even these from marketing standards if they are sold in the shops with appropriate labels stating "products intended for processing".
Stalker wonders, has anyone ever heard of witloof by the way?
