Eating Ugly: Redirecting Ugly Vegetables From The Landfill To The Table

As the world population grows, so does the amount of food waste generated by people around the world. There are many creative solutions to decrease the amount of food waste created by an individual I explained in my previous article: “5 Ways to Reduce Food Waste”. One of the suggestions I made to reduce food waste was to buy “ugly” fruits and vegetables at the grocery store or subscribe to community-supported agriculture, CSA, group in your neighborhood. 

Misfits Market, is one of many food subscription services that says it’s dedicated to reducing the amount of “ugly” produce and other foods that are considered waste by general supermarkets that end up in landfills. Curious to know how sustainable, accessible and good their service really is, I decided to order a Misfits Market box for myself to use for a week. 

Misfits Market was founded in 2018 in Philadelphia by Abhi Ramesh with the purpose of saving “high-quality organic produce that sometimes looks a little different” from landfills. Modern-day Misfits Market is a little different as it now incorporates foods that are slightly past the sell-by date and are thrown away by supermarkets into their inventory. 

When you initially sign into Misfits Market, you instantly make an account and put in your credit card information. Membership is free and they will not charge you until you order something. If you are not comfortable with putting in your credit card information on websites, this might at first turn you away from the site- since you cannot see the products until you input your information-but I urge you to look past this. 

As soon as your membership is confirmed, Misfits Market builds you a cart with discounted, organic, fresh fruits and veggies that total $30 (without tax, with tax my total was $32.10). My cart included blackberries, blueberries, celery, brussels sprouts, onions, sweet potatoes, green bell peppers, cauliflower, and broccoli. In addition to this, the homepage of the Misfits Market site shows all the other categories of items available for purchase. Surprisingly, they also sell pet products, which I thought was especially cool. They also have a variety of egg, dairy, and meat products- including plant-based options, which I thought really gave Misfits Market the feel of a real-life supermarket, but online. 

One other cool feature about the Misfits Market site was that in the category options, they included both a “Plant-Based Shop” and a “Gluten-Free” shop for people to easily locate these options during their online shopping experience. 

Screenshot of my Misfits Market profile and shopping cart.

Besides the normal products on the site that have come from supermarkets, Misfits Market also features some sustainable products, such as Opopop. This company has created a variety of flavored popcorn that comes in kits and includes a reusable bowl. Misfits Market also has its own brand, called Odds & Ends. This brand includes products, such as discounted coffee and trail mix/ nut mixes. Along with their own brand, there are also quite a few well-known brands on Misfits Market that are sacked from grocery store shelves because they were nearing their “best buy” date. Some of the notable brands I saw on the site include Pillsbury, Amy’s, Wholesome, Jif, Gardein, Silk, Twinings, Dave’s Killer Bread, Ithaca, and Impossible.  

I ended up ordering what Misfits Market suggested in my cart. They detailed the timeline for when my order would arrive, and they even gave me a day to change my order or add things to my order. This is beneficial in case someone forgot to add something to their shopping list or decided to change their recipes for the week. 

Screenshot of My Orders Page where you can follow when orders are charged, shipped, and delivered.

When the box arrived, I was pleasantly surprised by how fresh the produce looked. In other words, nothing seemed like there was any reason why it should not be consumed. I had a few recipes planned out for the week and I incorporated the products that Misfits Market chose for me- of course, you can change the products they choose for you if you have allergies or preferences. On Monday, I made my boyfriend’s pasta salad, which included half of one of the onions, broccoli, and green bell pepper, along with some ingredients I had at home, such as mozzarella cheese, zesty Italian dressing, and tri-colored rotini pasta. This recipe normally lasts me and my boyfriend two-three days. In this case, we ate it that night for dinner, then both of us took it for lunch on both Tuesday and Wednesday- so it lasted us three days. 

My Misfits Market box.

Then for Tuesday's dinner, I made Food & Wine Magazine’s Recipe for Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Onions with Mushroom Lardons. I used an onion, mushrooms, and brussels sprouts from the Misfits Market box; It was delicious and we had leftovers for Wednesday’s lunch. 

On Wednesday  I skipped cooking and we just ate leftovers from meals earlier in the week. However, on Thursday my boyfriend made soup using Misfits sweet potato, green pepper, onion, cauliflower, and celery. Like previous recipes, this soup lasted us through the weekend. Fruits from the box like blueberries and blackberries were used for snacking throughout the week.

Overall, I thought that Misfits Market was excellent. The website was easy to navigate and the food was fresh, healthy, and useful as seen by the diverse recipes I was able to make throughout the week. Misfits also turned out to be a cheaper option for me because the amount of food that was received was definitely more than could be bought at a grocery store for that quantity of money. Also knowing that my purchase helped eliminate food waste and redirect perfectly good food away from the landfill made me enjoy the experience even more. 

Obviously ordering online can in many ways be way more convenient than physically going to buy groceries. I think Misfits and other food delivery subscriptions can make eating healthier more accessible, especially for people who live in food deserts or don’t have access to a car to get to a good quality grocery store. I understand that the delivery process has a carbon footprint,  but I think the carbon used to transport the food is offset when the food is redirected from the landfill. In addition, I am not driving to the store to pick up my groceries, which reduced my carbon footprint, and similar to carpooling, my Misfits box is sharing the transportation costs with other Misfits subscribers that are in my area code which means that we are all off the road, saving time, money, and limiting our carbon emissions. Moreover, you can choose the frequency of your delivery, which is sometimes twice a week or once a month, depending on your needs. 

If you live in one of the states that Misfits serves, I suggest you give Misfits Market a try. I think you will be pleasantly surprised with the company, its products, and the feeling you’ll get knowing you are doing something good to help the planet and contributing to a solution to end food waste in the United States.