The Ugly Fruit Group is an Enactus Durham project at Durham University. Enactus is a global non-profit organisation of students, academics and business leaders to support social impact and social enterprise. The team was founded in 2019 with only 5 members and just over a year they have grown into a team of over 50 members. The Ugly Fruit Group is working towards combating two major problems, food insecurity and food waste.

In the UK, almost 45% of food is thrown away even before it reaches the stores because of their appearance alone. Did you know if a red onion is below 40 millimeter in diameter it cannot be sold?

While these stores are throwing away perfectly edible fruits and vegetables, about 2% of families in the UK are relying on food banks. In light of Covid-19 the numbers are sharply increasing especially at the homes of children. However, the food banks can only provide a limited amount of nutrients, nearly 50% of recommended vitamins due to the lack of fresh fruit and vegetables they offer.

Rosie Christian-Cox, Social Media, Marketing and PR Manager said “it seems so crazy that there is such high levels of food waste and high levels of food insecurity at the same time. It doesn't make sense to have the two.”

Beatriz Garcia del Valle, member of the culinary team added “I also find it quite difficult to see so much food wasted by supermarkets...it really puts into perspective the amount of unnecessary food waste supermarkets produce.”

The primary concept of The Ugly Fruit Group combating food insecurity and food waste centers around their sustainable business model. The transportation team brings in donations of ‘ugly’ fruits and vegetables that are rejected to be sold from Aldi and J.R.Holland. The stall team then sorts out the best quality fruit and vegetables that are donated weekly to Hartlepool and Durham food banks. The remainder of fruits and vegetables which are still edible are used for making healthy snacks such as cakes, jams and kimchi (traditional Korean dish consisting of pickled vegetables) by the culinary team and sold at Scoop, a plastic free store in Durham City Centre.

This initiative provides an alternative solution to the common issue in many food banks which is the lack of fresh produce donations. The Ugly Fruit Group is not only supporting families experiencing the food industry with additional supplies but also providing them with a balanced supply of nutrients.

Another important aspect of The Ugly Fruit Group is education. They believe the best way to tackle food insecurity and food waste in the local area is to acknowledge the lack of interest by the students.

Rosie Christian-Cox, explained “we are trying to bridge the gap between the local residents and the Durham University students.”

The social media and PR team have been sharing the extent of the problem in the local community, knowledge on food waste and ways to combat them in daily life.

The continuous growth of The Ugly Fruit Group is driven by the motivation of student volunteers.

“By donating, reusing and educating, the volunteers shared one vision” said Amy Jiang, member of the social media and PR team “to change the way people perceive food and encourage greater acceptance of so-called ‘ugly’ fruits and vegetables and in doing so help reduce the astronomical amounts of food waste present in the UK and ultimately worldwide.”

The volunteers also described their experience of making a positive contribution to the wider Durham community as very rewarding and inspiring.

Looking forward to the future, The Ugly Fruit Group is preparing for their long-term impact. As 100% of their members are student volunteers, it is unavoidable to have a lack of manpower during the university holidays when the food bank users need them the most. To minimize the gap, The Ugly Fruit Group is planning to integrate the local community to the project. By training local residents as volunteers, they can continue its positive impact during the absence of student volunteers.

This article stems from an interview with Rosie Christian-Cox, the Social Media, Marketing and PR Manager and survey responses from volunteers at The Ugly Fruit Group. For more information about The Ugly Fruit Group please visit their website: theuglyfruitgroup

By Amy Lee

The Ugly Fruit Group Tackling Imperfection