Beyond Beauty: Opportunities & Challenges for Cosmetically Imperfect Produce, a Minnesota initiative funded by the USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant program, has released its first report, Survey Results from Minnesota Produce Growers. The initiative seeks to understand more about how fruit and vegetable growers view cosmetically imperfect fruits and vegetables and to test the market for these products among collegiate food services.
The first report compiles survey responses from 138 fresh market produce growers in Minnesota. It showed strong interest among growers in expanded markets for cosmetically imperfect seconds and revealed grower willingness to change harvesting, sorting, and packing practices on their farms if they had an attractive market for their seconds. The report also investigated rates of cosmetic imperfection and how growers currently deal with imperfect produce. The 13-page report is available online in PDF.