How He Got 200,000 People To Buy Ugly Fruits and Vegetables

Imperfect Produce is a subscription home delivery service for "ugly" fruits and vegetables that are perfectly fine to eat.

“Four years later, Simon cofounded Imperfect Produce, a subscription-based home-delivery service for discounted “ugly” fruits and vegetables that are perfectly good on the inside, but otherwise rejected from the food supply chain for their looks.

“About 70 billion pounds of food is wasted annually in the United States. It’s from homes, cafeterias, farms, restaurants, grocery store and stadiums. Almost all of it is good food,” said Simon. “We wanted to think bigger about how to fight this food waste and create a more sustainable food system that was scalable.”
Simon partnered with his friend Ben Chesler, who shared his passion for social good, and the two homed in on farms as the starting point of their food recovery and delivery service. Up to 20% of the fruits and vegetables grown on farms in America is discarded because the produce doesn’t meet grocery stores’ aesthetic standards, said Simon.
“It’s often for discoloration, scarring on the surface caused by the fruit rubbing against a tree limb or an atypical shape,” he said. “Sometimes it’s the size. We see a glut of small avocados that go to waste because consumers tend to prefer larger avocados for guacamole.”

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Murray’s Opens a Mac-and-Cheese Restaurant in the West Village

Murray’s has a cheese store that also sells charcuterie and condiments on this busy West Village block, and, a few doors down, Murray’s Cheese Bar, serving wine and a cheese-friendly menu. Now, in an empty storefront, formerly Amy’s Bread, on the same block, the company has opened a macaroni and cheese restaurant. It’s a counter-service spot, with 20 seats, featuring a build-your-own menu. Start with a bowl of pasta cooked with cheese and other ingredients, then add other cheeses, vegetables, meats, sauces and toppings, all in four possible portion sizes (snack to family). Classic, barbecue, French onion and Buffalo chicken are among the style and flavor options. The pastas — all radiatori — are made by Sfoglini, a pasta company in upstate New York. There’s also a breakfast mac and cheese made with sausage, bacon, egg and Cheddar that’s served only on Saturdays and Sundays.

254 Bleecker Street (Leroy Street), 212-243-3289, ext. 350, murrayscheese.com.

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One of West Africa’s Most Accomplished Chefs Opens an NYC Restaurant Soon

“Former Le Grand Dakar chef Pierre Thiam — who strives to be an ambassador of Africa’s culinary history — will open a Pan-African restaurant in Harlem’s Africa Center next month, where he’ll showcase his native cuisine in fast-casual format.

Teranga, which translates roughly to “hospitality” in Wolof, a language spoken in Senegal, will focus on Senegalese cuisine, as well as foods from Nigeria, Mali, the Ivory Coast, and Guinea in bowl-like formats.

The menu is molded by West African ingredients like sorghum and millet paired with dried fruits for breakfast, as well as fonio, a grain that’ll be served within salads and bowls during lunch and dinner, Thiam told the Times in August.

Vegetable and protein bowls like grilled chicken and caramelized onions over Liberian red rice will also be available, plus other vegetarian options like a sweet potato and black-eyed pea stew. Drinks range from hot and cold African coffees, teas, and juices. The menu is gluten-free; see it in full below.

The location of Thiam’s new restaurant within the cultural center makes sense, as he is a vocal advocate for Africa’s culinary history and even appeared in a 2016 episode of the late Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown in his native Senegal. The restaurant will take up a 2,000-square-foot space in the center, overlooking Central Park.”

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The Next Generation of Food Hall Design

“Conceptually, the idea of a food hall isn’t entirely new. Collections of local, varied food and beverage vendors in a dedicated retail space have been around for centuries, both globally and nationally.

Those that have persisted are often in urban centers, and, in the U.S., include spots like Pike Place Market in Seattle, established in 1907, Reading Terminal Market, in Philadelphia since 1893, and Boston’s Quincy Market, which dates back to 1742.

The food courts contained within shopping malls, airports, train stations, and department stores are undoubtedly familiar, too, and have been around for decades. But food halls in the most current sense are something inherently different. The National Retail Foundation helps to define them: “The definition of what constitutes a food hall is still being debated, but it’s generally accepted that ‘foodie culture’— including the farm-to-fork and slow food movements — is largely responsible for kickstarting the modern food hall concept… as is the push for experiential retailing.”

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Hass Avocado Board reports strong US sales growth

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“The Hass Avocado Board reported that retail avocado sales for the month ending Sept. 9 grew 8.6% compared with year-ago levels. That was more than double the gain of total produce sales, which were up 3.7% for the period compared with year-ago levels, according to a news release.

The board said the Northeast topped the regional rankings in dollar growth rate at 16.2% higher than the same period a year ago. The Northeast was boosted by the three fastest growing markets: Pittsburgh (+42.6%), Albany (+36.2%), and Northern New England (+26.6%). The board said Northeast dollar growth was driven by a significant gain in volume (+42.7%), despite a decline in average selling prices(-18.6%).”

Read more here.

11 Recipes All Teens Need to Master Before Graduating High School

Image result for an omelette

1. Hard-Boiled Eggs

Learning to make both hard-boiled eggs and a basic omelet ensures you will always have a cheap, nutritious option for breakfast, lunch or dinner. To make hard-boiled eggs, place eggs in a pot and cover them with at least an inch of water. Bring the water to a boil and let it boil for one minute. Shut off the heat, cover the pot and let the eggs sit for 10 minutes. Remove the pot from the hot water after 10 minutes and let the eggs cool before trying to peel them.

2. An Omelet

Watch chef Jamie Oliver make the perfect omelet on YouTube; he demonstrates a completely unfussy, fool-proof technique for making a basic cheese omelet. As you master the basics, try tossing some chopped fresh spinach leaves into the center before folding for added nutrition.

View more here.