Fugly delicious: Produce box deliveries in Sydney help tackle food waste – and budget woes

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Tackling food waste with depression-era cooking tricks, "inflation-busting" produce delivery boxes and "ugly" vegies could help Australian households save big on their grocery bill.

Weekly delivery boxes packed with fruit and vegetables sourced directly from farms have become increasingly popular after the financial pressures of flooding, freight and fertiliser pushed the price of produce up 12.7 per cent over the past 12 months.

Richard Tourino founded national produce delivery service Good and Fugly during COVID lockdowns as a way to connect consumers with fresh, but imperfect, produce.

"The rising cost of living is [a] big reason why it's popular," Tourino says.

The rising cost of living is [a] big reason why it's popular.

Richard Tourino, Good and Fugly

"From the beginning, we have really curated the boxes to make sure it's great value for a family and [will last the entire] week.

"We keep prices down because we're buying in-season and we have good relationships with farmers.

"We agree that in a year's time, their produce will be bought at a set price."

National delivery service Farmers Pick offers 6kg "ugly" produce boxes starting at $39 per fortnight. Founder Joshua Ball says customers can slash up to 30 per cent off their weekly produce spend by redirecting low-grade produce from landfill to their dinner plate.

"Consumers are feeling the pinch. They're seeing it as a way to save a few bucks," he says.

"I think we've doubled our orders in the past six months."

Ball's produce delivery service sources blemished, undersized and excess produce directly from 60-70 farms across the country, allowing farmers to profit from the fruits of their labour, rather than see it ploughed back into the earth.

Up to 40 per cent of fruits and vegetables grown in Australia never make it to the produce section of the supermarket due to a grading system based on appearance rather than taste or nutritional value.

"That's a massive contributor to food waste, but also climate change," Ball says.

When surplus food makes its way to landfill it breaks down, producing a methane gas that accounts for eight per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Household waste is a major contributor to that figure, as more than one-fifth of bought food ends up forgotten at the bottom of a vegetable crisper and ultimately thrown away.

Annandale cafe Cornersmith released a cookbook this month to help households counter food waste with scrap-saving tips inspired by "other complicated times in history" such as war time and the depression, says co-author Alex Elliott-Howery.

"It was all about making the most of what you have," she says.

"It can make a huge, huge difference to your household budget when you know how to stretch ingredients a long way."

Food Saver's A-Z: The Essential Cornersmith Kitchen companion aims to encourage home cooks to take their tired fruit and vegies and transform them into delicious family meals, such as stir-fried cauliflower leaves or "green" pie.

"People don't want to waste food but they often don't have the skill to know how to shop smart, cook smart and make the most of what they have," Elliott-Howery says.

"We've gotten so used to seeing perfect-looking produce in our supermarkets that we're no longer comfortable with using fruit and vegetables that are slightly blemished.

"That has to change."

Three produce boxes with a difference in NSW

Good and Fugly

This merchant of odd but edible fruit and veg is what happens when a GoGet founder decides to tackle food waste. Building a network of growers in the Sydney basin (and soon Victoria), Richard Tourino has rescued nectarines blemished in a hail storm, excess tomatoes and beetroot during lockdown, and other "seconds" that wouldn't meet supermarket standards. As long as it's fresh, farmers can call the 13-000-FUGLY hotline, and Good and Fugly will take it. Farmers don't lose a crop and you get competitive prices. The starter box for up to two adults is about $28 (including delivery) if you subscribe. goodandfugly.com.au

Farmer's Pick

"Screw ordinary" is the motto here: uneven, knobbly or sometimes "perfect" produce that can't find a buyer is assembled into boxes that are a mix of seasonal and staple ingredients. By sourcing directly from farms across Australia, Farmer's Pick's shorter supply chain help keep costs down. Chef-created recipes for the veg are emailed to customers each week as inspiration, plus every box sold is matched with a meal for someone in need, delivered by OzHarvest. A box for one adult (about 6kg of produce) is $39 including metro delivery. farmerspick.com.au​

Ooooby

Transparency is key to Ooooby's local food boxes, which connect Sydney residents with independent, certified organic farms from across NSW and Queensland. Vegie boxes start from $35 for a single-person serve and can be delivered on a one-off, weekly or fortnightly basis. This month, it will feature pak choy from Moonacres Farm in Fitzroy Falls, beetroot from Lin's Organic in Londonderry and broccoli from Kurrawong Organics in Kirkconnel. These boxes are highly customisable depending on your budget, with the option to add discounted small goods past their 'best before' date, such as Sobah non-alcoholic beer, Cacaco Organic cacao nibs and ground espresso from Coffee Organic. ooooby.org