The man fighting food waste by urging the world's biggest firms to sell wonky fruit and veg

Activist Jordan Figueiredo wants big supermarkets to rethink the food the sell

(moisseyev/iStock)

An anti-waste activist is challenging US food giants to stop rejecting wonky but perfectly edible food with an arsenal of tweets of silly-looking fruit and veg.

Jordan Figueiredo shares posts via the Ugly Fruit & Veg account. Past posts include a tomato that looks like it has huge nose, a chilling carrot, and a radish that looks like a snake to raise awareness of the 9million kg of food waste thrown out in the US each year.

Figueiredo spends 30 hours a week on top of his day job heading the Ugly Fruit and Veg Campaign, the Grocer reported.

“My mind is always on ugly produce,” he said.

His efforts and those of his supporters have attracted hundreds of thousands of followers to the Ugly Fruit and Veg Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook accounts.

Since launching and hosting the Zero Food Waste Forum in 2014, Figueiredo has caught the attention of Jamie Oliver and helped to distribute 5,000 free lunches made from surplus food.

He has found success with seven high-end US grocers, including Whole Foods who have trialed using ugly fruit and veg.

Now, Figueiredo hopes to persuade bigger firmsto consider selling unconventional-looking food.

His petition to Walmart - the world's biggest retailer - has garnered 159,000 signatures while another aimed at Target has attracted 28,000.

Following a meeting with Figueiredo, Walmart this year pledged to pilot selling ugly food at a discount at 300 stores in the state of Florida. A spokesperson from Walmart told The Independent that as "ugly" produce sodes not always exist, but it is selling imperfect Spuglies potatoes and I'm Perfect apples.

A spokeswoman from Target told The Independent: "We are aware of the petition for Target to support the imperfect produce initiative" adding that the firm is in the "early stages" of "completely redefining" their position on food and "everthing is on the table."

The campaign's efforts come after France introduced a law forbidding supermarkets from throwing away or spoiling unsold food in 2016.

Stores must now donate unwanted food to charities and food banks.