More this week from Alison Mountford of Ends + Stems, a Food Disruptor leading a bottom-up approach to ending food waste. Amazingly, the slightest change in attitude about what constitutes "good" food can help feed many hungry people AND drive agricultural practices that are far better for our planet than the current system.

Rethinking "fresh" is one place to start. Tell your fish monger that you don't need him or her to defrost that flash-frozen fish in his display case. You can defrost it yourself when you're ready to prepare it; and it will have better taste and texture the sooner it is cooked after defrosting.

Another easy attitude switch: learn to love ugly produce. It's a thing now. Like finding 3D pictures in fluffy clouds, you can dream up personalities for those tomatoes with little noses, that green pepper with a giant dimple, or a twinned apple. This produce tastes every bit as good as "perfectly" shaped fruits and veggies, maybe even better.

If you grow your own, you're probably used to irregular shapes among your crops. And a slight bump or dimple won't impel you to toss those hard-earned fruits of your labor. 

So if you can't raise your own food, think hard about where that stuff in the produce aisle comes from -- it wasn't extruded from a machine. Rather, it miraculously formed through the gifts of  earth, air, water, and sun). Love those unusual shapes, and be grateful.