Fruta Feia – Giving farmers a fair price for their wonky veg

In this episode I’m speaking to a couple of people from Fruta Feia a co-operative with hubs around Portugal, that buys food from farmers that has been rejected by the retailers they supply, and would otherwise have gone to waste – selling this seasonal and locally sourced produce on to its members.

I was fortunate enough to spend the day with Fruta Feia, as they collected food from various suppliers from towns and villages nearby Lisbon, and then took it to a community centre to create the fruit and veg boxes for their members.

The recording took place as the produce collected that day was being unloaded from the van, during which I spoke to Miguel who works for the co-op and explains a little about how Fruta Feia functions, and then to a volunteer who explains how and why she got involved with the organisation – her opinions are of course her own, and don’t necessarily reflect those of Fruta Feia.

It’s a brief introduction to what is a fantastic organisation, doing great work in reducing food waste, supporting local farmers, and providing people access to healthy, nutritious and fresh food at very affordable price.

If you are working on a food waste initiative, or know someone who is, please get in touch – it would be great to have you on the podcast – you can email me at [email protected]

For more information on the great work ReFood is doing, visit the Fruta Feia website.