奧克蘭的Imperfect公司專賣“醜”蔬果
Oakland-Based Imperfect Will Sell Only "Ugly" Fruits And Vegetables
奧克蘭的Imperfect公司專賣“醜”蔬果
Experts estimate that six billion pounds or about twenty percent of all produce grown in the US ends up either in landfill or as animal feed, annually. Now Ben Chesler, Ben Simon and Ron Clark want to change that with their aptly named startup "Imperfect." The Oakland-based company plans to purchase the"cosmetically challenged produce" from farmers and sell it either through a supermarket chain they recently signed a deal with or by delivering it directly to Consumers.
據專家估計，在美國每年就有約六十億磅（或近20%）的農產品因爲長得“醜”而被用於動物飼料，甚至被白白丟掉。現在，Ben Chesler, Ben Simon和Ron Clark打算通過他們巧妙命名的Imperfect公司來改變這個情況。該公司計劃向農場主收購那些長得“醜”的蔬菜瓜果，並於今年7月開始通過當地超市進行銷售或者直接送遞到用戶家中。
Chesler and Simon believe that once consumers realize that "ugly" fruits and vegetables taste as good as the "beautiful" produce supermarkets display, they will embrace the cause. The company who is working with farmers in California, plans to start selling the produce to the residents of Oakland and Berkeley by July 2015. If all goes well, Imperfect will extend the service to other California cities and then hopefully, to other states as well.
Chesler和Simon相信，顧客如果能意識到蔬果的美醜跟口感並無關係，就會開始接受賣相不好的蔬果。該公司與加利福尼亞的農場主合作，打算2015年7月起向奧克蘭和伯克利地區的居民銷售這樣的農產品。如果進展順利，Imperfect公司將把生意拓展到加利福尼亞其他城市，甚至其他州。
In addition to preventing waste, Imperfect's idea will also result in additional income for farmers who are sometimes forced to trash as much as 50% of their harvest just because it doesn't look "right." Consumers that eat the produce will benefit too. That's because the entrepreneurs estimate it will cost as much as 30-50% less than grocery store produce.
除了防止浪費，Imperfect公司的理念還包括幫助那些因爲果蔬賣相不好而被迫丟掉近農產品的農民增加收入。購買這些“醜”蔬果的顧客也將受益，因爲這些果蔬的售價比一般果蔬商店要便宜30%-50%左右呢。
And if that's not enough to convince you that "ugly" produce may be worth a try, how about this? It will help the environment too! That's because rotting produce releases harmful methane into the atmosphere. Additionally, for drought-ridden California the business could not have come at a better time. Each pound of food that gets sold prevents the 25-50 gallons of water it takes to grow a pound of produce from being wasted! The one benefit the entrepreneurs have not factored in is that kids may consume more fruits and vegetables if look "different" than the boring ones they encounter today!
如果上述還不能打動你購買“醜”蔬果，那下面這些呢？您的支持還將有利環保——因爲丟棄的農產品腐爛後會產生對環境有害的沼氣。除此之外，這對於經常遭受旱災的加利福尼亞來的正是時候。每賣出一磅這樣的蔬果，就減少了生長丟棄生長一磅蔬果所需要的25-50加侖的水資源的浪費。還有一點創業者沒考慮到，就是比起普通的蔬果，現在孩子們會更願意吃長相奇特的蔬果呢！
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