Free At Last
I thought this kind of thing went out with the Nazis. But after practicing eugenics on farm produce for more than two decades, the European Union has finally liberated its groceries. European shoppers are free once again to gaze upon, even buy crooked and mishapen fruit and vegetables. Non-straight bananas still are subject to discrimination, however. UK Telegraph:
Curvy cucumbers, knobbly carrots, wonky aubergines and ugly artichokes will go on sale in shops again after unpopular European Union rules dictating the size and shape of fruit and vegetables are scrapped.
But the notorious regulation which dictates that “straight” bananas must be “free from malformation or abnormal curvature” will remain in place because “no objections from banana growers, buyers, traders or consumers have been received regarding this requirement”.
Not familiar with straight bananas. Sounds kind of intolerant. I’d note that “wonky” over in Old Blighty means somewhat off, not as it might be mistranslated here, a boring, policy-obsessed eggplant.
The rules are being dropped to cut red tape after growing protests from supermarkets, grocers, and farmers, including the Prince of Wales, who have been forced to throw away produce that does not measure up to exacting requirements drawn up by eurocrats decades ago.
An estimated 20 per cent of the British harvest is thrown away to comply with the EU regulations, rules which have been calculated to add as much as 40 per cent to the price of some vegetables, such as carrots.
“Nature does not always comply with a perfectly rounded apple and poker-straight carrot. People should be given the chance to buy odd-shaped fruit and veg as they taste just as good,” said NFU Horticulture board chairman Richard Hirst.
Commission officials, long mocked in the press for rules setting the appropriate curvature of cucumbers, are also concerned that at a time of high food prices and economic recession fruit and vegetables are being wasted “just because they are the wrong shape”.
So the Euros spent the last 20-odd years operating under a legal mandate that perfectly good food be thrown away, and they have the gall to criticize us about … anything?
There are still some formalities, and it will be summer before wonky vegetables are available in European markets. If you truly want to be free to eat as you choose, there is still only one place to shop … that’s the place where a substandard or even rotten fruit or vegetable may be worshipped.
Virgin Mary in a rotting grape, Arlington, Texas.
This Vista, Calif., single mom feels called to bring others to prayer by this vaguely Madonna-like potato.
Topics: Europe, food, moronocy
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 8:02 pm Comments (1) on Wednesday, November 12, 2008
One Response to “Free At Last”
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November 13th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
I thought the Obamessiah said we couldn’t eat whatever we wanted.
But the notorious regulation which dictates that “straight” bananas must be “free from malformation or abnormal curvature” will remain in place because “no objections from banana growers, buyers, traders or consumers have been received regarding this requirement”.
Is that all it takes, an objection? Well, heeeyyyy, I’ve got plenty of objections Europeans might want to take note of.