Beauty may only be skin deep, but many people still discriminate against “ugly” fruits and vegetables while they’re grocery shopping. These produce may look misshapen or mis-colored, but they still pack the same nutritional punch as their “prettier” counterparts. Megan Burritt, the Director of Wellness and Sustainability at Raley’s, recently spearheaded a program to sell underdog fruits and veggies at Raley’s to help reduce food waste and decrease food insecurity amongst price sensitive customers. For her hard work in championing underdog produce and promoting sustainability, we’re persimmon proud to crown her our Food Literacy Hero!

Megan first came up with the idea of selling underdog fruits and vegetables while she was undertaking a First Movers fellowship with the Business and Society program of the Aspen Institute. For her fellowship project, she was looking for a way that Raley’s could connect some of the food they waste in their supply chain with food insecure or price sensitive shoppers. The idea grew from there and Raley’s became the first major American supermarket chain to sell “ugly,” or “imperfect” produce at a discounted price. Megan then teamed up with Food Literacy Center to help educate consumers about how these underdog produce are just as nutritious and delicious as the beautiful ones.

“Some people will perceive our version of ‘imperfect’ as bruised, scraped, or maybe overripe, and I think that will be our biggest challenge,” Megan said. “I believe that food literacy will help to teach people that produce, like people, comes in all shapes, sizes and colors, and the whole spectrum is nutritious, delicious, and good for us to eat.”

“Meg makes me jicama happy,” says Amber Stott, chief food genius of Food Literacy Center. “She’s a real champion of our community and the planet. By creating Raley’s imperfect program she’s helping improve both. We’re plum pleased to work with her on consumer education.”

​Every hero is inspired by someone else and Megan’s food hero is Mark Bittman who recently wrote a book about how to eat a plant-based diet before 6 p.m. His approach is to teach cooking that’s focused on flavor without compromising on nutrition.

“This idea is one that resonates with me and I think it could play a huge part in making our American food culture healthier and our friends and families happier,” said Megan.

A food advocate at work and at home, Megan practices food literacy by buying locally-grown fruits and vegetables, and cooking delicious and healthy meals at home. One of her favorite meals to cook is vegetable risotto that uses any kind of seasonal vegetables, olive oil, short grain rice, fresh garlic and vegetable broth, topped with good parmesan cheese.

“It’s an affordable, delicious veggie forward meal that warms the house and the belly with nutritious deliciousness,” Megan said.

For her tenacious efforts in promoting the beauty in ugly fruits and vegetables, her passion in reducing food waste and promoting sustainability, and her love for healthy, wholesome food, we are proud and excited to name Megan as our phenomenally awesome Food Literacy Hero!  

Story by Heather Teoh