A call for vegetable equality

The Japan Times article "Why don't we eat bent cucumbers?" (by CNNGo Tokyo contributor Melinda Joe) follows a few elite Tokyo financial industry workers who have quit their corporate lives to return to the land. This influx of new blood into the farming profession is not just introducing organic growing techniques, but also bringing a new perspective to one of Japanese agriculture's biggest controversies: the disposal of off-sized fruits and vegetables.

See, the powerful JA Zennoh (part of the Japanese Central Union of Agricultural Co-Operatives) has set strict standards for marketable vegetables, so cucumbers that bend too deeply into a crescent shape are doomed to the compost pile. Vegetables deemed too large -- the horror! -- are also dumped like a geeky boyfriend on Homecoming. Apparently 40 percent of all produce is rejected by these harsh Zennoh standards.

Enter a new company called Vegetable Equality that delivers 'wonky vegetables' -- their term -- from Chiba organic farms for competitive prices. They are also hoping to start a lecture series to convince fickle consumers that cucumbers need not be straight as an arrow.

Sounds like we're nearing a science-fiction future, in which broccoli is up to 5cm wider than our current expectations. Hang on to your seats.