Europe Welcomes Abnormal Veggies
BRUSSELS — Misshapen fruit and vegetables won a reprieve Wednesday from the European Union as it scrapped rules banning overly curved, extra knobbly or oddly shaped produce from supermarket shelves.
Ending regulations on the size and shape of 26 types of fruit and vegetables, the European authorities killed off restrictions that had become synonymous with bureaucratic meddling.
The rising cost of commodities also persuaded the European Commission that there was no point in throwing away food just because it looked strange.
Starting in July, when the changes come into force, standards for 26 products, ranging from peas to plums, will disappear altogether. European shoppers will then be able to chose their produce whatever its appearance.
My question – wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could do the same thing for people? Except, of course, for people I reject words such as abnormal (or normal, for that matter), strange or oddly shaped. Instead, we would simply use words like different. Imagine. [Fill in the Blank] welcomes different people. All of them.
Ah, well.
A girl can dream, can’t she?
ETA – They changed the original headline, which I used in the above link to the story. The headline now reads: Europe Relaxes Rules on Sale of Ugly Fruits and Vegetables. I’m not sure “ugly” is any better than “abnormal,” but I did rather like “Europe Welcomes….” more than “Europe Relaxes Rules….” I know, I know – I’m way overthinking this.
