I started buying the “ugly” or discounted produce at my local grocery store, and it’s cut my bill by almost 30%. These are the misshapen carrots, bruised apples, or slightly wilted greens that taste just fine but get marked down because they’re not pretty. I blend them into soups or smoothies, and nobody can tell the difference. It feels like a win for my wallet and reducing food waste.

    Do any of you hunt for these deals? What’s your go-to way to use imperfect produce? I’m curious if there’s other tricks I’m missing out on!

    My trick for saving on groceries is buying “ugly” produce-anyone else do this?
    byu/lottiexx inFrugal



    Posted by lottiexx

    9 Comments

    1. Nope. Just you.

      /j

      My grocer has a little section for the undesirables. I always check there first, but pickings are slim. 

    2. I have not seen “ugly” produce for sale, but I’ve of my store does have discount produce that are slightly older. Sometimes they are too far gone, but sometimes they look nearly as fresh as the full-priced one on the shelf for like 1/3 of the price.

    3. Find a store that sells whole sale. Restaurants will always buy seconds when specific presentation is not needed. In L.A. I go to Sunland Produce. It’s open to everyone but I’m sure there are many more. Find out from busy food trucks, they know their s&*t.

    4. I highly recommend that if you’re going to consume wilted greens, you must cook them thoroughly so you don’t risk getting sick.

    5. When the local supermarket changed hands, the discounted old and damaged foods went directly into the trash. No “manager specials” on the last day of sales for meats, full price or it went to the trash. The chain owner is over 100 miles away, so no way to ask why. The new local manager just shrugged his shoulders when I asked.

      Previously, I checked those mark down areas first. Dented cans marked down without a dent in the seem, no problem. Last day of sales of beef, marked down 25% went to the freezer when home. Veggies getting sad? Time for a stew or soup and freeze it in serving portions. Brown bananas 10¢ a pound? Frozen treats!

    6. Silver-Honkler on

      No. I trade my own produce or foraged food for other produce from local farmers. Or I trade fish for a ton of it. Grocery store veggies are disgusting and I can’t imagine paying money for them.

    7. sabine_strohem_moss on

      Yup, I’ll buy them and prep as soon as I get them home and then they’ll go straight into the freezer.

    8. ValkyrieKitten on

      When I had a lizard (Uromastyx if you care) I always asked the local produce stocker if I could have the ugly leaves they pulled off the greens. They would make the collards etc look nice before putting them out. They would always go back and come out with a bag off the top of their garbage can. Think they charged me 10 cents a pound for it. They were a local store, and the whole food trash bin was sold to a local pig farmer. But it meant by baby got far more variety than I could have ever given him other wise.

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