“歪瓜裂枣”式的蔬菜和水果正在卷土重来？

来源：中国科技网 2016年02月17日 12:03

中国科技网2月17日报道（张微 编译）人类喜欢以貌取人，这同样也适用于我们对水果和蔬菜的选择吗?大量证据表明，我们确实是这样的，我们对食物的选择显然也受到它们“长相”的影响。

每年我们浪费13亿吨食物，占全球生产量的三分之一。这个令人难以置信的数字，部分是由长相困难的水果和蔬菜构成的，它们完全可以食用，但就是因为皮肤不光滑或体型不迷人，而不受人待见，滞留在超市里。

2015年3月，我在一项任务中开设了快捷丑陋食品店，以改变人们对丑陋食品的看法。我开始感兴趣，为什么它们在第一时间就被人拒绝，超市是否要对人们喜欢选择“完美”蔬菜负责。

从那时起，丑陋食品似乎正在卷土重来。英国阿斯达超市发起的“蔬菜箱福袋”活动引发了公众的兴趣，每个蔬菜箱售价只有3.5英镑(5美元)，这些蔬菜够一家人食用四天到一周。那么，我们是否还一直关心香蕉的体型是不是流线型，或者我们是不是越来越能接受长相不好的蔬菜了?

人类吸引力理论认为，颜值高的人通常被认为更诚实，更具有社交能力也更成功。我们似乎天生就认为有吸引力的人更可爱，即使新生婴儿也会把目光聚焦到我们中长相最漂亮的人身上。在这里，对称性至关重要，因为面部长相对称的人往往更健康并且更吸引人。从进化的角度看，选择面部长相对称的伴侣更加安全，因为在身体发育过程中，不对称可能是由于疾病或感染引起的。

虽然面部对称的人可能代表更加健康，这种自然选择对人类具有意义，但在现实中，有缺陷的蔬菜和水果不影响其营养成分或口感，只是没有进化优势罢了。

另一种解释是，我们“用眼睛吃饭”。在我们如何感知味觉方面，颜色有着巨大的影响，多项研究证实，多种习得和自然反应能够影响我们的眼睛和大脑之间的沟通，以确定味道。举个例子，专业品酒师承认，当他们品尝白葡萄酒时，如果视觉上看到的是伪装成浓郁的红色液体，那么他们就会产生怀疑，相比味蕾，他们更相信眼睛所看到的，直到这个伪装被揭穿。同样，改变香草冰淇淋的颜色也能够决定它们被标注的味道，棕色的香草冰淇淋标注成巧克力味道的，粉色是草莓味的，绿色是薄荷味的。

由于这些研究结果，就不难理解为什么“毁容”的土豆永远孤零零地呆在货架上了。但是扔掉一些丑陋的土豆与浪费数百万吨的蔬菜水果还不完全一样，这些蔬菜和水果早早就被拒之门外，甚至都没有机会进入超市的大门。

得益于国际贸易的发展，我们在超市里可以有更多的选择。一些被认为丑陋的食品只是在长途旅行中损坏了，就让它们没有了用武之地，这对农户提出了更加苛刻的要求。进口和国产的蔬菜水果由于长相困难引起了不必要的浪费，这种浪费毫无意义，如果消费者没有意识到这一点，那么他们也不会去改变现状。

目前，消费者的态度有所松动，但这要归因于大量的食品垃圾。丑陋食品正在变得越来越流行，社会影响对我们的行为产生了相当大的影响。“蔬菜福袋”可以更名为提升社会影响力，例如，我们店里的营销活动主打“人性化”的主题，让消费者支持这些不幸的蔬菜和水果。

不仅仅是时尚，“丑陋”食品也有多重好处，因为它既便宜又有助于减少浪费。“丑陋”食品的回归显示出意识和社会影响可以超越选择长相甜美的蔬菜水果的自然本能。这是否只是心血来潮的一段趋势，只有时间才能告诉我们答案。但至少在这段时间里，我们可以减少浪费，节约资金，这听起来很吸引人。

英文原文：

Ugly vegetables and fruit are making a comeback – here's why

Do the same rules that govern human attraction also apply to our choices of fruit and vegetables? Plenty of evidence suggests we do look for similar traits in both people and produce, and our perceptions of food are clearly affected by what it looks like.

Each year we waste 1.3 billion tonnes of food worldwide, a third of the total produced. This unbelievable figure is partly made up of "ugly" fruit and vegetables – those that are perfectly edible but rejected by supermarkets due to their blemished skin or unusual shape.

In March 2015 I opened a pop-up Ugly Food Shop in a mission to change perceptions of ugly food. I became interested in why it was ever rejected in the first place, and whether supermarkets either dictated or answered to a desire for perfect veg.

Since then, ugly foods seem to be making a comeback. A flurry of excitement accompanied the launch of British supermarket Asda's "wonky veg box" which, for just £3.50 (US$5), promises to feed a family of four for a week. So have we always cared about the shapeliness of our bananas, or are we only now becoming more receptive to the idea of bendy vegetables?

Theories of human attraction suggest beautiful people are generally considered to be more honest, more social andmore successful. Ultimately, we seem to be programmed to find attractive people more likeable – even newborn babies spend more time gazing at the prettiest among us. Symmetry is critical here, as symmetrical faces are easier to visually process and signify genetic health. From an evolutionary perspective, selecting a mate with even features is a safer bet, as asymmetries can be caused by disease and infections during physical development.

Although it makes sense that we would naturally select produce that is the most likely to be free from disease, in reality imperfections in the shape of fruit and veg have no real bearing on their nutritional content or taste, and no evolutionary advantage.

An alternative explanation is that we "eat with our eyes". Colour has a huge impact on how we perceive taste, with multiple studies demonstrating how a variety of learned and natural responses can influence the communication between our eyes and brain to determine taste. For example, professional wine tasters admitted to being a little suspicious while drinking white wine visually disguised as a full-bodied red, however they ultimately trusted their retinas over their taste-buds, until the trickery was revealed. Equally, altering the colour of vanilla ice cream can determine it's reported taste, with brown vanilla ice cream described as chocolate, pink as strawberry, and green as mint.

Given these findings, it is understandable that it will always be the disfigured potatoes that are left on the shelf. However throwing away a few lonely spuds has nothing on the millions of tonnes of fruit and vegetables which are denied even the chance to make it through the supermarket doors.

Thanks to global abundance and international trade, supermarkets can now be more selective. Much of the food deemed ugly is damaged on long boat trips – literally a fruitless journey – while ugly produce grown closer to home is also rejected, imposing harsh conditions on farmers. The needless waste of both imported and homegrown fruit and veg seems senseless; however if consumers are unaware of it, they can do nothing to change it.

Attitudes seem to be shifting though, thanks largely to high-profile coverage of massive food waste. Ugly food is becoming more popular, and social influence has a huge impact on our behaviour. Wonky veg can be rebranded to enhance that social influence, for instance our shop marketing campaign focused on "humanising" a team of unfortunate fruit and veg, giving consumers something to root for.

More than just fashion, the multiple benefits of "ugly" foods are admired as it is both cheap and helps to cut waste. The ugly comeback shows awareness and social influence can override a natural instinct to select symmetrical and unblemished fruit and veg. Whether this is a trend capable of withstanding the rise and fall of passing fancy, only time will tell. However in the meantime if we can cut waste and spend less, that definitely sounds appealing to me.