EQUAL RIGHTS FOR UGLY FOODS

(Excerpts Part 1)

Who says Right is the Exclusive Preserve of the Humans!!!!!!!!

Europe became a better place for less-than-picture-perfect fruits and vegetables this month as the European Union scrapped rules;

Banning oddly shaped produce from supermarket shelves. "This marks the new dawn for the curvy cucumber and the knobby carrot," said E.U. Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel.

For the past 20 years, strict E.U. regulations, spelled out over some 100 pages, had dictated the shape, size and appearance of 36 fruits and vegetables sold in supermarkets, with strangely precise bans on such items as:

• Green asparagus that is not green for 80% or more of its length
• Cucumbers that bend by a curve of more than 10 mm per 10 cm
• Cauliflower less than 11 cm in diameter
• Forked carrots