My Ugly Potato Day Experience And How I Scored Free Bags Of Produce
Local farms, free fresh produce, and eliminating food waste–what’s not to love about Ugly Potato Day?! This year was my first time experiencing this free event and I was certainly inspire by the magnitude of it. Read on to find out more about my Ugly Potato Day experience.
What is Ugly Potato Day?
The premise is simple. Farms grow food that grocery stores don’t want to see. Farmers don’t want to see this food going to waste, so have chosen to give it away for free.
Ugly Potato Day was started by a local farm to reduce the number of edible potatoes going to waste because of their odd shapes and other small imperfections. Since the beginning days in 2022 where 12 people showed up for the first event, Ugly Potato Day has grown. Now, other local farms have joined in to add more variety of fruits and vegetables being given away.
It grew out of a simple concept and a desire to give back to the community and it has grown into an event that donated $1.5 million dollars worth of produce to the community.
Why are events like Ugly Potato Day important?
If you know me for any length of time, you will learn I am passionate about the topic of food waste. Food waste is a huge contributor to climate change. It’s mind blowing to think that 1/3 of food is wasted worldwide.
And consider this:
“In the United States, food waste is responsible for twice as many greenhouse gas emissions as commercial aviation, leading some experts to believe that reducing food waste is one of our best shots at combating climate change.” How Central Ohio Got People to Eat Their Leftovers – The New York Times
One area that creates a lot of food waste is “unsellable produce” grown by farms that grocery stores don’t want. The “ugly potatoes” or the “mutant carrots” (as my friend likes to say). This is produce that is perfectly edible, but that doesn’t look perfect. Stores are hesitant to put this produce on the shelf because it won’t sell, so it generally goes to waste.
An event like Ugly Potato Day prevents this from happening. This year more than 25,000 people took home produce and other food products from the event. This amounted to over 430,000 pounds of food being eaten instead of going to waste.
Not only does an Ugly Potato Day event reduce food waste, but it also helps communities and supports those facing food insecurity. It is a beautiful opportunity for people to get some relief from their grocery bills.
Learn more about food waste and how it impacts our planet in these blog posts:
Why Food Waste is a Big Deal and How to Prevent it
6 Companies and Organizations Tackling Food Waste
10 Ways to Get the Most Out of Food Scraps
How Your Food Choices Help the Planet: 3 Simple Actions
What was it like at Ugly Potato Day?
Years ago I remember hearing about a potato farm that would give away extra potatoes on one day each year. As desirable as free produce was, the idea of navigating a big, unorganized crowd of people was enough of a deterrent to prevent me from going.
This year I saw that you could book tickets for a time slot, so I jumped at the chance to visit the event. Ugly Potato Day has certainly grown from stopping by at a farm to taking over the Cloverdale Agriplex and rodeo grounds.
We arrived at the event location and were amazed to see a full parking lot dedicated for accessible parking. This lot was monitored and you could only park there with an appropriate pass. As someone who is newly disabled this was a huge part of me being able to participate in Ugly Potato Day.
We had an early timeslot, so the crowds were just beginning to form when we arrived. Early timeslot was definitely the way to go! I heard people commenting later in the day that there was not a lot left by the time they went through the Agriplex. To get in, we waiting in a line that, while huge, moved pretty quickly. It was truly a well organized event.
Once inside the Agriplex building, there were huge bins of produce as well as stacks of boxes all set up to create aisles. We really got swept up into things so I didn’t even think of taking photos inside. There were no limits on the produce except for the cherries–only one bag per person for those. Otherwise you could choose whatever mix of produce you liked.
Each person was allowed to fill two bags with as much produce as would fit. No carts or wagons were allowed inside. It was a “take what you can carry” situation. I was very grateful I had a strong friend with me because those bags got heavy fast!
Once through the Agriplex, we moved onto the other section of the rodeo grounds where there was an unlimited amount of carrots, potatoes, and pineapple you could take. For this section there was no ticket needed and there was no limit on bags or carts. A cart would have been handy as potatoes are heavy!
We found the event to be very well organized and easy to navigate. There was a DJ playing music and some booths with entertainment and information. It was a truly fun and upbeat environment.
What produce did I get for free at Ugly Potato Day?
I was pretty overwhelmed with the amount of good, free produce we were able to get at Ugly Potato Day. And it wasn’t just potatoes!
To fill our bags, we chose: red, white, and Russet potatoes, carrots of all colours, cherries, oranges, apples, bananas, corn, tomatoes, and pineapple. It really was a bountiful selection! Our bags were filled with enough that we were able to freely share with family.
As you can see from the photos, some of the produce is “ugly,” but for the most part it was all in great form and it all tasted delicious!
How do I participate in Ugly Potato Day?
This event required a ticket for entry at one of two sections. This ticketed section had a wider variety of produce to choose from, so I’d certainly recommend trying to go to both if you can. The unticketed section meant you could arrive at any time and the lines to get in were shorter. This section had less choices, but it was still a fantastic opportunity for free carrots, potatoes, and pineapple.
I found out about this year’s event through Jordan Mara’s email list, which you can sign up for here: https://www.mindandsoil.com/pages/about-us
This event was put on by The Odd Bunch, so if you follow them on social media, you’ll likely be in the loop for updates on future events.
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