We went through this in the USA awhile back. Sleevendog mentioned using Misfits Market, which is an organics delivery service which started as a way to market similarly unwanted produce. The farm service I use isn't discount, but they do often send odd sizes and imperfect. Occasionally something old and unusable, but one can report it for a refund. Makes sense because they, too, surely face perfection pressures. All of the peaches I've had from them are smaller than what's in the grocery stores--and riper and tastier too!

There's one store that was near here--I think they're still in business but not that branch, which was small and more of a wine and cheese crowd than a Cheerios crowd. The produce there was huge and extremely uniform and reminded me of Sleeper. The semi-snooty store used to have produce that was perfectly unblemished and perfectly ripe, but had variation enough not to be creepy. What was great is that you didn't have to check each piece. Just toss them in your bag and move on. They've changed since the founder died and aren't nearly so perfect. One of the things I liked at Whole Foods (before Amazon bought them--I haven't been there since the start of the pandemic) was that the produce looked like produce. Back then, they 'd buy whole crops to get the organic and sustainable. Sometimes the funky looking ones were the most perfect in flavor, ripeness and texture.

The young people here (cities, at least) are more about organic and eliminating food waste. It may take some time for things to come around there, but I'd guess it'll happen sooner or later.

For years now, France has had a policy of not throwing food away. For example supermarkets aren't allowed to bin food - they have to give it to charitable organisations. And there are special end of aisles where you can find stuff about to go out of date. I often pick up fish/meat etc and freeze it. The public have been taught about "anti-gaspi" for years..... anti waste. It is criminal to throw food away or to oblige farmers to do so. In supermarkets you can find boxes of the ugly veggies. There are many outlets connected to apps where you can buy big/small stuff for cheaper prices. Restaurants have apps where you can go and pick up a box of leftover food for a really good price.

That seems so sensible, Islay!

The stores I shop at don't have absolutely perfect/uniform produce, and you need to be careful about inspecting things for bad spots.

I wouldn't say the produce is perfect-looking where I tend to shop, but it's pretty close; one store more so than the other. Problem is it is often is tasteless -- I really don't buy much too much fruit anymore other than bananas and grapefruit for DH because there really isn't much point, it's flavorless and expensive, even apples and pears. I'd rather just eat a handful of dried fruit. At least if the flavor of a vegetable is lacking, you can jazz it up with herbs, spices and different cooking methods to boost the flavor. Roasting and grilling fruit can bring out the flavor, but if the sugars aren't there to begin with there just isn't a whole lot you can do to really make it shine.

I grow some fruit myself and am building a small hobby orchard, but tree fruit is labor intensive -- worth it, but a lot of work. Berries are easy as are melons, but not every year is a good melon year, we have a short season and conditions have to be just right to get mouth-watering melons.

If I'm in the city I'll stop at the local produce market, they sell a lot of locally-grown produce and it's often excellent -- I'd say the McIntosh apples I was able to get last fall were the best I've ever eaten. I've got to make it a point to get there more often, the produce really is by far better than the chain grocers I shop at. I'll take locally-grown imperfect (even ugly) fruits and vegetables that are a joy to eat over tasteless perfection, no question.

"The young people here (cities, at least) are more about organic and eliminating food waste. It may take some time for things to come around there, but I'd guess it'll happen sooner or later."

I do agree with this. I am also pleased to hear what France is doing. There are some organizations (e.g. food banks) that work with farmers and grocers to "recover" what would have been wasted, but it's just not enough. How wonderful it would be if the U.S. passed similar laws -- that is a concrete step towards eliminating hunger. The amount of food that the U.S. wastes is shameful; criminal, even. A hungry person doesn't care that there's a bruise on their apple....