35% of organic vegetable production is not harvested even though it is suitable for consumption. - Why? Because the vegetables have one or another little quirk. Supermarkets only take produce that looks perfect, because that's what the customer buys. But what happens to B-grade vegetables that are just as good in terms of quality and taste? Where can they be sold? What price is appropriate? Who buys vegetables with a quirk?
As part of the interdisciplinary Humboldt reloaded project "Gesunde Macke" (English: "Healthy quirk"), which combines methodological approaches from agricultural and economic sciences, these questions were investigated through a market analysis. In cooperation with Bioland-Gemüsehof Hörz, a questionnaire was created that was well received by bachelor's and master's students from the three faculties of agricultural, economic and natural sciences at the University of Hohenheim. Over 1,000 evaluable questionnaires were collected.
A lot of students expressed their support for the sale of second choice organic vegetables at the University of Hohenheim. As a result, a pilot project was put into action in the summer semester of 2018. On four delivery dates (from 19.6.-10.7.2018), over 260 soil bags were picked up at the TMS.
