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Are spotty fruits and vegetables safe to eat? - Elizabeth Brauer

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In 2010, 30 billion dollars worth of fruits and vegetables were wasted by American retailers and shoppers, in part because of cosmetic problems and perceived spoilage. But what are these spots, anyway, and are they okay to eat? Elizabeth Brauer explains why you may not need to be afraid of picking up your grocery store’s funky-looking fruit.


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TED-Ed Animations feature the words and ideas of educators brought to life by professional animators. Are you an educator or animator interested in creating a TED-Ed Animation? Nominate yourself here »

Meet The Creators

  • Educator Elizabeth Brauer
  • Script Editor Eleanor Nelsen
  • Director Biljana Labović
  • Animation Artist Courtney Vonada
  • Narrator Pen-Pen Chen
Additional Resources for you to Explore
There’s a whole world of plant pathogens out there. Every single plant species has multiple types of pathogens. To find out more about how microbes infect their host and microbe life styles, check out the American Phytopathology Website. To see just how disgusting those spots can get and what they do over time take a look at this site! 

Do you think that plant and animal immune systems are very different? How different? To see how plant and animal immune systems differ check out this video. 

Did this lesson leave you wondering about food waste? Take a moment and visit this National Geographic link: How ‘Ugly’ Fruits and Vegetables Can Help Solve World Hunger to find out more about just how much food is being wasted and what we can do about it.

Find it difficult to believe that we throw out that much food just because of how it looks? This TED Talk: The global food waste scandal, also discusses food waste and the need for food to look appealing for it to be consumed.

Customize this lesson

Create and share a new lesson based on this one.

About TED-Ed Animations

TED-Ed Animations feature the words and ideas of educators brought to life by professional animators. Are you an educator or animator interested in creating a TED-Ed Animation? Nominate yourself here »

Meet The Creators

  • Educator Elizabeth Brauer
  • Script Editor Eleanor Nelsen
  • Director Biljana Labović
  • Animation Artist Courtney Vonada
  • Narrator Pen-Pen Chen

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