Strange Fruit: Uli Westphal Wants You To Eat More Mutatoes

Most of us have been trained since we were kids to suss out fruits and vegetables that obeyed the “norms” of clean, healthy produce: No mold, no bruises, and no mutations. But some of the indicators, like the shine of an apple and perfectly round shape of a lemon, actually have little to do with health or sanitation; in fact, farmers actually go to great, unnatural lengths to make their harvest more appealing — and profitable — on the shelf. But German artist Uli Westphal wants us to stop discriminating against our fruit, and start accepting the strange shapes, colors, and sizes that naturally occur in the fields.

Spotted today on Cup of Jo, his photos artfully document the “mutatoes,” as he calls them, in an effort to reconnect viewers with the way our product looks as nature (sometimes) intends. Here’s his own description of the project, taken from his website:

Being a Collection of non-standard Fruits, Roots and Vegetables found at Berlins Farmers Markets, the Mutatoproject serves to document and archive these last survivors of biological Variety.

According to Westphal, the “complete absence of botanical anomalies in our supermarkets has caused us to regard the consistency of produce there as natural.” So when we do start buying local, organic produce from farmer’s markets and CSA’s, we’re often disappointed by the looks of our groceries.

Interesting food for thought. (And pretty pictures, too.)

(Photos: uliwestphal.de)