Fruta Feia

What's in the box: A weekly basket of seasonal fruit and vegetables from Portuguese growers that are perfectly good to eat but rejected by retailers for their looks.

Fruta Feia is a consumer cooperative in Portugal that has been running since November 2013. Its idea is simple: a large share of fruit and vegetables grown in Portugal never reaches shops because it is the wrong size, shape or colour for supermarkets, so the cooperative sources that produce from local growers and passes it to members in a weekly basket. The cooperative says it now works with 405 producers and has kept more than 8,500 tonnes of produce from going to waste. This is not a home delivery service. Members join the cooperative and collect their basket each week from a local pickup point, which the site calls a delegação. There are 21 of these, and recent openings include the Lisbon neighbourhoods of Carnide, Encarnação and Olivais, as well as Campanhã in Porto. Places can be limited, and the site advertises open spots at specific points such as Foz do Douro and Padrão da Légua, which suggests some locations fill up. Baskets are packed with help from volunteers, and the whole operation feels community driven rather than slick. The site does not state prices up front, and what arrives depends on what growers have available that week. If you live near a pickup point and are happy to cook with whatever turns up, it is a practical, low waste way to buy seasonal Portuguese produce.