Every month, The Groundbreakers puts an inspiring initiative, product or company in the spotlight. By sharing knowledge and inspiration, we want to stimulate sustainable developments and we hope to contribute to the greening of the business community. This time we would like to highlight the Court of Cartesius in Utrecht. The Groundbreakers team was given a tour of this circularly built workplace. Finally, we did a workshop at the second-hand hardware store Buurman Utrecht. Kromkommer out. A sustainable company that is committed to equal rights for all fruit and vegetables.

Bent is the new Straight

Some products on the supermarket shelves look sleek and symmetrical; all apples equally round, carrots perfectly straight and very even peppers without scratches. But anyone who has ever had a vegetable garden knows that nature is not a machine and therefore no uniformity can be expected. And why would a crooked carrot be less tasty than a straight one?

However, there is a strict selection for our fruit and vegetables, as in the Netherlands they must meet certain general trading standards that are tested by the Quality Control Agency. This is important because we naturally want our fruit and vegetables to be fresh, safe and tasty. But the products are also judged on their appearance, it is, as it were, a beauty contest. No less than 10% of all fruit and vegetables never reach our plate based on appearance, isn't that wrong?!

“Equal rights for all fruits and vegetables”

Fight for equal rights

Kromkommer thinks so too and that is why they fight for equal rights for all fruit and vegetables. Crooked is the new right. Kromkommer believes that a two-legged carrot, a green pepper with orange flames or an S-shaped cucumber is just as tasty. So they say: crooked + straight, that's real! And we at The Groundbreakers actually very much agree with that. In addition to their commitment to saving the crooked fruit and vegetable varieties by having as many points of sale as possible affiliated, Kromkommer has more resources to spread this message. Namely toys, teaching materials and a real children's book starring Mister Twolegs to make the little ones fans of crooked. Because you learned at a young age… Right.

Krommunity

There is a mission, there is a goal, but of course Kromkommer cannot achieve that alone. Fortunately they have the 'Krommunity'; a group of like-minded individuals who fight together for a better world. They all think that crooked is the new straight. And this ranges from the crooked vegetables from the farmer, the points of sale that put it on their shelves, the catering industry that can cook with it, to consumers who ultimately have the crooked vegetables on their plates.

Join the Krommunity and go for that crooked version of your favorite vegetable. So you see, sometimes you can straighten out things that are wrong.