Abstract Food waste is a significant problem and consumers’ tendency to reject misshapen produce has been identified as a key contributing factor. The current work investigates the implications of consumers incorporating aesthetic beauty into their prototypes—mental renderings—of fruits and vegetables. It is proposed that consumers have idealized prototypes for produce and this impacts the aversion to misshapen produce. The authors draw on prototype theory to predict that consumers’ personal experiences will influence the extent to which their prototypes for these foods have been biased towards aesthetic beauty and, consequently, how they respond to produce that is misshapen. Across three studies, the authors demonstrate that consumers who have direct experience with produce cultivation view produce that is low in aesthetic beauty as more prototypical, less disgusting, and more desirable. This work contributes to the food waste literature by offering novel insights into the psychological basis of the aversion to misshapen produce. These findings also present important implications for food policy.

中文翻译：

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论厨余流行：理想化的原型与对畸形果蔬的厌恶

摘要 食物浪费是一个重大问题，消费者拒绝畸形产品的倾向已被确定为一个关键因素。目前的工作调查了消费者将审美美融入他们的水果和蔬菜原型——心理渲染中的含义。建议消费者已经理想化了产品原型，这会影响对畸形产品的厌恶。作者利用原型理论预测消费者的个人体验将影响他们对这些食物的原型偏向审美的程度，从而影响他们对畸形产品的反应。在三项研究中，作者证明，对农产品种植有直接经验的消费者会认为审美美感较低的消费者会认为他们更典型、更不恶心、更令人向往。这项工作通过对厌恶畸形产品的心理基础提供新的见解，为食物浪费文献做出了贡献。这些发现也对食品政策具有重要意义。