AFEW turnips have appeared among our kale crop this winter. Misshapen they may be, but if they are good enough to add to a hearty cawl, who cares what they look like?

Those of us who shop for our fruit and vegetables instead of growing them have got used to perfectly- formed fresh produce, but nature doesn’t work that way.

Thankfully supermarkets are now recognising that produce that looks less than perfect tastes just as good.

At least one of the multiples has rethought its policy of rejecting misshapen produce in light of poor growing conditions this year. Is it really so bad to see bent courgettes and wonky potatoes on sale? Does it really put customers off?

We are experiencing one of our worst farming seasons in decades, so relaxing the rules on the appearance of fruit and vegetables makes both economic and moral sense.

The unpredictable weather has left growers with bumper crops of ugly-looking fruit and vegetables with reported increases in blemishes and scarring, as well as shortages due to later crops.

Thank goodness supermarkets have woken up to the urgent need to reduce food waste by accepting perfectly good, but irregular shaped fruit and vegetables.

We have become very lazy when it comes to preparing food in general and veg is expected to be almost ‘ready to cook’.

I have just bought some weather blemished British apples, they taste great and they looked more natural than the uniform ones on sale alongside.

I am more interested in the taste of the product and the ethics of how it is produced than its shape or colour.

There is nothing wrong with wonky veg, although it can take longer to clean in the bends and dips. Blemishes occur on a lot of fruit, but we are now so unaccustomed to seeing them that we can’t distinguish between those that are harmless and those that ought to be cut out.

Let’s hope this change of heart by the supermarkets becomes permanent.