Eat Ugly
This culinary adventure series explores creative ideas that could change the way we think about food.
Through the new discovery+ series "Eat Ugly," we learn about some of the major issues facing our global food system. And as series host Stephanie Wear, Ph.D. and marine scientist, underlines in each of the three episodes, how we produce, trade, market, consume and dispose of our food has the potential to solve some of the most pressing environmental and social challenges of our time.
Science and data tells us that our food system holds potential to:
- Nourish a growing population
- Generate $4.5 trillion annually in new economic opportunities by 2030
- Help create a net-zero, nature-positive world
- Enhance our resilience to climate and economic shocks
And while "eating ugly" is inventive, there simply isn't one silver bullet solution; our path to realizing this potential must be as diverse as the global food system itself.
We believe a large part of realizing this potential is by shifting to a regenerative food system—producing food on land and in water in ways that work with nature, not against it.
About the Series
Each of the 11-minute "Eat Ugly" episodes are designed to get us thinking differently about food—where it comes from, how it's produced, who drives consumption and what gets discarded.
Through the video series, we learn from local food producers and chefs three out-of-the-box ways of thinking about where our food comes from. The episodes are:
- Episode I: Eat Garbage - From bruised produce and seafood bycatch to the use of discarded food items, we dive into the world of edible “garbage.” Dr. Wear visits chefs and advocates in New Orleans, the Gulf Coast and New York City.
- Episode II: Eat Bugs - Bugs remain a traditional food in many cultures across Africa, Asia and Latin America. From poppable snacks to fine dining cuisine, this episode explores the culinary experience of crickets, ants, grasshoppers and beetles.
- Episode III: Eat Jelly - As temperatures rise, so do the number of jellyfish in our oceans. They are able to thrive where others are not. From catching them to cooking and eating them, this episode dives deep into the world of jellyfish, a common ingredient in Chinese cuisine for thousands of years.
