I’ve always been really perplexed by the amount of waste we Brits make each and every year. But what really gets my goat is the amount of food we throw away. Collectively the UK people throw away 18 million tonnes of food every year.That’s a lot. Especially when you consider that our climate doesn’t support the production of a lot of our food, which means countless tonnes of that waste has travelled from all over the globe to end up in our bins! Even more alarming is when you consider that in 2014 alone, approximately 900,000 people were regularly using food banks.
Personally I’ve always been drawn to utilising waste food. I started skipping years ago after spending time living with people who fed each other collectively with food found in bins. I like finding my food in bins, it’s free and it’s perfectly edible -what’s not to like? The real problem, I found, is the poor attitude surrounding our food waste problem. I’ve worked for companies that locked their bins specifically to prevent people accessing the food inside. I once took a job as a supermarket cleaner which although made it easier to get my hands on bin food, I still risked my job by taking it. I started taking surplus food from my new place of work to feed the homeless this year- at first it was seen as a positive thing, until I was given some surplus veg that was expensive. Then I was told “don’t you be giving this to any homeless people now”…one chance to guess what I did.
It was at that time that I read about a UK movement tackling the waste food and food poverty crisis simultaneously. It’s name:
THE REAL JUNK FOOD PROJECT (TRJFP)
As a community interest company, The Real Junk Food Project started intercepting food before it reached landfill, which they then used to create healthy meals to serve to the community. TRJFP has sparked a food revolution across the UK and even beyond. In 2014 there were 11 cafes operating under TRJFP which collectively saved 32, 974.026 Kg of edible food from going to landfill, which fed 16, 498 people. And the best part- all meals were served on a “Pay As You Feel Basis”. Food isn’t free, but it doesn’t just have to be traded for money.
“PAY AS YOU FEEL”
“Pay As You Feel” encourages people to think about the cost of their food-not only in money value but in it’s mileage, where the food on your plate came from, who planted/cared for it, who packaged it, how much energy in sunlight, rain, and harvesting, was required to produce that meal? “Pay As You Feel” also breaks down the societal norm of valuing people with enough cash above those without-instead it values the individual. Can’t pay for your food? That’s no problem at all. Help us in the kitchen, come wash up with us, help serve the customers, busk or give some creative input. How many skills do you have? How many times have you shared these skills for your food? Trust me, it feels much better than buying it from the supermarket, and it gives a sense of community and value to everyone no matter their background or job title. It breaks down hierarchies. It saves food. It saves waste. It saves environmental degradation through the emission of toxic gases that are released by rotting food. It feeds the hungry, it takes pressure away from food banks. It’s inspirational, it’s encouraging, and it’s for everyone.
So a couple of weeks ago I quit my job and now I help to run The Real Junk Food Project Brighton as a full time volunteer director along with Adam Buckingham, who has tirelessly dedicated himself to the project from the beginning.
Seriously good PAYF coffee
We’re now recruiting more directors, members, and have a database of over 80 volunteers. We run two events a week, including a community cafe at One Church on Gloucester Place on Fridays where we serve up to 100 people in three hours. I love my job. I’ve met so many wonderful people who all have such gusto for life, for our planet and for each other. I’ve also started eating so much healthier now too! The amount of fruit and veg thrown away is staggering, I now enjoy well over my five-a-day each and every day, I can drink smoothies or fruit juice whenever I want, I can even eat as much Avocado as my heart desires (they’re so expensive if bought new)- all of which would be rotting in landfill somewhere if it wasn’t for the project.
Ready for customers at TRJFPB Community Cafe. (at One Church on Gloucester Place).
Serving time at our community cafe!
Our customers enjoying their waste food meals
TRJFPB volunteer Paul, tucking into a well deserved food waste lunch
TRJFPB market stall serving intercepted bread, pastries, fruit, and our home made chutneys
Fresh fruit juice made from 100% intercepted fruit
HOPEFULLY AS THE PROJECT GROWS we will be able to find a premises in Brighton to run a community cafe seven days a week. We want to run workshops on waste free living, healthy cooking, and food safety classes to teach people how to trust their senses instead of the sell-by-date labels. I am hoping we can come up with a premises that is equally as waste free as our ethos. For when I think of the amount of empty properties in this city I can’t help but envision a community restoration project using recycled ingenuity and voluntary support…but maybe for now I should start with my own tin cabin and see what happens.
Waste apples
More waste fruit!
You should follow us on facebook here: The Real Junk Food Project Brighton
and of course no twitter account is complete without: @realjunkfoodbri
The Rubbish Junkie 