The Real Junk Food Project Opens Its First ‘Pay-as-You-Feel’ ‘Food Waste’ Supermarket in the UK

By: | October 9th, 2016

Image-courtesy-The-Real-Junk-Food-Project

The first food waste supermarket has opened in the UK, which allows people take the food to their home which would otherwise be left for rotting.

This project will be a blessing for those people who fail to provide proper nutrition to their family due to financial restraints. The best part is the customers can pay as they please, with money, skills, or time!

As per a study conducted by the Evening Standard, more than 795 million people worldwide are starving for a healthy and nutritious meal. And 1.3 billion metric tons of edible food, worth nearly £230 million, ends up in landfills annually!

A store in Pudsey, near Leeds, opened by The Real Junk Food Project, is filled with the same products as found in regular supermarkets, but they are either closer to their expiration date or have dented packaging. People can pay on a “pay-as-you-feel” basis and can get veggies, fruits, fresh pasta, juice, pasta sauce, vegetables, and a lot more.

Image-courtesy-The-Real-Junk-Food-Project

Image-courtesy-The-Real-Junk-Food-Project

Not only this, but the project also run cafes, which cook food which is destined to be wasted.

The Real Junk Food Project says on its website, “Every single Pay as You Feel cafe that is part of the Real Junk Food Project network adheres to all Environmental Health Regulations within their respective establishment. This includes transporting food safely, storing it safely, cooking and re-heating it safely. We intercept food that is past its expiration date and use our own judgment on whether we believe the food is fit for human consumption or not, by smelling it, tasting it and visually inspecting it. We do not turn food away simply because it has ‘expired,’ but we will never serve food that we believe is unfit for human consumption.”

The Real Junk Food Project was started off by Adam Smith, and he plans to establish more such stores.
“Food waste supermarkets” are a growing trend, as it has both environmental and public health benefits and is a noble cause of diverting some of that food waste into hungry mouths.

Nidhi Goyal

Nidhi is a gold medalist Post Graduate in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences.

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