The Real Junk Food Project


The Real Junk Food Project is an organisation that uses food that would otherwise have been discarded from supermarkets, restaurants, and other independent food suppliers to produce meals that are sold on a pay what you want basis. These meals are produced in different pay what you want cafes around the UK. The project was founded by Adam Smith in Leeds in 2013.
TRJFP raises awareness of the amount of food waste in the food system. It directly responds to this problem through using waste food in its cafes and other food outlets. Through the pay what you want scheme, it also aims to make the food accessible to everyone.

The principle

The Real Junk Food Project uses discarded food to sell to patrons who support the initiative by the pay what you want method. It originally used food past its use by date but since 2017 has said it no longer provides food past its use by date to the public.

Cafes

The first Real Junk Food Project cafe was started in Armley, Leeds, in December 2013 by Sam Joseph, Conor Walsh and Adam Smith. Since its opening, this cafe has fed over 10,000 people using over 20 tonnes of unwanted food.
The Project now has a network of cafes, which are staffed by volunteers. As of 2015 there were more than 100 throughout the UK, including in Bristol, Brighton and Hove and Manchester.

Prosecution

During an inspection of the Leeds's warehouse, the West Yorkshire Trading Standards found 444 items out-of-date. The project is now at risk of prosecution for infringing the Food Safety and Hygiene Regulations while serving produce past their expiration date. Adam Smith argues that one million people have been fed by the project without anyone being sick so far. As a response to the matter, Feedback, another UK organisation rescuing food waste, expressed their support to the Real Junk Food Project by stating that "the real crime here is the waste that is caused when people throw perfectly edible food away".
The Project said it would "no longer provide food past its use-by date to the public."

Awards