When we waste food, the water, nutrients, energy and more that go into producing it get wasted too. The thing is, cutting food waste is one of the easiest things we can do in our own lives to make a difference. By reducing food waste, many households can save $500 plus ½ a tonne of greenhouse gas pollution a year.
An organisation in the UK- The Real Junk Food Project, is collecting unwanted produce from local businesses, such as restaurants, supermarkets and markets, making it readily available to the needy.
They do this in two ways: gathering food leftovers to cook up a storm in their Pay What You Feel cafe, where customers literally pay what they can afford and the other more traditional route by providing a food bank service.
The Huffington Post recently reported: "This project alone intercepts are 500kg of unwanted food per week (a total of 10 tonnes since January 2014) and the cafe can serve more than 100 meals per day, not to mention the thriving food bank."
Here is what the founder of the organisation, Adam Smith has to say:
"Every year 1.3billion tonnes of edible food produce is wasted either by feeding it to livestock on farms, being thrown away due to strict 'use-by' and 'best-before' dates, or because it is rejected by supermarkets due to it not fitting strict criteria, (which I am sure you're fully aware of).
925 million people or 13.6% of the worlds population is officially classed as malnourished, starving or food insecure and the numbers are rising. Over 100 million people are officially homeless. Now we both know that these figures are not accurate enough, but this means that for every 1 person starving and/or homeless, there is 1 tonne of food available to them, per year, through wastage.
I am a 27 year old, fully qualified chef from the UK, and I have been applying my trade for nearly 8 years. I have worked in many different establishments at many different levels. I visited Australia with my girlfriend Johanna Hewitt on 4th July 2012 on a working holiday visa, along our travels through WA, NSW, Victoria and QLD, we have both been inspired by so many different people all saying the same thing...
'Why?'
Why do we have so many homeless? Why do we waste so much food produce? So why is nothing being done about this? Well there is ... The Real Junk Food Project.
We aim to intercept all waste food produce and utilise it to feed those that need it the most. We also aim to educate those that wish to understand the effects that wastge food has on the environment and our health. Along with the help of volunteers and the general public, we get out on the streets and cook up dishes using only donated waste food produce and provide nutirtional and health beneficial advice all those that seek it. We are going to prove to people, especially the world governments, that actions do speak louder than words."
You can follow the organisation on their Facebook page by clicking here