Just 'pay what you feel' at the UK’s first ever food waste 'supermarket' in a warehouse in Pudsey.
The warehouse store was started by food waste campaigners from The Real Junk Food Project, and food is priced on a 'pay as you feel' basis which basically means you can pay with cash, time or skills to the project.
All the food comes from several major supermarket chains, cafes, restaurants and food banks.
The project’s founder, Adam Smith, came up with the idea of using perfectly edible food thrown away by supermarkets and restaurants three years ago, inspired by a cafe in Armlet which offered meals prepared with waste food.
Receiving between two and 10 tonnes of food to its warehouse each day, The Real Junk Food Project initially was donating the food to local schools,
'But over the summer we ended up with all this surplus and we wondered how to get rid of it,' Smith said.
'We moved it to one part of the warehouse, put a notice up on social media asking people to come and get it, and it just went mad.'
In a report, The Guardian found that poorer children are more likely to be obese, and it’s not exactly surprising. Food banks can only accept food that won’t expire too quickly - thus likely to be canned, full of preservatives and sugar or boiled within an inch of its life. Even if you take a look in your local supermarket, there’ll be huge discounts on crisps, chocolates and junk while salads, fruits and high-fibre foods tot up to very scary totals at the tills.
It’s wondrous to see that low-income families have already benefitted from this selfless idea. Unlike food banks, the food is fresh. One family bought groceries like fresh pasta, juice, pasta sauce, fruits, vegetables and salads.
The 'pay as you feel' idea means cash payments are optional, but still necessary to cover the cost of the warehouse. The founder says he hopes to open similar 'supermarkets' in towns and cities across the UK.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.