A campaign called The Real Junk Food Project (TRJFP) has opened the U.K.鈥檚 first food waste supermarket on an industrial estate in Pudsey, near Leeds. So what exactly is a food waste supermarket?
The concept is actually quite simple, according to the . Organizers and volunteers collect surplus food that would otherwise end up in landfills, from a variety of sources including allotments, food banks, restaurants, cafes, food photographers and functions. They then offer it for sale to the public on a 鈥減ay as you feel鈥� basis.
According to the TRJFP, the supermarket is intended for everyone and not just consumers who are struggling financially, homeless or 鈥渘eedy.鈥�
鈥淲e believe food waste is absolutely fit for human consumption and so that鈥檚 who we feed 鈥� human beings,鈥� the group says on its website.
As for food safety, the campaigners claim their project adheres to all of the environmental health regulations for transporting food, storing it, cooking and re-heating it safely. The TRJFP says they use common sense when it comes to expiration dates on food labels.
鈥淲e intercept food that is past its expiration date and use our own judgement on whether we believe the food is fit for human consumption or not, by smelling it, tasting it and visually inspecting it.鈥�
While the group says they won鈥檛 turn food away just because of an expiry date, they also stress that they would never serve food that they believe is 鈥渦nfit鈥� to eat.
The TRJFP began in December 2013, by setting up food banks and 鈥減ay as you feel鈥� cafes. They have already established hundreds of cafes in cities all over the country. The project hopes to expand its supermarket initiative so that every city in the U.K. will have its own warehouse.
The TRJFP鈥檚 warehouse isn鈥檛 the first surplus food supermarket in the world. Denmark opened the first non-profit in February 2016. Other countries, such as France, are also taking action on the issue of food waste. The outlawed the destruction of unsold food products in supermarkets in 2015. Large-sized supermarkets in France are now required to sign contracts with charities to donate their surplus food.
According to the , roughly one third of the food produced for human consumption, approximately 1.3 billion tonnes, is lost or wasted every year. In Canada, about $31 billion worth of food is thrown away every year according to the consulting firm .
