Junk Food Cafe

Aim

We want to open a Pay-As-You-Feel vegetarian/vegan cafe in the centre of Brighton using surplus food which we prevent from going to waste

The Real Junk Food Project

Five years ago the Real Junk Food Project Brighton burst on to the Brighton scene. 

We now intercept over 10 tonnes of food each month:  food that would be sent to land-fill because regulations determine that it can not be sold even though it's perfectly good to eat.

We believe that food is valuable and should be eaten not wasted.

Our volunteers peel, chop and prepare it: our cooks bake and steam it; fry it and we serve delicious meals to over 500 people a week in pop-up lunch cafes we have opened in church halls and community centres.

Our Volunteers

We are a volunteer-led organisation.  We could not do what we do without unpaid helpers. We offer training in kitchen skills to enable people get into the workplace be they sufferers from mental health issues, recovering from addiction, ex-offenders or young people Not-In-Employment-or-Training.

What Do People Say?

Pay As You Feel

We operate a Pay-As-You-Feel policy which means our guests help cover our running costs by making a donation in cash or in kind.  

We know that our policy of making food available to all regardless of their ability to pay makes a huge difference to people's lives.  This is a note we recently discovered in one of our donation buckets.

We've won Awards !!

Runners-up in the Observer Food Magazine Best Ethical Food Project category for 2019; Gold in the Brighton and Hove Food Festival Awards for Best Social Eating Experience and Best Cheap Eats; Silver for the Food Hero Award; 

First in the Eat Well For Less category in the BRAVO Awards.

Why Do We Need Funds?

We now have an exciting opportunity to bring our unique social enterprise to a city-centre location in Brighton.  

Infinity Foods Co-operative has offered us the chance to lease their property in Gardner Street for use as a vegetarian/vegan café using surplus food.  

This will be a game-changer for our project.  We will have a place we can call our own to open daily.  

We have the chance to take our message about waste food to a much wider audience.  

We aim to feed many more people with surplus food: food that would otherwise go to waste.

In order to make this a reality, we’re asking for your help.

We calculate we will need £25,000 to do some refurbishment and ensure that all our setup costs are met.  

Additionally your contribution will ‘pay forward’ so that the many people of Brighton who struggle to afford to eat a healthy hot meal have the opportunity to avail themselves of the nutritious food we will create at the new café.

The Festive Season is just around the corner.  Would you consider donating for someone less fortunate than you on our crowdfunder?

Our Rewards

We have some great rewards so it’s not just charity: Junk Food branded T-shirts, aprons, hoodies and water bottles.   Quality food hampers composed of surplus food.  Vouchers to eat in Brighton restaurants kindly donated by the local food fraternity.

Plus, all donors will be honoured on our Supporters Wall in the new cafe. 

And you’ll be very welcome to come and have a meal with us any time you like when we open in the new year.

This project successfully funded on 31st December 2019