The Real Junk Food Project

Aim

The Real Junk Food Project needs to raise vital funds to maintain and expand its operation in readiness for the year ahead.

Good news!

Our application to the Aviva Community Fund has been successful.  This means that every pledge (up to £250) is matched by the fund.  Only one pledge per person qualifies so if you've already pledged you can take satisfaction from knowing that your donation has already been doubled.  Please spread the word: every £1 counts twice.

Why does The Real Junk Food Project exist?

The Real Junk Food Project Brighton's mission is to prevent food from going to waste and to use it instead to feed the community.

What do we do?

Over 1/3 of global food production goes to waste. This is a profligate use of water, labour, energy, and transport.   Waste food buried in landfill generates methane gas which is even more damaging to the environment than carbon dioxide and contributes to climate change.  

The Real Junk Food Project intercepts food before it is sent to waste: typically this is supermarket food that has reached its best before date but is still good to eat. We then offer the food to people at our shop as well as cooking from scratch to create nutritious meals for the community.  We do this on a Pay As You Feel basis so that it is available to all regardless of ability to pay.  Last year we intercepted 103 tonnes of food and we fed on average 698 people each week.

What does this have to do with Climate Action?

We work with supermarkets, food distributors, and restaurants to aim to reduce the amounts of food that are wasted.

We encourage our community to think about the food they themselves waste.  We teach people to cook meals using food they already have in their larder.  We show by example how our cafe chefs cook from scratch each day with whatever food they have to hand.  We encourage batch cooking to make more efficient use of gluts of food.  We also offer education about food to school children.   

We grow our own food in our local community and we do this using compost we have created from our own cafe food waste.  This is both educational and beneficial for people's mental health. 

We also impact people’s Financial Wellbeing?

The food and meals are offered on a Pay As You Feel basis so it's available to all regardless of their ability to pay. 

If you eat at one of our cafes, you can expect to sit alongside a person from the homeless community, an asylum seeker or refugee:  people who do not have the wherewithal to do a big supermarket shop or eat out in the city's cafes.  Here are some thoughts from members of our community

At the cafe at St Luke’s Church, a fantastic team of volunteers prep, cook and serve hundreds of hot, healthy meals each week on a Tuesday and Wednesday. Across the three Brighton cafes, hundreds of meals are served each week, tens of thousands a year – providing nourishment and community to regulars and newcomers alike, and saving tonnes of food in the process.

Why are we raising funds?

The cafe at St Luke's is in desperate need of

• A large chest freezer
• A large American-style fridge freezer
• Essential electrical works

For the Bevendean site we need

• A commercial washing machine
• A food display cabinet for chilled food
• Essential electrical works

With thanks to

Ths crowdfunder has been prompted by St Luke’s Church regulars, Alf Wiltshire and The Grown Men, who have donated their time and music to making the videos for the campaign.   

The initial £2,500 raised is earmarked for the St Luke’s Church wish-list. All further funds raised will go to The Bevendean Hub, which supplies and powers all three Real Junk Food Brighton cafes.

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made