Food waste cafes

[annedonnelly]

A few years ago I contributed to a crowdfunder to help fund a food waste cafe. They managed to open in Newcastle during the pandemic. I've manged to get in a couple of times. All the food on the menu is made from surplus stuff that was heading for landfill. They also have a stall outside with surplus food that you can pay whatever you think it's worth. Or if you can't afford to pay anything you're welcome to help yourself.

I think it's a great idea. I'd much rather support something like this than a huge chain where you get the same menu no matter where you are in the country.

I know there's a similar cafe in Chester-le-Street & I bet there are many others. Anyone else use one?

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

No heard of that before. Brilliant if it can be made sustainable

 

[fossyant]

Should be more of them - it's incredible what get's chucked out.

We've a wholesaler nearby that sells "just out of date products". We go quite regular. Only once did we get 'flat' fizzy drink, but it's great for pasta, cereals, biscuits, chocolate and tins, all at crazy low prices. Coffee, £6 for 6 bags where it's usually £3 plus a bag. They've started doing the coffee pods - they sell fast, but a box works out at £1 - they are £4 in the supermarket.

 

[Oldhippy]

Brilliant idea, I know of them but never seen one. So many people waste so much!

 

[DCLane]

There's a couple in Leeds in Burley and Armley, with the Armley one being the first part of the Leeds Junk Food project. Their waste food supermarket closed down late last year though.

 

[presta]

it's incredible what get's chucked out

It is, but not by retailers. Everybody loves to hate the supermarkets, but they're not the problem, 71% of food waste occurs in the home, from people buying more than they can eat.

 

[fossyant]

It is, but not by retailers. Everybody loves to hate the supermarkets, but they're not the problem, 71% of food waste occurs in the home, from people buying more than they can eat.

View attachment 638095

Quite. Something we've really cut down on. Now let's not mention packaging !!!

 

[tfc03]

Ah, The Magic Hat Cafe! What marks it out is that they do things really well too, food and coffee!

Interesting that pie chart, thanks, supermarkets do encourage over-buying with offers etc so they aren't totally off the hook...

 

[Chris S]

I think they need a better name, 'food waste cafes' sounds like the food is made out of sh*t

 

[mudsticks]

A few years ago I contributed to a crowdfunder to help fund a food waste cafe. They managed to open in Newcastle during the pandemic. I've manged to get in a couple of times. All the food on the menu is made from surplus stuff that was heading for landfill. They also have a stall outside with surplus food that you can pay whatever you think it's worth. Or if you can't afford to pay anything you're welcome to help yourself.

I think it's a great idea. I'd much rather support something like this than a huge chain where you get the same menu no matter where you are in the country.

I know there's a similar cafe in Chester-le-Street & I bet there are many others. Anyone else use one?

The cafe at The Peoples History Museum in Manchester uses surplus food in a similar way

I had a really nice sausage sandwich there a few weeks back.

Uh oh.. I'm hungry now.

Ah, The Magic Hat Cafe! What marks it out is that they do things really well too, food and coffee!

Interesting that pie chart, thanks, supermarkets do encourage over-buying with offers etc so they aren't totally off the hook...

Supermarkets also encourage food waste by insisting on 'perfect' vegetables from their suppliers .

Some of the less aesthetically pleasing stuff goes for processing

But still a lot of perfectly edible food gets ploughed back in.

There are a few gleaning operations popping up now too, where people will go and collect 'unsalesble' crops from farmers fields, and then either distribute it through food banks, or community food kitchens.

 

[biggs682]

Great idea

 

[annedonnelly]

The cafe at The Peoples History Museum in Manchester uses surplus food in a similar way

I had a really nice sausage sandwich there a few weeks back.

Uh oh.. I'm hungry now.

Supermarkets also encourage food waste by insisting on 'perfect' vegetables from their suppliers .

Some of the less aesthetically pleasing stuff goes for processing

But still a lot of perfectly edible food gets ploughed back in.

There are a few gleaning operations popping up now too, where people will go and collect 'unsalesble' crops from farmers fields, and then either distribute it through food banks, or community food kitchens.

There's a veg box scheme called oddbox that distributes non-perfect fruit and veg. Seems only to be in the south east though.

 

[mudsticks]

There's a veg box scheme called oddbox that distributes non-perfect fruit and veg. Seems only to be in the south east though.

Theres a veg box scheme in the South west that also distributes 'non perfect' veg .

But tbh it's fairly standard practice amongst medium scale veg boxes - most customers seem to understand about trying to avoid food waste - and see that it keeps the price generally affordable for everyone

 

[Reynard]

Maybe I should all invite you all to dine Chez Casa Reynard

Culinary creations made from yellow sticker and clearance food items, plus wonky fruit & veg. Not to mention stuff that's foraged. And it's not basic stuff, I do cook restaurant-quality meals.

I very rarely throw anything away - I get so cross with myself if I have to pitch a carrot or something. Although admittedly, a bitsas supper to clear the fridge can be a bit, umm, pot luck...

I find it quite chastening that I buy food at the point where a lot of people are throwing it away.

 

[Reynard]

Re the perfect fruit & veg...

Let me put my mechanical engineer's hat on first. There is a point to perfect and uniform fruit and veg in a way, especially for the packaged stuff. Take apples for instance, usually six to a packet. You want them to be more or less the same size, because they need to fill the packaging evenly so that they don't get knocked about. You also want each packet to be of a similar weight. Plus, you need to get so many packets into a case and so many identical cases onto a pallet etc, which makes it easier from a stock and logistics point of view. A lot of the packaging process is also automated, and so even sizes makes the process easier and faster.

Now, I'll take my engineer's hat off and put my cook's hat on. When it comes to cooking, all I really care about is the flavour. I'm a home cook, not a restaurateur - I don't have the need to turn out identical plates of food. So I don't care if one apple is a bit big or a bit small or somewhat lopsided if all I'm going to do is peel it, core it, cut it into chunks and then stick it in a crumble. Last week I bought an 800g bag of wonky apples, and there were a dozen apples in the bag. This week I bought a bag of wonky apples and there were only four in a bag. I'm planning apple fritters...

It's two sides of the same thing, and it does mess with my head in a way. I can see why it's done, but really, as people, we really should only be concerned about the quality of the produce. We are dealing with a natural product after all, and things do come in all sorts of shapes and sizes thanks to the vagaries of Mother Nature.