TODAY (Friday 13) is the final day to contribute to the Real Junk Food Manchester crowdfunding project. With a week to go they had bust through their initial £25,000 target and now the doughty food waste campaigners are suddenly within sight of £40,000 – thanks to an out of the blue £10,000 contributed by Santander. To edge it even further donate here by mid-afternoon.
All this means plans may expand beyond just setting up the city’s first waste food pay-as-you-feel cafe and restaurant in a site to be announced shortly in Ancoats. The original aim was for a six month tenancy, with sights on a permanent home.
The crowdfunding was to finance the design and build of a kitchen in their new HQ. Also on the agenda a mobile kitchen they can move into any space with electricity and running water. Where possible, equipment was to be sourced second hand as reducing waste is at the heart of everything RJFM does.
When the fund hit £25,000 it offered the chance to buy extra pots and pans. Now there are bigger decisions to be made. RJF originally promised if any funds were left over organisers would invite those who supported the Crowdfunder to vote on activities to help the wider community, including free meals, cookery lessons and days out for isolated residents. Details will be published of every penny spent
All this excitement follows 12 months of successful pop-ups for this not-for-profit project, its cooking team headed by chef Mary Ellen McTague (in main picture), once of Aumbry and the Great British Menu, all meals created from wasted ingredients, served on a pay-as-you-feel basis.
Hiring Mary-Ellen was a statement of intent from directors Corin Bell and Chris Haydon, directors of the Manchester branch – part of an international initiative started in Leeds in 2013. It seeks to address a national shame where eight million people in the UK live in poverty and hunger, yet 15m tonnes of food is wasted each year across the country, according to one survey.
In Ancoats the waste food received by the project will dictate the restaurant’s menu each day. Food is sourced from supermarkets, wholesalers, artisan producers and also directly from farms. The food often comes from returned home shopping orders, which retailers don’t have the resource to put back into their supply chain, Or it could even be items such as perfectly good cauliflowers that a farmer isn’t able to sell because they aren’t the right colour for supermarkets.
The pay-as-you-feel nature of the restaurant will mean that guests will quite literally pay what they feel their meal was worth, give whatever they can or even in return donate their time, energy and skills to the project. A concept that the operators have seen bring in donations of anything from 50p to £200 at their events.
Corin Bell, director for Real Junk Food Manchester, says: Pay-as-you-feel creates an innovative, inclusive space that deliberately bucks the recent trend towards food banks. We aim to create a space where people from all backgrounds are welcome, regardless of whether or not they have money.
“This is a conscious choice to work against the unfortunate consequence of a food bank model, where the poorest and most vulnerable in our society are segregated, often being offered little dignity or choice - everyone is welcome at our table.
“Using wasted food ingredients, focussing on cooking and serving hot meals, and offering meals on a pay-as-you-feel basis means that RJFM also reverses the trend of the poorest in our city having the worst diets, and having severely limited access to healthy food.”
Crowdfunding donors will receive a series of rewards depending on the level of their donation (including but not limited to the below)...
• For £5 –The High Five – they will receive a huge thank you from the team at Real Junk Food Manchester and an ethical chocolate bar from Divine Chocolate. The donor’s name will also added to the RJFM website as a supporter.
• For £250 – Junk Food Supper Club – donors can host a waste food supper club for up to 10 people, complete with food cooked by RJFM chefs, in their home.
• For £2,500 – Best Friends Forever – RJFM will take a special occasion and make it truly magical. Head Chef Mary-Ellen McTague and the Real Junk Food team will cater a wedding, corporate launch, or big birthday. Catering for up to 150 guests, within 20 miles of Manchester city centre. (Events of larger numbers or further afield can be catered, but may incur other costs).