Winder Power recently hosted a talk from neighbour and inspirational food distribution company The Real Junk Food Project.
Founder Adam Smith popped across the road from their warehouse and distribution centre to tell the team about their work, and ask them to help spread the word or consider volunteering with their small processing department.
Adam’s story is an inspirational one, and includes lows as a drug addict and prison in-mate through to becoming a highly paid chef, and now leading an organisation that feeds over 15,000 people per week, many of them school children.
Along the way he has managed to roll out a ‘pay as you feel’ café concept which accepts cash, skills or products in exchange for their wares, and which is now active in over 100 different locations worldwide.
All of this would be amazing in itself, but the most important aspect of The Real Junk Food Project is that all of this is achieved with food that has been thrown out by supermarkets and food retailers.
Categorised as too close to the sell by dates, incorrectly packaged or sometimes just to streamline the online distribution model, The Real Junk Food Project processes over 4 tons of this type of food per week, and its ‘anti-supermarket’ has seen over 20,000 people pass through its doors and leave with perfectly good food.
Commenting on the company’s vision, Adam said; “We believe that no-one should go without food, and are committed to doing our best to ensure that whatever we can obtain is processed and re-distributed to those who need it.”
Winder Power chief executive Laurence MacKenzie added; “What Adam and his team are doing is hugely inspirational, and we feel duty bound to help them in their quest, especially as they are close neighbours of ours and we can see first hand what challenges they face. We will be helping Adam with various aspects of the business and supporting The Real Junk Food Project any way that we can.”