A friend and I had lunch together today. Choosing from the menu, I said “Shall we go for the extravagant option?”
But we weren’t being outrageous; quite the opposite. In this context, the “extravagant” option cost £2.50 – approximately 3.35 USD or 3 Euros. We normally go for the £1 dish (1.2 Euros or 1.30 USD).
If it sounds like we’d get a terrible meal for so few pennies, I want to put your mind at rest. Everything I’ve ever eaten at this café is delicious. It is nourishing. And it is saving the world.
So how does that work?
The café I had lunch at is part of an organisation in my city dedicated to reducing food waste. I regularly go to one of their cafes, and they also make and sell pre-prepared meals and even grow their own veg.
Because cafes like this use whatever local shops and restaurants can’t sell, they create magic from whatever comes their way, which I expect is how I once found a roast potato in my pasta bake (that is not a criticism by the way. There is literally nowhere roast potatoes don’t belong.)
Today, it was Thai red curry with butter beans and butternut squash. Previously, I’ve had stew, bean tandoori, and all kinds of pasta-based deliciousness.
It’s great for people who are struggling for money, it’s a great cause to support, and you get genuinely nourishing food.
But organisations like this go beyond even those laudable aims, as I’ve chatted to Food Works volunteers who talk about how working with the project enriches their lives.
But I don’t want to eat food waste!
Good news! You won’t be!
The thing about food-waste cafes is that they do not serve food waste, they avoid food waste. That’s the absolute joy of it.
By eating there, you are helping to reduce the amount of food that would go to landfill if it wasn’t crafted and alchemised into a delicious meal by resourceful chefs.
The food is not rotten, the system that allows food to go to waste is. By eating in places like this, you are helping to combat that.
But what good is a community café in Sheffield to me? I live elsewhere!
The great news is that there are projects designed to reduce food waste all around the world. I’ve talked before about the Too Good To Go app, for instance.
There are also plenty more cafes like the ones in my local area.
In Oxford, there’s Waste2Taste, in Chester le Street there’s REfUSE, there’s Planet Food in York, and Kendal has Kendal’s Food Café.
These are just a handful of the many community food-waste cafes that have popped up to solve multiple problems at the same time: food waste reduction, and affordable food provision for locals chief amongst them.
What are the drawbacks of eating in food-waste reduction cafes?
One aspect of eating in places like this can be a problem for those who like to scrutinise a menu before they go somewhere to eat, or who like familiarity when they eat out.
Because food-waste cafes cook with whatever arrives in their kitchen on any given morning, even they don’t know in advance what they’ll be cooking, so neither will you.
Having said that, I actually find it quite freeing to arrive at a café with a small number of options to choose from that are different every time you go. I don’t have to scrutinise the online menu the night before, which I otherwise feel a weird compulsion to do.
Another potential difficulty is that if you have a restricted diet, whether for medical reasons, through preference, or because you’re vegetarian or vegan, there may be less likely to be things you can eat in a food-waste cafe.
In my local cafes, there is always at least one vegetarian option, often vegan, and common allergens are listed on the menus. But if you have strict dietary requirements, food-waste cafes may be tricky.
One final thing that some people find tricky is that some community cafes operate on a Pay As You Feel basis. While this is great in making food accessible, I do find it deeply awkward to not know what you’re expected to contribute. Meals in Food Works Sheffield cafes used to be Pay As You Feel, but now options are priced, usually either £1 or £2.50. To me, this is a big relief.
Overall, the benefits of eating in projects that support community spirit, help local people, and help to save the world far, far outweigh the negatives for most people. I made a concerted effort a few months ago to support this café more, and while that was partly for Saving The World reasons, it has also benefited me greatly.
I get really nutritious, creative and interesting food. I remind myself that community centres and libraries are bloody brilliant. I save cash. And I get a brilliant sense of community connectedness that we need more and more and more of.
Images: Philippa Willitts