Reduce, Reuse,
junk Jack Ramage sits down with Caleb Elliott from The Rainbow Junktion Cafe, to talk about tackling food wastage and the work that can be done do to reduce the needless amount of food that is thrown away daily.
Food waste: perhaps one of the most wide-reaching problems of our generation. The UK collectively produces around 31 million tonnes of waste per year - the equivalent to the weight of three and a half million double-decker buses that would go around the world two and a half times. It’s about time we get the wheels turning and reach a solution. Caleb Elliot, the deputy manager of Rainbow Junktion, is here to provide an answer: “Rainbow Junktion is an offshoot from The Real Junk Food Project. We take food that would otherwise go to waste - things past their sell-by date, things that look a bit bruised; if just one item in the packet is bruised it all gets thrown away.” Rainbow Junktion takes this food, that would otherwise be binned, and creates healthy meals every Monday, Thursday and Friday for whoever walks in the door. Everyone is welcome, and the food on offer is pay-asyou-feel so a lack of money isn’t an issue. This independent pay-as-you-feel cafe runs out of All Hallows Church. It is truly one of Leeds’ most important hidden gems: “It’s right in the heart of the student bubble, but it’s hidden behind a few rows of houses so nobody knows about it.”
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Nice People Magazine December 2018
