From the ‘pay as you feel’ cafes transforming surplus food into feasts, to a restaurant that provides homeless people with fine dining – our pick of five projects that are democratising good food
1. Espresso yourself
The Real Junk Food Project, global
A bowlful of repurposed surplus eats at a Real Junk Food Project cafe. Image: Thom Urdell
Turning organic food destined for the bin into tasty grub, the Real Junk Food Project serves up a generous portion of culinary democracy too. Customers visiting its 40 ‘pay as you feel’ cafes receive no bills, instead paying as little or as much as they can afford.
2. Hearty fare
Robin Hood, Spain
Homeless people in Madrid are waited on in style at the Robin Hood cafe. Image: Sheila Sund
By day, Madrid’s Robin Hood is a cafe like any other, serving up typical Spanish dishes to paying customers. But after hours, owners use profits to fund free dining experiences for homeless people, complete with waiter service, tablecloths and flowers.
3. Another one bites the crust
Social Bite, Scotland
Social Bite, ‘a sandwich shop with a difference’, donates all profits to social causes
Stumble, bleary-eyed, into a Social Bite pay-it-forward cafe and you can help someone in need while your latte brews. Choose anything, pay, and a homeless person can claim your slice of kindness. Across five outlets, 150 homeless people are served every day. A quarter of staff were previously homeless too.
4. Healthy competition
Everytable, US
Everytable’s meal prices reflect how much customers can afford. Image: Gina Cella
This for-profit healthy restaurant chain has a tasty plan: pricing meals depending on where they’re sold. Customers in low-income neighbourhoods pay around half as much as their wealthier counterparts. Everytable has three restaurants in LA – and will have four in May.
5. No missed steak
Project Hand-in-Hand, Malaysia
Some Singaporean households are able to swap time helping their community for fresh, healthy food
This social enterprise has a solution for those without much cash to splash on groceries. Low-income householders in Singapore can pick up healthy goods from supermarkets in exchange for volunteer time, doing things such as keeping their street tidy or teaching a neighbour a new skill.
Featured image: volunteer servers at a Real Junk Food Project cafe by Thom Urdell
Reasons to support Positive News
#4: It’s owned by the people
Instead of being owned by a media mogul, Positive News is owned by the many. We are a community benefit society (a form of co-operative) accountable to our readers, and any profit we make is reinvested in our journalism.
