The Upcycle Project

The UPcycle Project is a collaborative effort between catering professionals and activists to bring about a radical change in the food system. The first step they have taken to achieve this challenging task is to intercept perfectly edible food that would otherwise not make it to the plate and serve it as meals at various social gatherings and events, or distribute it to the homeless and the needy via a bicycle delivery scheme. The food is produced by professional chefs, as well as by chefs-in-training who come to them as unskilled job-seekers, and through their free training scheme leave as qualified cooks.

As well as the positive environmental impacts of reducing edible food waste the project also has clear social benefits through operating a strictly Pay-as-you-feel (PAYF) policy. PAYF offers an alternative to the conventional payment system as there is no price on any of the chef’s produce. Their system transcends monetary transactions and liberates people to use their skills and attributes as well as money to pay for their meals. Furthermore, they aim to highlight the absurdity that the produce they use has been stripped of its monetary value but still retains its nutritional value. By making people think about what they wish to contribute for their meals, the idea is to get society thinking about how they value food as a resource.

Food is a necessity, and wasted food is ridiculous. Food should be fed to people, not to bins; and The UPcycle Project aims to ensure that this happens.