Confessions of a Business Owner
Adam Smith, The Real Junk Food Project (TRJFP)
- Let’s REALLY feed the world
Adam will talk about his journey that led to creating The Real Junk Food Project - a collaborative effort between catering professionals and activists to bring about a radical and much needed change in our food system.
As well as talking from the heart about his unique journey and what drives him, he will be addressing the positive environmental impact of reducing edible food waste and the clear social benefits through operating a Pay-as-you-feel (PAYF) policy. Adam will cover many themes including the importance of collaboration, teamwork, resilience, sustainability, mental health and getting society to think about how we value food as a resource. Adam will share inspiration and empowerment surrounding mental health, the environment and leadership.
By watching this previously recorded webinar you will learn:
- What purpose drives Adam
- How Adam overcame adversity and turned his fortunes around
- What inspired Adam to set-up this important initiative
- The importance of leadership & a having a clear vision
- What is needed to 'really feed the world'
Adam Smith FRSA
Adam is a founder and co-director of the visionary, multi-award-winning, global initiative: The Real Junk Food Project (TRJFP). Set up in December 2013 to distribute edible surplus food to individuals, cafes, schools and community groups. The project’s aim was to revolutionise the disposal of avoidable food waste into landfill, the pioneering movement’s manifesto is to: feed bellies, not bins.
TRJFP has have fed over 12 million people since its inception and stopped around 5,000 tons of food from becoming waste (as of 2019) , the equivalent of 11.9 million meals. TRJFP has also inspired has inspired more than 120 projects across seven countries into a global network.
The project’s HQ is their Kindness Warehouse stocked only with intercepted food, which is open 7 days a week. The team is mainly staffed by volunteers, without whom the work across the UK would not be possible.
The project’s Kindness Warehouse was launched in 2018, acting as a central hub to all of their work to intercept surplus food and redistribute it. As Covid hit, a second site was opened to run the Kindness Sharehouse: Zero Waste Shop and sell magic boxes and Pay as You Feel surplus food. The project became the charity partner of Wakefield AFC for the 2020/2021 season, with funds contributing to the day to day running of the social enterprise as they continue to grow and prepare facilities to cope with challenges. In 2020, during the Covid 19 pandemic, TRJFP began providing free food boxes for NHS staff.
A professional chef for over ten years, Adam has held a wealth of head chef positions, internationally. Whilst in Australia, Adam witnessed the scale of food waste, agriculturally and within the catering industry. Upon his return to the UK, he was inspired to set up TRJFP. Adam and TRJFP have received numerous plaudits and awards from organisations ranging from NESTA to The Observer. He has been voted one of the forty most influential men in the world by AskMen. The Telegraph Food and Drink Power List voted Adam as one of the 50th most influential people in UK Food & Drink.
Adam is currently writing a book due for publication in 2021. He has been a featured speaker on a truly memorable TedX talk and his story is utterly inspiring.