From vegetables to fruit and more bread, milk and eggs. Welcome to Inconvenience, a "pay-what-you-feel" supermarket, where you pay according to your financial possibilities. An idea that reaches out to the poor and fights food waste.
Don't store avocado like this: it's dangerousFrom vegetables to fruit and more bread, milk and eggs. Welcome to Inconvenience, a pay-what-you-feel supermarket, or where you pay according to your economic possibilities. An idea that reaches out to the poor and fights food waste.
Approximately 108 million people in the world are dealing with a situation of serious food insecurity, which is why in recent years, initiatives that help man and the planet have been growing.
North of Melbourne there is a very unique supermarket started by Lentil As Anything, a non-profit association that aims to fight waste and help the community that can't even put bread in their shopping cart.
“The idea is to do something to ensure access to food for everyone. Fresh fruit and vegetables are often not accessible to those in financial difficulty, ”explains coordinator Astrid Ryan.
But not only that, the managers explain that the project also aims to reduce the amount of food waste in the area. How many times is food thrown into the bins at the end of the day?
In this case, the products come from nearby stores, including Coles and Aldi, and the nearby Preston Market. Thus a virtuous circle has been created, in fact the supermarket is frequented both by those who do not have the economic means to shop in a common market and by those who cannot bear the idea of seeing wasted food.
“Some customers are not in need, but they want to help save food from junk, so I come here, leave a donation in a box and walk away. For those in need, food is free. We understand they wouldn't be here otherwise, ”continues Ryan.
“I am here because I have been unemployed since Monday. I still don't know how long I will be out of work and I came here to do the shopping, ”explains Mary, a disabled girl.
Then there is Pamela Marentis, 65, who puts two loaves of bread in the cart.
“I don't mind it's not fresh. I don't like waste, I know how to season it to make it still taste great, ”says the woman.
Food is therefore free, the donations that customers can make, are used to pay the costs of rent, light and management of the room, everyone is free to leave what they see fit, or leave nothing.
“The data on food waste convinces me more and more that there are tons of opportunities to open other similar stores, all over the world,” says Ryan.
And in fact, other similar initiatives are already starting to take hold:
- Pay what you can: the Toronto supermarket where the products do not have a fixed price
- The supermarket with food destined for junk where you pay with volunteers
- Social refrigerator, a supportive idea that expands all over the world
Dominella Trunfio
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