It’s often said that hardship provides the spark for innovation so maybe that’s why these two food developments have come about in the North East just now.
During tough times, taking a fresh approach to people getting fed is something that has become as necessary as it is shameful for the UK in 2015.
I came across these two initiatives at an event held in County Durham to showcase local social entrepreneurs and they both attempt to answer that very real need in their local communities.
The first is EdibleGiving.org. The idea is to map all the places that those of us fortunate to have enough food can go to donate some of it for people who haven’t.
Developer Gregory Marler explains his thinking on the site.
I know a few local charities, but if I’m away from home where do I give the food, and what if local details change? I wanted to solve this by creating a UK-wide or international map, and I wanted different organisations to be able to use their own systems to keep the shared map updated.
It’s up and running and people are invited to help add more locations.
Second is The Magic Hat Cafe, a series of pop-up eateries with a difference – the difference being that all the food served up would otherwise have been destined for the rubbish dump.
As well as helping cut down on food waste, the resulting food has to be an ever-changing menu to be able to cope with the available produce and the cafe leaves it up to the diner to decide how much to pay for the meal.
You can find out where Newcastle’s Magic Hat Cafe will be popping up next in the city at the events section of its website here.
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