The small portacabin next to New Spitalfields Market is easy to miss, despite providing an alternative home for tonnes of fresh produce otherwise discarded, writes Sophie Gore Browne. Rubies in the Rubble has set out to do something about all of this waste, turning surplus fruit and vegetables into a range of handmade chutneys and jams to provide work opportunities for long-term unemployed people.
The kitchen was established on site just before the neighbouring Olympics began last summer. It was a move supported by City Hall superintendent Nigel Shepherd, committed to supporting social enterprises and charities which can contribute to reducing waste. “We encouraged her to be a part of the Spitalfields family and being on site is the best way for her to form a link with the suppliers,” explains Shepherd.
Founder Jenny Dawson relies on her immediate location, which she thinks can be replicated across markets nationwide. “On the morning we are by the waste, so we can do something with it and process it that very day,” she says.
As well as being there to receive anything on its way to the disposal area, she will also buy reduced second-rate produce to fill in supply gaps, all perfectly ripe for the boiling pot. There are a few traders she works with predominantly, who deal with supermarket rejects and know she is there as a last resort before they make the decision to dump it. As there is a charge proportionate to the weight for it going to landfill, Rubies in the Rubble provides an attractive alternative.
Paul White, who works at Aberdeen & Stanton, thinks it is a great idea. “It is better the food is being used, whether it be selling it on or providing for poor people. It has at least got to be a better bet for the environment, rather than going into landfill,” says White.
Neil Sexton of AW Sexton & Sons admires her work and is interested in how the scheme is workable to scale up. “At the moment she is taking a couple of bags here and there. Where is the happy medium that she accepts produce?” asks Sexton.
Dawson is well aware of this fine line between unnecessary waste and produce that is beyond help. As well as safety-margin surplus, there is also a lot of waste due to size specification.As Rubies in the Rubble looks to expand, it is reaching out to all parts of the supply chain where waste is an issue, talking to packaging houses and distribution hubs where they are sorting the produce.“We have been talking to distribution hubs where they are throwing away palettes of loose grapes, premium strawberries that have too much white on their tops, curved cucumbers and single bananas removed from bunches to create uniform five bunches to sell.”
It is still early days for Rubies in the Rubble, but with the amount of bad press about the excessive waste in the food industry, it is evidently one solution WRAP would approve of and should support. In the meantime, they are doing what they can with the small space they have to be a convenient outlet for traders to avoid waste.
“We want to benefit traders and save them the costs of waste removal, provided it is still in good enough condition for food processing,” concludes Dawson.
