PUPILS at a Barry primary school are tackling food waste by establishing a café selling 'junk food'.

In this case 'junk food' doesn't refer to sweets and chocolate but rather items which are close to being binned by supermarkets.

Cadoxton primary school’s budding entrepreneurs and chefs have teamed up with Barry Waitrose, Tesco, and Amazon to sell-off “yellow-sticker” or unsold items which are near their use-by date.

The stores make daily donations and the parents pay what they feel the food is worth.

The Real Junk Food project exists elsewhere in the UK, but Cadoxton Primary believes it is the first school in Wales to follow the scheme which aims to abolish surplus food.

All profits generated by the cafe will be channelled into funding the Year 6 pupils’ end-of-year prom.

Head teacher, Janet Hayward said the idea had come about when she was in Abu Dhabi when she was asked to serve as a global ambassador for the Varkey Foundation, attending public events and speaking in public forums about improving the prestige of the teaching profession.

She said she had asked supermarkets to see what they could do and now the stores often contribute bread and pastries, which can be frozen to preserve, and Fareshare, the Cardiff-based food waste charity, delivers healthy food like ham, eggs, cheese, and soya milk.

Mrs Hayward said: “We have had lots of avocados so mashed avocados on toast is a favourite.”

Mrs Hayward added: “They are not wasting food.

“We live in a world where some people don’t have enough food and we are teaching children about the sustainability of food.”

Year 6 pupil, Jack Jones added: “It helps us to earn money for the school and we get to know the community better as well."

The Junk Food café is open term time, at the Victoria Park Community Centre, 11am to 3pm on Fridays.