The Rise of the Community Fridge: Feeding People Instead of Food Waste
Highland Park community fridge. Photo by: Christina Champlin
By: AC
They’re called community fridges. Or freedges if you’d like. They are fridges easily accessible to the public, oftentimes on a sidewalk, or near a popular restaurant, grocery store, or even a church, stocked up with food by community organizers and individuals. These freedges have become a wide-spread effort to feed underserved communities by distributing food in a “take what you need and leave what you can” free-at-all-cost system.
As community fridge in Lincoln Heights, California suggests, “Everybody Eats”.
These community fridges have become a worldwide movement to not only feed people but also fight food waste. Isn’t it astonishing to think that while 1/3 of the food supply gets lost or wasted in the United States, there’s an almost larger amount of people struggling with food insecurity? Food insecurity refers to facing “the uncertainty of having, or unable to acquire, enough food due to insufficient money or other resources.” And so, with the goal of redistributing perfectly good food which would otherwise be thrown out, and to work towards fighting hunger in lower-income communities, these fridges have become a hopeful solution.
One of the first fridges installed by Sacramento Community Fridge (Photo courtesy of Sacramento Community Fridge)
A Solution to Food Waste and Hunger
Community fridges (which can also take the form of a small pantry), offer a hopeful solution to the overwhelming problems revolving around food waste and food insecurity. With the movement growing, and more people wanting to create their own community fridges, these efforts are starting a larger conversation regarding these topics. Not only are these freedges feeding communities, but they are also raising awareness and forcing more advantaged populations to recognize the issue and help in any way possible. The freedges increase consciousness by making people aware of the vast number of people who need food, even if there’s more than enough to go around.
Neighborhoods across the U.S. have installed community fridges, including this one placed by Denver Community Fridges in Denver, Colorado.
Life Is Better When Shared
Across the U.S. as well as in other countries, community fridges are bringing people together in one of the most common ways in history: food. They say that food is the way into someone’s heart (that’s at least true for me) and in the case of community fridges, not only are people’s hearts being filled but so are their stomachs. People of all ages are offering up their services to keep the freedges/pantries nice and clean as well as raising funds to stock up the fridges. Some community fridges have even received donations from grocery stores with produce and packages that didn’t meet the “cosmetic” standards for sale purposes. For many, community fridges are also a great way to make sure that food at home does not go to waste. At times, families buy more than they need at the store, leaving their food to go to waste. However, with community fridges around, families will now be able to take their extra food to where it will be appreciated.
Community fridge outside of Nixta Taqueria in Austin, TX.
Find a Community Fridge Near You
As more people learn about community fridges, more people get to serve others by volunteering and helping stock up this valuable community resource. If you ever want to visit a freedge, you can find the nearest one at freedge.org. While community fridges won’t end food waste or hunger, it does make a difference. It feeds people, helps reduce food waste, and brings people together. So, next time you’re looking at your pantry and see cans of foods you know you won’t eat, consider donating them to the freedge, and know that you are making a difference.
Edited by: JG
