Take What You Need: Community Fridges Offer Free Food
There are at least twenty in New York, at least six in Los Angeles, and who knows where else: community fridges, also known as friendly fridges. Refrigerators simply placed on the street, filled with food. Anyone who needs it can take food out; anyone with something to spare can restock the fridge.
In America, the coronavirus crisis is hitting hard. An estimated two million people in New York are ‘food insecure’, meaning they don’t know how they’ll pay for their next meal. The rest of America isn’t doing much better. These friendly fridges have been set up for people who are struggling. Anyone can put food in them, and everyone is welcome to take something out. Paloma Vergara of the organization Reach for the Top coordinates the fridges in Los Angeles. ‘It’s a success because it’s anonymous,’ she says. ‘We don’t ask any questions; we simply make sure the fridge stays tidy.’
Fridge donation
The fridges have been donated and are placed in front of shops and restaurants that provide the electricity. A team of volunteers checks the fridges regularly and makes sure they are clean. The outside clearly states: free food. They are often painted in cheerful colors, with fun messages, to make sure they aren’t mistaken for bulky waste.
Almost all gone
Anyone can donate food: vegetables or fruit you aren’t going to use, and sometimes ready-made meals are placed inside. Thadeaus Umpster works for the volunteer organization In Our Hearts. He says the fridges are offered through Instagram and other social media. Thadeaus arranged the first fridge in Brooklyn and filled it with vegetables and fruit. ‘After one day, the fridge was already half empty,’ he says. ‘So there’s more need for it than I thought.’
The first community fridges were set up in Spain in 2012, and later in Germany. The idea was to combat food waste. The fact that they are now also helping people who don’t have money for groceries is even better.
Also read:
- The solution to food waste
- Complaining elevated to an art form: those spareribs are way too spicy and I want my money back
- One, two, out they go: kitchen gadgets for the thrift store
Source: New York Times, CNN, photos: Instagram
