Community fridges are a great initiative that encourages local food sharing and helps to cut down on food waste. We visited our local fridge to find out more...
What is a Community Fridge anyway?
Imagine a fridge in a community space that's free to take food from whenever you need it. Food businesses, retailers and individuals can donate surplus food that's at risk of being wasted. A Community Fridge gets food from those who can't use it, to those that can.
How does it work?
The fridge is open to all, to give and take. There are just a few guidelines to follow to make sure that the food is suitable and safe for sharing. Plus there's the fun of weighing the food in and out. This helps to record the amount of food that the fridge has redistributed.
How does a Community Fridge make a difference?
On average, one community fridge shares over 500kg of food every month. That's the equivalent weight of one Polar Bear! Food waste is an enormous contributor to climate change - emitting 8% of total greenhouse gas emissions. So by saving food from being wasted, we can even help save real Polar Bears too!
This lovely video from Hubbub shows the difference one Community Fridge has made in its local community. Hooray for food sharing!
Sounds great! Where can I find a Community Fridge?
Here's a map of where you can find your nearest Community Fridge. If there's not one near you, then you can make it happen! Visit Hubbub for information and support for setting up a fridge in your community.
Cambridge's Community Fridge can be found at 351 Mill Road at The Edge Cafe. The cafe also uses surplus food from FareShare in their menu, using it to make hearty soups and delicious roasted veg. The Edge was set up to support those in recovery. It is a vibrant community space, and has lots of great events which are open to all.
We were happy to pick up these goodies from the fridge:
- 3 bananas - which we've already enjoyed in some chia Pudding
- 5 potatoes - one of which is perfect for our Infamous Apple Curry, and the rest we will make into chips and freeze
- Apple juice - drunk immediately!
- And a cucumber - which will probably use to make some tsatiki
Thank you Community Fridge!
We've been living entirely on food that would otherwise be wasted for almost 3 weeks now. Read more about our Food Waste Challenge.
Sophie and Paul
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