Community Free Fridges

Free Fridges, or ‘Freedges’, are community projects designed to ease food insecurity that started to gain traction around the early 2010s, later surging in use during the 2020 pandemic. But why did they attain such popularity, and are they more effective than alternatives?

The time of origin for the idea is difficult to place; Dayna Evans of Eater.com states that “The movement was popularized in Berlin, when a volunteer-run organization called Foodsharing that has done peer-to-peer community food saving and sharing since 2012 began setting up community fridges (known as fair-teiler[sic]) across Germany in 2014”, but this leaves the origins of earlier unaffiliated free fridges (some as early as 2002) unaccounted for. The first fridges set up to be local food centers open to passersby were European, according to Thaddeus, a member of the NYC-based collective In Our Hearts, the hosts of the first 24/7 fridge in NYC, who was interviewed by the author on 12/01/22. Supposedly the progenitors of those are American community-based programs of the 1960s started by the Black Panthers and others. (That era of American history is also notable for the invention of food banks.) The idea of making food publicly available to the needy dates back at least as far as the actions of the Church in the European Middle Ages (per Victoria Rumble, author of Soup Through the Ages: A Culinary History with Period Recipes) and public soup kitchens known as imarets in the Ottoman Empire.

The idea of community-based free fridges migrated to America in response to the mass food insecurities brought on by the Coronavirus Pandemic, first starting in NYC before spreading to other major cities, with similar concepts appearing shortly thereafter in various East Asian nations, albeit in the form of cheaper-to-set-up-and-maintain community pantries. Conservative estimates placed the number of free fridges in America alone at 400 in November 2021.

This still leaves the question: are community fridges effective local-level solutions for the food insecurities that have led to their rise, particularly when the costs and difficulties of maintenance are accounted for? An aggregate of media interviews and gathered testimonies (such as those with Thaddeus) support the idea; supposedly, a well-organized fridge can receive over two hundred hungry visitors a day. When the Coronavirus Pandemic caused many people with homes and kitchens to deal with first-time food insecurity, the limitations of food banks and soup kitchens left a void that free fridges were able to fill. So how does one start a community fridge?

One recommended method of getting a fridge is secondhand, through Craigslist or a donation from the neighborhood. Getting permission is usually just a question of asking a prospective host; viable options include churches and grocery/convenience stores. All that is actually needed is a space on the sidewalk near an electrical outlet. The maintenance of a community fridge can be daunting; daily cleaning is recommended. For this, Thaddeus told this author the best method is searching for willing volunteers in the neighborhood-ideally up to twelve-and establishing a schedule. Keeping a secure compartment nearby for cleaning supplies and trash bags helps ease the burden on volunteers. Many free fridge organizers arrange shelving or stacked crates adjacent to the fridge for non-perishable food or other supplies like school supplies or diapers.

Various charity organizations, such as the Massachusetts-based Cambridge Community Foundation, say that they grant funds for free fridges. Some fridges, as listed on sites like NYCfridge.com, have associated Instagram pages set up by their organizers to raise local awareness and coordinate volunteers, such as The Barrio Fridge at 314 E 106th Street in NYC, or the nearby West Harlem Community Fridge at 521 W 126th Street, which both have notable followings on the social media site. Restaurants and supermarkets can provide donations if consulted, in the form of still-edible food not considered up to par for use or sale in their establishments.

Setting up a free fridge takes some time and effort, and the willingness to help out from hosts or volunteers will vary depending on the needs of the community, but it appears to be an effective, ground-up way for people to help ease sudden temporary food insecurity, especially in times of turmoil, as well as reducing wastefulness. If there is a need, organizations or individuals should evaluate the practicality of starting a free fridge near them.