The world-wide community fridge movement has come to downtown Nogojiwanong-Peterborough, with a group of volunteers concerned about food insecurity creating a community fridge for people in need.
A community fridge is a refrigerator installed at a public location where people can drop off fresh fruits and vegetables, unexpired non-perishables, menstruation products, pet food, and personal protective equipment. Restaurants can also drop off pre-made meals that list all the ingredients contained inside.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has increased health and income disparities and a community fridge helps create a space for local citizens to support each other,” reads a media release from the volunteers behind the community fridge, who call themselves Community Fridge Ptbo. “The group encourages engaged citizens to buy some extra groceries for the fridge when doing their regular shopping.”
The community fridge (which also includes a pantry for items that do not need to be refrigerated) is located at 225 Dublin Street, in front of a private residence at the corner of Dublin and Aylmer.
After Community Fridge Ptbo were unable to find a local business or organization to host it, one of the core volunteers in the group agreed to host the fridge on the front lawn of their house.
“The project has only brought smiles to peoples faces,” the volunteer says. “Lots of people from the neighbourhood have already been filling up the pantry and fridge space — and in the past few weeks the only advertising for the fridge is the pantry itself.”
The first community fridges were installed in Germany in 2012 and they have since become increasingly common, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Community fridges have been set up in Spain, the UK, the Netherlands, New Zealand, India, Israel, as well as in cities across the U.S. and Canada — including in Calgary, Kitchener, Hamilton, and Toronto (which has at least seven fridges), and now Peterborough.
The community fridge movement abides by the ethos “leave what you can, take what you need.” People are encouraged to drop off food and other items when they can, and that there is no policing of who takes items or how much they take.
The objective of community fridges is to reduce food insecurity and mitigate food waste while giving people in need easy access to fresh and nutritious food. Since people can both add and remove items, a community fridge helps to remove the stigma from its use.
Community Fridge Ptbo is looking for local citizens and businesses to support the project by dropping off fresh food and dried goods, as well as additional volunteers to help stock and clean the fridge on a regular basis.
For more information, including how to volunteer and a list of requested items, visit Community Fridge Ptbo on Linktree at linktr.ee/communityfridge.ptbo.
You can also follow Community Fridge Ptbo on Instagram @communityfridge.ptbo.
