#freefridge — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #freefridge, aggregated by home.social.
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Really great news!!!
A local bakery that specializes in gluten free bread, pastries, and cakes reached out to us...
...we didn't reach out to them. They contacted us!...
...about doing food rescue with them!
Not only are they looking at food rescue in general, but they're specifically looking at serving those that are hungry AND have food allergies and intolerances!
Everyone deserves healthy, tasty, good, and safe food (and also desserts!!!) - even those that have food constraints.
So we worked it out. Every day they take whatever they didn't sell and freeze it. We come by once a week and pick it up and run it to one of the fridges!
Look at this first haul!!!
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That's GREAT NEWS, @tinker !!! Thank you for sharing!
#solarPunk #solarPunkSunday
#freeFridge #foodSecurity #postScarcity #mutualAid -
We did it!!!
We built a new free fridge and community pantry!
It took about a hundred days from deciding to do it, through planning, and finally execution (thread above tracks this). And that is for putting down concrete and electrical. If we did a simple fridge on a pallet, it can be quicker. But even going all out, dang!
So we held the ribbon cutting ceremony. A lot of folks showed up to do the initial stock. Now we'll maintain it and spread the word out to the community. The town has a food resource app. The library maintains a list. I'll add it to our site. The local paper is writing an article.
This is also just the first part of this fridge. They're adding another pantry and an awning to cover it all.
Alright. This one is done. On to the next one!
#solarPunk #solarPunkSunday #freeFridge #foodSecurity #postScarcity #mutualAid
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Here's some picture's for the concrete slab and electrical outlets for the new Free Fridge in town!
Note: Free fridges don't usually require this level of installation. As long as the fridge has power and a place to sit (even if its on a used pallet), thats good enough.
This church was given a donation with the stipulation that it go to serving the local community, and they decided to install a free fridge and put some infrastructure and accessibility behind it.
#solarPunk #mutualAid #freeFridge #foodSecurity #foodScarcity #postScarcity
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Update on the new Free Fridge and Community Pantry in town!
They've completed the electrical work and are laying a concrete slab today. They're also bringing in a person to build out a pantry and paint a mural on it.
We have a ribbon cutting ceremony scheduled for December 7th where folks will bring shelf stable food and fresh produce to add to the first stocking of the fridge!
Note: this site really wanted to go all in. You really only need electrical and something to put the fridge on (minimum concrete blocks or a pallet). But these folks decided to put donated funds to it as they are focused on serving the community.
I'll post pictures of the ribbon cutting ceremony!
Also also! Two other sites have expressed interest in hosting a free fridge now that they've heard about this one! Once you build the first one, subsequent ones become easier!
#freeFridge #mutualAid #solarPunk #foodScarcity #foodSecurity #postScarcity
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Ha!
Around town, whenever I spoke about free fridges and community pantries, folks kept telling me about a "Little Free Pantry" that was installed by a local Girl Scout troop.
And I finally found it (on the map at least). I need to run by and take a look at it in person!
#solarPunk #mutualAid #girlScouts #freeFridge #foodPantry #foodSecurity
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Oh wow.
Umm... the town's commission for sustainable initiatives has asked me to speak with their group regarding Free Fridges and Food Rescue...
This commission "advocates for a clean, healthy, and biodiverse urban environment, promotes a culture of sustainability in the city, advises City Council, and works with the City and community on projects, outreach, education, and innovation.
Well that's cool.
Guess I'll go do that, then.
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Today's food rescue delivered to the free fridge.
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The article for my town's Free Fridge, Food Rescue, and Indoor Food Gardening group just came out!
You can read the article here: https://fredericksburg.com/news/local/article_49e5b911-4f2a-41a1-b735-a0ddc09e3937.html
(Non-paywalled archive: https://archive.is/AjYvg )Goes into detail on our efforts to build out Free Fridges throughout town, conduct Food Rescue, and to help folks garden their food indoors. Even interviews the local food bank and discusses our cooperative partnerships with them as well!
#solarPunk #foodRescue #indoorGardening #hydroponics #foodSecurity #foodBank #freeFridge #mutualAid
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On the Post-Scarcity Food front. My local group, which covers Free Fridges, Food Rescue, and Indoor Food Gardening - we just got interviewed my our town's local newspaper.
Which is cool.
We're starting to get noticed and more and more folks are joining the group organically.
The group currently has around 65 members in the discord chat. 80ish members (much overlap) on the email newsgroup. We have around 10 folks that have signed up for the food rescue app. And we get 5 to 15 folks in person and via zoom for the monthly meetings. We have a core very active group of around 6 folks with lots of folks hanging in the wing to help as needed.
And we have intentionally NOT recruited or let folks know about us (beyond a couple local events), as we wanted to get some things in place first.
I wanted to make sure that volunteers weren't met with a ghost town, right. I wanted to get the infrastructure in place first.
Well it's in place.
And we have some initial food rescues. And some more coming down the pipe. And some irons in the fire for new free fridge placements.
And the library and food bank is asking us to put together coursework and programming around growing your own food indoors.
So. For as much as I'm fucking nervous, lol. It's time to really start growing.... fuuuuck.
Ha! Funny thing. I was arguing caution and hoping for another month or two before really branching out and a fellow coordinator pushed back and said, fuck that, let's go now!!! HAHAHAHA!!!!! I'm being scared and I've been called out, HAHAHA!!! Which is good. I needed a swift kick in the ass. (honestly, if I hung back too much, this other person would have just gone ahead and done it. I am NOT the only decision maker here, even if I was the one to get it started)..
Alright. Fine. Let's do it, HAHAHAHA!!!!!
Oooooh.... this is happening. Shiiiit!!!
Failure is scary. But success is downright terrifying.
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Results of that food rescue route I mentioned! A lot of produce. Neighbors came and grabbed a lot of the veggies when it came in. I put the rest into the fridge for others to grab later.
This was one vendor on one night.
We throw away so much good food.
I'm going to go find more food.
#solarPunk #mutualAid #foodRescue #foodWaste #freeFridge #postScarcity
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Momentous Update on the Food Rescue Program!!!
We got our first food rescue!!!! Like official. In the app! Not an adhoc one. And it wasnt me who set this up! Another organizer got our first grocer. I put the route into the app and opened it up for volunteers.
And a community member picked it up!!!!!
We are rescuing food from a grocer and delivering to a free fridge!
Calling it: November 14th of last year (2024) - to now (June 10th 2025). 7 months from idea conception to a formal route / food rescue between a food seller and a food distributor. (With founding a mutual aid group, to growing it, to partnering with a national food rescue org - yay Food Rescue US! - to meeting with a grocer and connecting them to a free fridge all in between)
Now it's time to scale....
#solarPunk #mutualAid #foodSecurity #postScarcity #foodRescue #foodRescueUS #freeFridge
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Our town's Free Fridge and Food Rescue group is on the fediverse!!!
One of our group members runs all of our social media accounts and they just set this up!
You can follow the account directly here:
- @fxbgfridgefr -
Today's food rescue: a bunch of submarine sandwiches from a local cafe!
Stuck em in the free fridge.
#solarPunk #mutualAid #foodRescue #foodSecurity #postScarcity #freeFridge
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I'm starting up a Food Rescue program in my town.
The idea is that restaurants and stores throw away good food every night. Food rescue (also known as "gleaning") is where a person (Food Rescue Hero or Gleaner) goes to stores/restaurants and takes the good food that would otherwise be thrown out and provides it to hungry folks (either distributed centrally through a food pantry, decentrally through a free fridge / community pantry, or peer-to-peer directly to a person or family).
I'm currently researching tracking and coordination apps (such as foodrescue.us and others) but in the process of doing this I found myself at a local donut shop asking if they had 5-gallon food safe buckets that they could give away for hydroponics (i had received a tip!). They said they did and we started talking about food rescue. They said they had tried to donate their unsold donuts to a couple of pantries but no one could ever pick them up. I told them I would.
...and look what they provided!!!
My first food rescue, y'all!!!
3 dozen donuts!
I ran them straight to the free fridge! They can do this every night!!!
So cheers to Freddy Donuts in Fredericksburg, Virginia!
#foodRescue #freeFridge #communityPantry #foodSecurity #mutualAid #solarPunk
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Ok. Now that the seed library is built, I'm moving on to the next project.
Food Rescue.
Currently, I volunteer at my local community refrigerator and pantry....
....and by that I mean a literal refrigerator and pantry that sits outside.
Anyone can come up to it and put food in. And anyone can come up to it and take food out. No means testing. Mutual aid. Give a food, take a food.
Right now, it's being stocked with individual donations (people buying extra food while doing their own grocery runs or putting in extra food that they thought they were going to use but ended up not using all of it), overflow from food pantry distributions, and home garden and hydroponics for fresh produce.
That's great and I want to expand that, especially the home garden and hydroponics for fresh produce (see the Seed Library and hydroponics bin build pinned posts for efforts in that area).
All of that said, my local town is not doing a lot of food rescue.
We have grocery stores, convenience stores, and restaurants throwing away good food at the end of the day.
I want to get that food away from the dumpsters and into the community fridge / pantry.
So that's my next project. And I'll document it here. (I swear at some point, I'll put all of this together up on hacker(dot)solar - I just really suck at that. I don't know why.)
I'm currently looking at foodrescue(dot)us 's web app for food rescue coordination. It costs money, but I'm not sure how much. I'll find out and let y'all know.
I'll start with grocery stores. Then convenience stores. Then finally hot food from restaurants.
Cool thing. A lot of people worry about liability issues. That's not a thing anymore!!!
In the US, we have the Bill Emerson Food Donation Act that removes liability from donators, gleaners (food rescuers), and distributors:
"The Bill Emerson Food Donation Act establishes Federal protection from civil and criminal liability for persons involved in the donation and distribution of food and grocery products to needy individuals when certain criteria are met. In order to receive protection under the Act, a person or gleaner must donate in good faith apparently wholesome food or apparently fit grocery products to a nonprofit organization for ultimate distribution to needy individuals. The Act also provides protection against civil and criminal liability to the nonprofit organizations that receive such donated items in good faith. "
See FAQ here (PDF): https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/usda-good-samaritan-faqs.pdf
Ideally, I'll be able to keep our fridge stocked with this and even start building out other fridges/pantries throughout town.
Heck, Richmond Virginia has FOURTEEN free fridges!!! We're not as big a town as they are, but we can do better than one!
#solarPunk #mutualAid #foodRescue #freeFridge #communityPantry
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So hydroponics are kicking off (as well as soil container gardens, backyard gardens, and community plot gardens) with me and my friends....
....and with that now is a good time to emphasize that this is not just a hobby (or a hobby at all for some). It's easy. sure. And takes little time, money, and effort... and is fun... and calming... don't get me wrong.
But we're not doing this for shits and giggles.
This is one part of a larger effort at bringing about post-scarcity food. (Note: One part. No one thing is a panacea.)
So right now, we have efforts to garden (hydroponically or otherwise) for one's self and one's family. That's good. It either supplements or fully replaces a corporate grocery store. Great.
But it's only part of it.
The next part is mutual aid. When we plant food, we also plant for our neighbors and greater community. For every 5 plants I harvest, I give away at least 1 plant. At least 20 percent. The question then becomes, how do we get the food out. How do we distribute it?
Food banks are fine. They're already set up. Many accept home grown produce. The issue with food banks is they are often means tested. You have to prove you NEED the food before you get it. That has a shit ton of issues and often just means that people who are hungry don't get to eat.
Instead of food banks, I've been using two solutions to distribute food.
1) The Olio App ( https://olioapp.com/en/ ): The Olio App let's you list your produce online. Folks can then request the item and arrange for pickup. It's like craiglist and uber eats and specifically is about giving away free food.
2) Community Fridges / Community Pantries ( https://freedge.org/locations/ ): Free fridges and pantries are physical nodes in your community where folks that have extra food, put it in the pantry. Folks that need food, take it out. Give a food, take a food. No need for apps, low overhead, works really well and is efficient.
The key to all of this is it's NOT charity. This is MUTUAL aid. You give AND you take. As we produce for ourselves we also produce for our neighbors. Everyone eats.
#solarpunk #mutualAid #freeFridge #communityPantry #hydroponics #postScarcity
