A Community Refrigerator

Mayor Uribe (left) and Javier Goikoetxea with the community fridge.

Ever wonder what to do with extra food that you can't use? Maybe, somehow, somewhere, someone needs what you don't need. I'm not talking about spoiled or rotting food that you should discard because it's unhealthy. I'm talking about fresh items, like you may have bought for your own use, but found out that you purchased too many. Or, you had to buy an entire bag in order to get the few that you need for a recipe.

Enter the town of Galdakao, Spain. Residents were thinking about the concept of the town library, where people had access to a range of literature through borrowing, that they couldn't otherwise afford on their own. Then there was also Alvaro Saiz, who had run a food bank for low income residents of the town. While he was exploring on the internet, he found out about a FOOD-SHARING PLATFORM in Germany, which allowed people to share their unwanted leftovers.



So, Alvaro got together with town mayor, Ibon Uribe, who gave the project his approval, and money was provided through the town budget to cover the cost of the refrigerator, electricity, maintenance, and health safety guidelines for what foods could be shared. That way, those who use the shared food could have some assurance that they would not have to worry about food-borne illnesses.

The community refrigerator went live in May. There were also several rules developed; no raw meat, fish, or eggs are allowed, and homemade foods have to identify the date on which they were made. After just two months of operation, Mr. Saiz figured that between 450 and 650 pounds of food had been salvaged and used. And not only homeowners put their unneeded foods in the refrigerator. Restaurants also contribute; in fact, their contributions are among those that are picked up the quickest.

Some of the employees at Restaurante Berrio, which now shares leftovers in the community fridge.

Although we in the US face some pretty strict laws on publicly available foods, there may be ways that some food sharing projects can start, here, as well. Certainly, reviewing the applicable laws would be wise before making a proposal, but such a thing as allowing oddly shaped fruits and vegetables to be distributed for a lower price, or for free, those that grocery stores reject, but are still edible and healthy, could find a way to the tables of those in need.

One of the residents checks out what's available in the fridge.

Thanks to this article from Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/galdakao-spain-communal-fridge-food-waste_55ccfb4be4b064d5910aecfa?utm_hp_ref=good-news&ir=Good%2BNews&section=good-news&kvcommref=mostpopular; and this article from NPR: http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/08/13/431960054/to-cut-food-waste-spains-solidarity-fridge-supplies-endless-leftovers.

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