The People’s Fridge cuts waste and hunger

The People’s Fridge is public refrigerator in Brixton, South London, where people leave excess edible perishables and other people who can use them take them—free of charge.

The People‘s Fridge was started by a group of food activists.

Food waste is a huge issue in the U.K. An estimated $21 billion is discarded each year. Most of it is perfectly edible.

Businesses like Ritzy Cinema throw away quality baked goods each night.

“We heard about it … and it just seemed like a great idea,” said Sarah Cook, marketing manager at Ritzy Cinema.

“Businesses like ours, we waste a lot of food off, to then donate it to people who are in need and help support the community in Brixton, which we are a big part of, is kind of important to us,” she said.

Stores toss produce if it doesn’t look perfect. Restaurants waste over a million tons of food each year.

Meanwhile with rising prices and stagnant wages, many people work full time and cannot afford food.

Retirees see their pensions shrinking and inflation rising. Social services are cut, but food prices keep climbing.

“About a year and a half ago, a local drop in centre for elderly people closed down,” said People’s Fridge volunteer Alex Cameron.

“It used to serve a hot meal everyday for people over the age of 50. And with the closure of that lots of people were left without a central place to come and meet. It was really damaging to the community actually,” said Cameron.

Efforts like the People’s Fridge can fill the gap between what people earn and what people need.

“Oh, it helps you a lot really,” said Maggie a pensioner from Marleybone. “It’s good all round and they’re lovely people here.”

Conditions are not expected to improve any time soon. In fact, most experts expect tighter times on the horizon.

“I think Brexit is going to have a negative impact on incomes across the whole spectrum, high-income earners and low-income earners, “ said Sarah Boumphrey, director of economies and consumers for Euromonitor.

“The difference is that low-income earners have less room for maneuver. They can’t direct their spending elsewhere. They can’t save less to help with higher food prices. So they have less of a security net,” she said.

The People’s Fridge is exactly what is needed.

The kind people who set it up are sorry it is needed.

The people who need it are glad they set it up.