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Date: 9/1/2021
NORTHAMPTON – In order to help fight food insecurity in Florence, local organizers established a Community Freedge where Straw Avenue intersects with the bike path to allow people the opportunity to pick up or drop off food.
Shanna Fishel, one of the Community Freedge’s co-founders said the fridge serves as a give, take and share model and a meeting point for people to discuss their ideas.
“A community fridge is an international project, so it is food distribution at a community level, and it is a give, take, share model. You give what you can and take what you need, it is a meeting point where people can share ideas about food insecurity and it also levels the playing field between the haves and the have nots,” they said.
Because the fridge is on the way between affordable housing and Cooper’s Corner, it gives people another option for food by checking the fridge.
“This bike path is on the way from affordable living on the way to Cooper’s so if they are on their way and they want to get something fresh for dinner, they can check what is in the fridge first and take it. The fact that it is on the bike path we hope it has increased use,” they said.
With the addition of the Community Freedge, Fishel said there are even more resources available at the bike stop.
“The people that are here are already community members contributing to many social initiatives. We have the bike station, there is a bench here, a working telephone, a picnic table, and this is just another point of access for people to come. There will be a community board with information about Grow Food Northampton, the Survival Center, Manna Kitchen and other food security access points,” they said.
To help organize the fridge in Florence, Fishel said they worked with Ward 5 City Councilor Alex Jarrett.
“One of the neighbors here is Ward 5 City Councilor Alex Jarrett so when I was thinking of different options for food security, we thought Ward 5 would be good because there are many options to access food downtown but there really is not in Florence,” they said.
Fishel said that they initially had the idea before teaming up with their co-founder Aimee Francaes to move the project forward beginning in January.
“Aimee and I had this idea before the pandemic, but things really picked up in January 2021 and we did a slow and steady process. We did not want to rush it, we wanted to make sure we had liability insurance, Build Repair Grow made a workshop for teens to build the shed so that took a while to secure the partnership,” they said. “We took our time to make sure once it is established it is sustainable, legal and all concerns are addressed.”
Along with setting up the fridge in Northampton, Fishel said they will be hosting a workshop for people in Holyoke and Chicopee that are interested in setting up their own fridges.
“We have heard of people in Chicopee and Holyoke that want to start their own fridge so Aimee and myself are planning to have a workshop to let them know what we have done, so this is one fridge of many that will bring communities together,” they said.
Fishel said the Community Freedge is another opportunity to address food insecurity in the city.
“There is a lot of good work here for food security initiatives and I think this is another opportunity to reduce food waste, create a level playing field for people who want food but also want to give food, and to create a discussion about food waste,” they said.