Do you ever worry that you might waste food? During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, many people around the world were going hungry, but people came up with unique ways to try and help. One of these was to put fridges filled with food outside for people who needed it. The movement was very popular in the US, but there have also been community fridges all around the world as well.
Back in 2016, before the COVID-19 pandemic, Pauline, a restaurant owner in Kochi, India, had the bright idea to put a fridge in the street to stop unused food from going to waste and to help the needy. The idea came to her late one night when she saw a lady searching in a rubbish can for food. Watching the woman, she had a sad thought.
"The woman had been sleeping and was woken up by her hunger, so she had to go in search of food instead of sleeping," said Pauline. She felt really sad that night because the restaurant had made lots of food that could have been given to her.
Over in the UK, the idea of communal (公共的) fridges was used in Sommerset to fight against food waste and hunger issues, encouraging people to donate and also take unwanted food. UK supermarkets and eateries like Marks & Spencer and Greggs have regularly helped the poor and hungry.
Now there is a large movement in the UK to provide communal fridges. One charity, Hubbub, now operates the Community Fridge Network. The network supports groups running communal fridges across the UK, which now number over 300 fridges. Hubbub has partnered with Co-op to provide 500 fridges so far.
"A fridge is so often much more than a fridge," said Hubbub's official website. "The fridges connect people together, address social isolation (隔绝) and provide people with the opportunity to access healthy food, try something new and save money."
