Nothing hotter than these fridges blooming everywhere in the world, which theme is quite simple: fight against food waste. They are fridges in supermarkets, where everyone takes what they need and are refilled by associations, restaurant owners, traders or individuals.
Social fridges, or solidarity fridges, were created in Berlin, Germany, at the end of 2011, beginning in early 2012, by the initiative of the association Lebensmitterlretten, the food rescuers. The fridges are swarming everywhere in the German capital and are available 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. In these fridges, vegetables, fruits, bread or prepared foods are deposited. The rule is to leave what is edible, but not past its best before date. No meat, no fish, to avoid food contamination. Only good products are accepted. Since its installation, these fridges did not contravene the rule and no health problem has been raised.
After Europe, the concept is being an example. In Argentina, this new way of food distribution takes place in different cities of the country, where the inflation of 40% in a year, quickly made the price of food increase. Recently, thanks to the action of the NGO Red Solidaria, a good fifty fridges have been connected in the streets of Buenos Aires and other cities of Argentina. One of them is located on the Plaza de Mayo square, where the presidential palace is located.
“A caring and worthy concept” claim heart warmed the responsible people for Red Solidaria in the press. In an interview for actu.orange.fr, Gabriel Shneider, one of the leaders of this structure, states that “The idea is not to see people in queues. They should arrive and help themselves without anyone giving them food. It is a more caring and dignified concept”, he concludes.
This is a concept that gained strength greatly relying on the influence of social networks. In North America, “Fridge Small Motherland”, the first social fridge in Quebec, installed in 2015, found a live success at the time of its placement in the Montcalm Park in Montreal. 4000 Internet users surveyed the first call, 50 people volunteered to bring a benevolent help, and the inhabitants of the area, restaurant owners, retailers, cafés, bakeries, supermarkets all had something to do with the initiative in order to ensure a good nutrition for this solidarity fridge which, since its first steps, gave origin to other fridges in other areas.
These private initiatives flourish in order to provide concrete solution to the growing problem of hunger in the world. Despite all this, the numbers on food waste are still abysmal. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), one third of the edible portion of food for human consumption is lost or wasted in the world today. This is equivalent to 1.3 billion tons per year, it is more than 160 kg per year and per inhabitant … A sad fact that still offers a vast future for these social initiatives such as solidarity fridges.
ALFA