Was dead set against community fridges until I saw the numbers

I thought neighborhood fridges would just get trashed or attract pests, but a friend in Portland ran the stats on their local one. Over 6 months, they logged 2,000+ meals taken with only two complaints about mess. Has anyone seen these actually work in a smaller town, or does it depend on who runs it?

3 comments

3 Comments

smith.nancy19d ago

Used to think these things were just asking for trouble, but seeing actual numbers like that changes my mind, your mileage may vary but that's pretty convincing.

park.miles19d ago

The 2,000 meals number is pretty wild, but what kind of setup are we talking? Like is this a full stocked fridge with prepared meals or more of a pantry situation where people grab canned goods and dry stuff? Just wondering if the success hinges on what you actually put in there, because I could see a Portland crowd being way more on board with taking stuff vs a smaller town where people might be weird about it.

rileygarcia19d ago

Oh man, that's a good point! Honestly I've seen one in my neighborhood that started with just shelf-stable stuff like beans and rice, but then someone left a whole case of fancy kombucha once, and people went nuts for it. @park.miles is right about the crowd thing though - out in the suburbs where I grew up, folks would probably be too proud to grab anything unless it was super anonymous, like late at night. But here in the city, I've watched a guy walk up in broad daylight, grab a jar of pickles and a loaf of bread, and just nod at everyone like it was totally normal. So yeah, the vibe of your actual town matters more than the fridge situation.