Community fridges aim to tackle food waste

Brighton and Hove Food Partnership said the scheme was made possible through funding from Sainsbury’s and will be trialled with the support of environmental charity Hubbub UK in a growing effort to tackle food waste.

One of the fridges will be placed at the Open Market in London Road, but the site of the second fridge is yet to be announced.

Vic Borrill, director of the Food Partnership, said: “Community fridges are a tried and tested way of stopping good food ending up in the bin. The surplus food is provided by local businesses or members of the public and is then available for collection by people who need it. While the fridges are not a solution to food waste, they are a wonderful way to connect people and ensure good food goes to good use.”

The Open Market fridge will be open from 7am to 7pm on Monday to Friday, 7am to 5pm on Saturday and 10am to 5pm on Sunday.

The food partnership said this will enable residents to share surplus food and for anyone to help themselves to food that would otherwise be wasted.

In addition to the community fridges, Sainsbury’s has been handing out free fridge thermometers to encourage residents to keep their fridges at the optimum temperature and prevent food waste.

A recent survey carried out by Sainsbury’s revealed that half of Brighton and Hove residents that had received a thermometer had been operating their fridges above 5°C, which exceeds the recommended temperature for keeping food fresh.

The Brighton and Hove Food Partnership will also be attending university events to engage with students, and will work with new tenants in council housing, giving out food waste reduction pack.

A Sainsbury’s spokesperson said: “It’s fantastic to see Brighton and Hove come together as a community to tackle this growing issue of food waste. Community fridges are a simple way to make sure healthy, perishable food gets put to good use and they also serve a much wider role in bringing communities together. The community spirit here is something to be proud of and we hope that the fridges help locals to waste less food.”

For more information on the work of Brighton and Hove Food Partnership, visit: www.bhfood.org.uk