Madison Community Fridges Extends its Shelf Life
Kelly Maroney | Community Coordinator
Madison Community Fridges and Wonka’s Harvest both began as seedlings this summer, planted in hopes to serve the community fresh produce. We found each other through our like-minded goals and began working together. Community Fridges, or “Freedges”, is a worldwide collective where communities set up refrigerators in public spaces to allow for food to be given and taken by anyone. Madison Community Fridges formed to combat food insecurities and waste during this pandemic and beyond, while supporting the growth of community in the process. After calling for “growers, hosts, upkeepers, donors, supporters, transporters, builders, artists, translators, time givers,” they received an overwhelming response of support. A fridge was quickly donated to help jumpstart the project, and two more fridges followed.
With the gracious resident support at 1005 East Johnson Street, the first Madison Community Fridge found its home adjacent to the well trafficked sidewalk. The “take what you need, leave what you can” model has enlightened fellow community organizations, co-ops, food vendors, and individuals to take part in this mutual-aid project. In the time this fridge has been active, fresh produce, prepackaged meals, and dairy products seem to be the most popular. Neighborhood community members have taken pride in their Freedge maintaining the grounds and cleaning out and composting spoiled or partially opened products. Many community members have expressed how important the access to fresh produce has been for them. One person who is facing unemployment said they make use of the fridge daily and they are now proudly part of the volunteer base. The small but growing Madison Community Fridges group believe that this effort to bring more resiliency into their community is working!!
Wonka’s Harvest won’t have fresh vegetables to stock the Community Fridges until next growing season, but we wanted to help in the meantime. In late September when temperatures started to drop, we began planning to address the functioning of a refrigerator sitting outside during a Wisconsin winter. Being first year farmers here at Wonka’s Harvest, we have come accustomed to diving into new endeavors and were not deterred by taking on a shelter design to protect the fridge from winter conditions. We quickly transformed into researchers, thermal energy scientists, engineers, construction workers, and more; we learned a lot! At what temperature do fridges work properly (and stop working!)? What materials are waterproof and good insulators? What if our design is flawed (it was!)? For some of us, how do we work a drill? Such is life, each of us having varying skills so that when we put our minds together, we came up with a sound plan. Though some things were not accounted for and our designs and measurements were adjusted, encouragement persisted. With the physical materials in front of us, our design began actualizing. I now have a strong appreciation for every standing structure!
When the Community Fridges crew arrived at the farm last Saturday to help construct the shed, we worked, pet donkeys, and laughed around a fire. We reminisced about one of our earlier meetings when we said, “the shed should only take an hour or two to construct...” We had been very wrong on estimated construction time, but we all agreed that it was a great time well spent!
On Wednesday this week, we loaded the completed shelter onto the truck bed and drove slowly down 151 to meet the Community Fridge crew members in Madison. East Johnson Street was bustling with cars and pedestrians as we worked together to reposition the fridge into its new home. In the short time we were there making our final adjustments to the shelter, a number of community members checked in with bags in hand to pick up food. Passerbyers and neighbors smiled and stopped to inquire about the new shelter. It will become even more striking in the coming weeks when a local artist brings the plywood to life with colorful art!
Check back in on our upcoming blog posts for updates on the fridge and new plans for future fridge shelters in Madison! And if you feel inspired to build your own Freedge, download and follow our how-to guide:
Meanwhile, follow and support the Madison Community Fridges on their social media!
Instagram: @madisoncommunityfridges
Facebook: MSN Community Fridges
Venmo/Cashapp: @madfridges
