I didn’t grow up in a wealthy home - far from it - but there was always enough food. And not just the ‘boring’ food that we had to eat to keep us healthy - no, my mother excelled in making cakes, puddings and even the famed English trifle (which was often the star of the show at a weekend meal). Unlike me, my parents had grown up in homes where money was very tight and although neither of them ever went hungry, they were happy to be able to give their children things they had not had.
The same was true of my life as a student - I had a grant for my university studies (both in the UK and the US) and although it wasn’t a huge sum, it let me live, eat and study comfortably. When I wanted ‘extras’ I worked - as a teacher, a babysitter, a waitress…and this let me travel the world for the first time. I did see food hunger.
It was hard not to be affected by the sight of children with extended bellies (due to hunger) in East Africa, beggars on the streets of India, desperate for a few rupees (which could feed their entire family for a day) or local farmers in Latin America, struggling when their crops failed. It made me even more grateful for the life I had had, growing up the good fortune to have been raised in a country where living standards were on the rise constantly.
Over the years, I’ve made an effort to contributed to food hunger projects, packed hampers for vulnerable families and contributed to food banks in the USA, Europe and now Israel. It’s been a shock to me, of late, to see just how many more homeless people I’m seeing on the streets of Tel Aviv and, not just that, but news reports of families below the poverty line here.
Tel Aviv has just been named the most expensive city in the world (all things taken into consideration) and I can vouch for the accuracy of that statement. The cost of living here is exorbitant - rent is astronomical (and house purchases out of the reach of most), bills are on the rise, and food is far more expensive than it would be in any other country I’ve ever lived in.
Only recently, did I have a chance to understand, first hand, how these conditions have come together and created a ‘perfect storm’ for so many Israelis, having to make hard choices between heating their home and putting food on the table. And at the same time as news channels here are reporting at how much food is going to waste.
I could write at some length about how I think this needs to be remedied at a governmental level but that’s not what today’s post is for. It’s about spreading the word on a communal initiative in south Tel Aviv that’s becoming increasingly popular, and spreading to many other areas of the country. It’s called ‘The Social Fridge.’
Essentially, it’s a way not just to combat food insecurity (and outright hunger) but also to encourage people not to waste food. The streets of north Tel Aviv, where I live, are full of restaurants, cafes, bakeries and supermarkets. Every day, enormous amounts of food from them is being thrown away - and, let me clarify, it’s perfectly good food.
Fruits, vegetables, dairy products, bottles of condiments - whether it’s surplus to requirement, doesn’t look like it should (think ‘ugly’ potatoes and ‘deformed’ carrots) or have expired that day (and expiration dates are notoriously random), are all being thrown in the garbage - whilst simultaneously, one in five Israelis (this is an estimation, and I truly think it could be more) don’t have enough to eat.
‘The Social Fridge’ project in south Tel Aviv, is doing it’s best to combat this waste. A resourceful and intrepid group of volunteers approached a local cafe, which also operates as a bit of a community centre, and asked if they could place a fridge at the bottom of its yard. They were given permission and it was duly donated and installed.
Next door, a ‘pantry’ was set up, where dried goods - pasta, bread, canned goods - could be put. The word started to spread, on social media, about this initiative - based on the principle of ‘give what you can, take what you need’ and that’s how I became involved.
It’s simple. Volunteers collect what they can - either from stores/markets who are willing to donate surplus food at the day’s end, or simply by going to the bins/crates/trash cans of the local stores and seeing what has been thrown out. After all, if it’s been thrown away by the store, there’s no law in someone else taking it
I am truly astounded by what I find, as I go out on ‘collecting’ missions. Bell peppers that would sell in the stores for 10 NIS a kilo ($43). Potatoes, onions, tomatoes, bananas, carrots, orange and pears…sometimes slightly bruised, sometimes in a box where just one is damaged, sometimes in optimum condition and clearly just ‘leftovers.’
On a recent food collection mission, I picked up 12 boxes of strawberries - most were perfect, a few were squishy but none were rotten. And, besides that, bunches and bunches of grapes - purple, green and black. As a friend of mine remarked: “The price of grapes this winter is 40 NIS a kilo and I haven’t bought them on principle, even though I can afford to.” We sit and ponder, as we try a few - they are delicious.
Why is this food being thrown out, when it is so clearly needed by so many? (Not to mention that food thrown away emits huge amounts of greenhouse gases/carbon emissions). How can it be that in a world of plenty, when there is enough food for all, so much is being discarded and so many are going hungry?
The food is collected and then taken by volunteers (by bicycle, bus or car) in bags to South Tel Aviv, where it is placed in the fridge. The fridge itself (and the pantry next to it) are both open 24/7 and there is no-one there to supervise what is taken out, no-one to have to ask for help. This ensures that no-one in need has to feel embarrassed or ashamed for their visit.
The impact that this fridge is making is enormous - I know it through the stories of other volunteers and also firsthand. And the terrible truth is that however much food is placed in the fridge, it is never there too long - the demand is so great. That’s why it’s so important to keep collecting
Nevertheless, despite sometimes feeling like ‘enough is never enough’ I can truly say that this is one of the most worthwhile volunteer projects I’ve been lucky enough to stumble across in Israel. Knowing that food that would otherwise be thrown out is being rescued and put to good use is incredibly satisfying. And it’s also comforting to know how many people in the community, like me, are taking active steps to rescue food and ensure it is distributed to those who need it.
And now I’m off to do some rescuing…