One third of the world’s produced food goes to waste, even as the UN estimates that 20 million people in parts of the world are on the verge of famine.
Why don’t we share the surplus and help those in need? Free fridges like one standing on a busy street in east China’s Deqing county in Zhejiang Province could be the answer.
A story about “the fridge of love” recently began trending on Weibo, China’s equivalent of Twitter. Placed outside a bakery, it was filled with pastries that passersby could take for free.
A bakery staff is putting pastries into "the fridge of love" for passersby. /Hangzhou Daily Photo
“We have fresh, edible surplus bread every day. By sharing the pastries with those in need I want to make food meaningful”, bakery owner Shen Huihui, who started the food sharing activity, was quoted as saying by Hangzhou Daily newspaper.
On its first appearance on March 19, people were wary of taking anything from the fridge, worried about food safety and unsure if the pastries were indeed free of charge.
Fresh, individually packed pastries from Shen Huihui's bakery. /Hangzhou Daily Photo
A street cleaner took the risk one day, first passing the fridge, then hesitantly returning to fetch two egg tarts. She told Shen that egg tarts were her granddaughter’s favorite but were too expensive for her to buy.
Since then, a variety of people have started benefiting from “the fridge of love”: among them mothers, rural migrant workers and young couples.
To Shen’s surprise, a personal move has now slowly turned into a community action. After learning about “the fridge of love”, people have voluntarily brought food to share, including children.
A 22-year-old handicapped girl is putting food into the fridge. /Hangzhou Daily Photo
The concept of "sharing fridge" or “fridge of love” first sprouted in Europe to battle food waste. In China, the first food sharing fridge appeared in Shanghai in September last year. Several sharing fridges later followed across eastern, northern and central Chinese provinces.
Over the past three decades, more than 500 million people have been lifted out of extreme poverty in China. As of 2016, 7.2 percent of the Chinese population lived below the national poverty line, mostly in rural areas in central and western provinces, according to the Asian Development Bank.
