AJ Madison Donates NYC’s 55th Free Food Fridge in Harlem

"The Peoples Peoples Fridge" so it's called, sits boldly at the corner of 155 and St. Nicholas Place in New York City. It's an approachable fridge, pained with beautiful images of flowers and friendly faces by local New York-based artist, April Amparo. This commercial-grade refrigerator is huge, standing over 6 feet tall, its 8 shelves are stocked with fresh produce and meals. Local food donations are intended to improve the lives of many Harlem residents.

This is a free food refrigerator. The fridge is accessible 24-7 and anyone can access the fridge, no questions asked. Refrigerators are placed strategically throughout the city giving residents access to fresh, healthy produce and meals which are completely free. "Everybody should eat," said Sade Akin Boyewa El, long-time Harlem resident, artist, activist, and community organizer, "food is not and should never be a privilege." Sade described growing up on a farm. She has a firsthand understanding of where food comes from and the path it travels from seed to harvest. Food plays a vital role in our health and nourishment. The free fridges make nutritious foods accessible for everyone bringing new energy to the community.

“ Everybody should eat. Food is not and should never be a privilege.” - SADE AKIN BOYEWA EL, VOLUNTEER WITH THE COMMUNITY FREE FOOD FRIDGE PROJECT

Community fridges are outdoor refrigerators stocked with food donated by local businesses, food pantries, farms, and individual community members. The refrigerators are accessible 24/7 to any person who needs food. The community fridge network is growing every day and aims to rescue soon-to-be-wasted food from local restaurants, farms, and grocers.

Food insecurity is a major issue in New York City, where an estimated 1.4 million people rely on emergency assistance programs such as food pantries and soup kitchens, and the COVID-19 pandemic only heightened the number of residents struggling. Many underserved communities are food deserts, areas where residents can’t get easy access to healthy ingredients. With that in mind, Thadeaus Umpster, an organizer of the network In Our Hearts, a non-profit dedicated to making the community a better place, began the Community Free Food Fridge Project to provide complimentary food to residents in need.

The Community Free Food Fridges also provide mutual aid to residents and local businesses alike. "We're in the business of rescuing food," said Sade, "rescuing food goes hand and hand with combatting the problem of food waste". According to the U.S. Food & Drug administration, food waste in the United States is estimated at between 30–40% of the food supply. To combat this problem, an estimated 250 volunteers help clean & re-stock the refrigerators daily. Local restaurants and stores donate surplus food items instead of throwing them away. The volunteers deliver it to 60-plus community fridges which are strategically housed throughout the city to help feed an estimated 200 families per fridge each day. Each refrigerator is re-stocked three times a day with supermarket-worthy foods such as fruit, vegetables, milk, eggs, and rotisserie chicken.

AJ Madison sprang to action when Marla Harris, AJ Madison Marketing Operations Manager, found a post on social media searching for a fridge. "I found the project on Instagram during NYCs' brutal summer heatwave. Stooping NYC put out a call for anyone who was able to donate a refrigerator. Working for AJ Madison, I saw a chance to do my part for the community to see if I could find a fridge. True offering to partner with us at AJ Madison on this project was beyond anything I could have imagined".

As an appliance expert, Marla knew that she would want to source the best refrigerator possible. True Refrigerators are tough, weighing in at 535 pounds, this commercial-grade fridge is built to last a long time. Community fridges are outside all year round, so she knew she needed to find a reliable fridge that could withstand variable temperatures including cold winters and brutal heatwaves.

True Manufacturing Director of Sales and Marketing, Steve Proctor, was equally excited to get involved, “As an American-made, family-owned company, our mission has always been to support Americans in meaningful ways. When we learned through AJ Madison that The Harlem Community Fridge was in need of a refrigeration unit with enough space to store large amounts of food yet also function year-round both in indoor and outdoor settings, we leaped to action and donated one of our 54” Slide Door Refrigerators. During the course of the pandemic, our country’s problem with food waste and various communities' inaccessibility to basic everyday foodstuffs has not only worsened drastically but has become increasingly more apparent. With millions of unemployed Americans worrying about not having a sustainable food source and/or relying on food banks, we felt compelled to aid in any way possible. Helping everyday Americans have access to well-refrigerated foods is important to both True and AJ Madison and we will continue to expand our donation efforts to communities in need.”

Volunteers from the Peoples Peoples Fridge hosted a celebratory barbecue on a warm October afternoon. The fridge, sitting beautifully on the corner of 155th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue, was bigger than I expected – standing over 6-feet-tall. It is painted a bright sunny yellow with welcoming images of flowers and the faces of community members who have dedicated their lives to making a difference.

The fridge was stocked full of colorful, healthy foods. It looked like the grab-and-go section of any health food store – except this food is free to any person in need. The fridge was filled and emptied nearly four times that afternoon. Volunteers stocked the shelves with portioned local produce and individually packaged meals with the ingredients printed on the containers. Community members took what they needed as they passed by.

I had the opportunity to speak with The Peoples Peoples Fridge founder, Yves Voltaire. I asked him about what led him to begin the project.

Together with a group of local volunteers, Yves put together a strong network of folks who keep the fridge running.

"There's a phrase we say Uptown—- 'everybody eats.' It's a reference to a line in the movie ‘Paid in Full’ and works as a statement of fact that literally, everybody needs food, needs to eat. It works also as a call, an insistence, that you, me, we make sure to spread the resources, and in so doing, everybody gets what they need and feels accounted for. It's something that everyone can get around. The beauty of our community fridge is that it allows us all the chance to feed each other and feed ourselves, to give to the community and be replenished by it."

“The beauty of our community fridge is that it allows us all the chance to feed each other and feed ourselves, to give to the community and be replenished by it.” YVES VOLTAIRE VOLUNTEER WITH THE COMMUNITY FREE FOOD FRIDGE PROJECT

Over 30% of our country's food supply is wasted each year according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Meanwhile, underserved communities experience food insecurity and measurable health disparities. The Community Fridge network gives communities access to food that would otherwise be thrown away.

Food waste and food rescue is a serious problem in America. Many businesses dispose of leftover food that doesn't get utilized. The community fridge network works to reallocate delicious meals and fresh foods to families in need. An estimated 200 community members benefit from the fridge each day.

Community fridges are placed in neighborhoods with limited access to healthy ingredients – often referred to as food deserts or food apartheid. These communities do not have equal and autonomous access to a wide variety of food because of systemic oppression and lack of support from systems of power.

It's difficult when the nearest healthy foods are far away from their homes. "We wanted to get the fridge up and running before the cold weather," Yves explained. "When you have a many-block walk to get fresh produce, with the winter coming, the ability to walk ten blocks, five blocks, or even three blocks become exceedingly difficult. Especially for the most vulnerable residents."

At the celebration, Jade Golden (@jadegoldenbbqco) and her partner Rae (both painted on the fridge)
were grilling up hot dogs and hamburgers and offered them to patrons as they passed by. Jade and Rae have been hosting weekly Black Lives Matter barbecues in the neighborhood to support the community's mental health, nourishment, and celebration of joy. Jade has a catering business and BBQ company that serves the community regularly. Kari and Lalo, of Cocina Consuelo in Harlem (@cocinaconsuelo), brought homemade vegan tacos in individual containers for the celebration – they were delicious!

Midway through the celebration, a mother approached with her four children in tow. They each grabbed either a burger or a hot dog and a few snacks on the go. During an uncertain time for many families, food insecurity is real, and free food fridges are a beacon of hope and security.

Yves left me with a few closing thoughts. "The food is out there - and the need is tremendous. The cool thing about this work is it activates people to want to serve their communities. Sign up to be a volunteer, driver, or a person to do daily checks. There are so many ways to help."

“The food is out there - and the need is tremendous. The cool thing about this work is it activates people to want to serve their communities.” YVES VOLTAIRE

If you'd like to learn more or get involved with the community fridge network, follow @thepeoplespeoplesfridge and @thefridgegirls. Free food fridges are popping up across the country; find a community fridge near you or start one.

The joy brought by this fridge is something to be celebrated. We live in a time where separation is the new normal. For the first time in many months, at The Peoples Peoples Fridge, celebrating with community organizers and community members of Harlem, I didn't feel that separation. Yes – we were all wearing masks and doing our best to social distance. Yet, for the first time in a long time, I felt the warmth of a community coming together to help its most vulnerable residents.

Abe Kupferstein, AJ Madison Showroom Manager, in Brooklyn added “as New Yorkers and neighbors, our AJ Madison team strives to be an integral part of our local community. We love what the Harlem Fridge Project stands for and the many ways they are able to support the community at large. It’s more important than ever that we support and stand together to help those impacted by the pandemic.”

I have never seen a refrigerator so loved!