THE team behind Westbury’s busy community fridge are appealing to local growers and food producers for help in a drive to boost the breadth of produce available, continuing the town’s commitment to reducing food waste.
Operated by Westbury Area Network (WAN) alongside the food bank, the community fridge aims to promote sharing of surplus food and reduce waste, with items made available to members of the public free of charge. Donations are currently received on a regular basis from local supermarkets and as the service grows in popularity, the team are keen to expand the offering by connecting with more local donors.
WAN trustee Linda Hallowell says, “We already receive fantastic regular donations of bakery items and sometimes frozen produce, from local supermarkets, but we would love to be able to offer more fresh fruit and vegetables too and help promote healthy eating. Westbury Shed kindly donates surplus seasonal produce from their allotment so are there any other allotment holders and keen gardeners who would like to support us?
“Are there local farmers who regularly have surplus and would be keen to connect with us? We can happily take wonky vegetables, imperfect fruit, or other produce that can’t be sold in shops but is still perfectly good to eat. Please get in touch if you think there might be a way you could support the community fridge.”
According to the government’s food waste hierarchy, producers and distributors within the food and drink industry have an obligation to dispose of surplus according to a prioritised list of options. At the top of this list is redistribution of surplus produce that is fit for human consumption through appropriate channels, before considering using surplus for animal feed or for recycling, making working with a local community fridge a perfect solution for everyone.
Open on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 10.30am to 12pm at Westbury Community Project, the community fridge is available to all members of the community. The exact produce available at the community fridge varies from one day to the next and offers a great opportunity for people to pick up a few extras, as well as enabling recipients of food bank parcels to supplement their long-life essentials with fresh produce too.
Potential donors to the community fridge can contact the team on westburyareanetwork@gmail.com or by calling 07780 072 619.
For more information please visit www.westburyareanetwork.org or search ‘Westbury Community Fridge’ on Facebook for latest updates.
