When the federal government shut down last fall, resulting in cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Amber Porter began wondering how it would impact her fellow Belmont residents.
From a Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance report, she learned that more than 700 households in Belmont identified as food insecure. In Massachusetts, 40% of households in the past year experienced food insecurity — more than doubling the rate from 2019, according to data from the Greater Boston Food Bank.
“That really struck me,” Porter said. “There are a lot of people in our community that are experiencing food insecurity.”
With that knowledge in mind, Porter began connecting with other community members, helping combat food insecurity. She began volunteering at the Belmont Food Pantry, where she learned about the Belmont Food Collaborative, a 501(c)(3) that includes multiple initiatives to provide food to those in need.
One of those initiatives is called a community fridge. Already familiar with community fridges in other areas, initiating one in Belmont was “sort of a natural progression,” she said. With her children, Porter would drop off baked goods at community fridges in nearby communities, such as Watertown.
“Something I love about the community fridge model is it’s so much more flexible and accessible than the food pantry models, which are important but have limited times they’re open,” she said. “While it’s not strict, there are some eligibility requirements. You have to sign up, and that could be a barrier if you want to be anonymous.”
A community fridge, by comparison, is anonymous, and people don’t have to sign up or wait in line.
“Because it’s a mutual aid model, where it relies on everyone from the community giving what they can … people can be recipients and also at other points in their life be contributors,” she said. “I really like that model. It’s everyone working together.”
The fridge she has planned in Belmont will operate in collaboration with the First Church in Belmont, Unitarian Universalist, which will host it. Although still in the planning phase, Porter said the idea is to build a shed to house the refrigerator, allowing for storage of pantry and hygiene items, too.
“It’s a wonderful location; it’s right in Belmont Center,” she said. “It’s a really accessible location and also really aligns with the values of our congregation.”
The first step was to reach out to the Belmont Health Department, she said. Since then, local groups including the Belmont Religious Council, local scout troops and businesses, the Belmont Food Pantry, and the Belmont Food Collaborative have all expressed their support for the project.
“People are excited for us to have this resource for our community to use, but also to help capture food that would have otherwise been wasted,” she said.
Dairy, produce, and even fully prepared meals such as lasagna can be donated — something you won’t find at a food pantry, she said. Porter added that there will be clear guidelines on how meals should be individually packaged, dated, and labelled with ingredients.
According to Porter, organisers plan to follow a model similar to that of the Watertown community fridge, which has been running for the last six years. While she will rely on the community to donate food, a Venmo account will be set up so that a team of volunteers can purchase items to keep the fridge stocked.
Ideally, the fridge will be up and running this summer or fall at the latest. A fundraising plan for building the shed is still being developed.
“Belmont is a more diverse community than people give it credit for,” she said. “I think that is a barrier sometimes to people understanding and helping to address these problems. People are trying to give to other communities versus looking at the needs here.”
Porter can be reached at belmontcommunityfridge@gmail.com for more information on the project.
