The Grinnell Organizing Collective and eight community partners have filled a major gap within Grinnell’s initiatives aimed at alleviating food insecurity — refrigerated food.
Ryan Solomon, a co-organizer of the newly established Community Fridge outside of Drake Community Library, said, “It’s such a simple thing. It’s just a fridge that we plugged into a wall, and we put food in it.”
Twenty-five percent of the food Iowans dispose of each year is thrown away in its original packaging, and 19 percent of Iowa’s landfills is food waste. Yet, 12 percent of Iowans encounter food insecurity.
The fridge, donated from Grinnell Farm to Table, is restocked daily from donations and food from community partners such as Iowa Kitchen, HyVee, Grinnell College Global Kitchen, Jay’s Deli, Jimmy John’s, Pizza Hut and Grinnell Community Meal.
Phil Grout, the Store Director of Grinnell’s Hy-Vee, said he was excited about the opportunity. “We’re always looking to help in the community, whether it be a donation, whether it’s teaming up with a church to provide a discount for a large supper. I am here and available to help, and that’s probably the best part and most fulfilling part of my job, is that I can do those things,” he said.
Solomon emphasized that Grinnell has a great strength in partnerships with many community organizations, such as Mid-Iowa Community Action (MICA), Grinnell Food Coalition and the Iowa Kitchen, working to alleviate food insecurity.
However, the fridge also works to provide times to pick up food where other organizations might be closed.
With the Iowa Kitchen open only on Saturdays, MICA open only three days a week and the community meal served only once a week, there were times when those in need of food may not be able to receive any.
“There were still gaps in the possibilities for food to be recovered,” Solomon said.
The Community Fridge is open-access and no-questions-asked. “I don’t think people should feel like they shouldn’t use the fridge. If they’re there and they need food, don’t think too hard. There’ll be more tomorrow,” said Liz Rodrigues, a member of the Grinnell Organizing Collective Steering Group.
The fridge took nearly a year to install, with the greatest difficulty being finding a place for it. Since its opening, the organizers say it has fulfilled its purpose in being a food source.
Rachel Rudacille `26, the other co-organizer of the fridge, said, “We’re seeing food that is able to come to the fridge, which is really good, and then we’re seeing it go really, really quickly, which, to me, signals that there’s a lot of need for that food in Grinnell.”
Solomon spoke broadly about the need for food security in Iowa.
“It just speaks to broader problems with our food systems and how our food systems work,” he said about the fridge’s success. “Supposedly, Iowa feeds the world, but we can’t even feed Iowans.”
Solomon said that the fridge acts as a source of agency for those in need of food, because they can choose what they want and when.
“People need their basic dignity protected,” Solomon said. “The language is mutual aid. We need that recognition that, despite our different political perspectives, that there are these common needs and common projects we can work on. Our lives are interconnected and interdependent.”