Name: Mabel Fox

Social Justice Group: Food insecurity in NYC (C)

Date of Fieldwork: January 10, 2025

Name of Organization and person (people) with whom you met and their title(s):Filling the Community Fridge on 6th street with Brendan the middle school teacher.

What I did and what I learned about my topic, activism, social justice work or civil and human rights work from this fieldwork:

A community fridge is a place where people can help people. Somebody can buy food or put untouched leftovers in the fridge and then others who need a meal or a snack can take it. A lot of people use community fridges, but a lot of the times they are not full. Even though these fridges are a great, really useful source of food it is hard to build or maintain them. Most community fridges welcome nonperishable goods, snacks, boxed meals, bottled water, juice, bread, fresh produce, and more. Leftovers and expiring foods are usually not welcomed because they could be dangerous for somebody’s health.

On Friday, Lucy, Aria, and I went to fill a community fridge on 6th street. We bought healthy food before the trip, including fruits, vegetables, and other good food that might be hard to find or too expensive to buy. The fridge was small and completely empty when we got there. This was very upsetting because there are lots of people that would benefit if that fridge had food in it. When we were filling the fridge, there was already someone to take some of the food. I learned that a lot of the time the fridges get shut down and relocated. It is really hard to not only keep a fridge open but also fully stocked. Most of the time the fridges are empty because people don’t usually consistently fill the fridge.