Fighting Food Insecurity

Faculty and students research ways to enhance operations and expand the reach of a local community fridge.

A discrete structure sits in the Berkshire neighbourhood of London, Ontario with a simple yet powerful message: “Take what you need, leave/give what you can.”

This is the Community Fridge—a pantry and refrigerator stocked daily with produce, dry goods, bread, dairy products and more. Started by volunteers from the Rotary Club of London South, it provides barrier-free access to food for those experiencing food insecurity. They can stop by anonymously any time of day, any day of the week. The need is significant; the Community Fridge provides an average of $500 in food each day.

Organizers of the Community Fridge contacted Fanshawe to request assistance from faculty and students to evaluate their current operations.

Catherine (Kate) Traill, coordinator of the Research and Evaluation graduate certificate program, saw a great opportunity to get involved.

“I loved the initiative,” says Kate. “I loved the organizers’ commitment, and I immediately knew I wanted to contribute in some small way to the sustainability of this amazing project.”

With funding from the Research and Innovation Fund (RIF), a program through the Centre for Research and Innovation (CRI) which provides financial support or course release for Fanshawe faculty and staff to engage in collaborative research projects, Kate hired a recent graduate from her program as a research assistant and they began to collect data.

“Our research scope included an environmental scan of other community fridges operating in similar-sized jurisdictions; a comprehensive literature review of the concept of community fridges across North America and Western Europe; a weighed inventory study to approximate the value of the food distributed by London’s Community Fridge; and a survey of regular users of the Community Fridge to understand their approximate location and potential barriers to access the Community Fridge,” explains Kate. “The survey was translated into Ukrainian, Spanish and Arabic to reflect the demographics of users.”

Students in the Research and Evaluation program’s Capstone course are now completing interviews with various community organizers and potential partners across London to determine opportunities and barriers to expanding the Community Fridge in the London-Middlesex region. These recommendations, based on the summer 2023 data collection, include that London would benefit from more local community fridges and formal partnerships with other preexisting community services

I can’t speak highly enough about this particular organization,

says Kate. “The fact that users can access it anonymously is a significant benefit for many folks experiencing food insecurity since there is still so much stigma associated with experiencing poverty. Users are so grateful, and our survey indicates that most users of the Community Fridge give back when they are able.”

Learn more about the Community Fridge. www.communityfridgelondon.com

Learn more about the Centre for Research and Innovation (CRI). www.fanshawec.ca/partnerships/research-innovation