Blog: Opening of Fællesskabet – A Community Fridge 4 All

Fællesskabet Kolding – Free fridge Kolding are community fridges based in Kolding with free surplus food open for anyone 24/7. The fridges are the third of their kind in Denmark and are inspired and supported by FællesSkabet Aarhus and Copenhagen. The fridges are created to make use of all the food that was supposed to be thrown out but is perfectly edible to create a social platform for all citizens in Kolding and address food insecurity. The fridges are not seen as a solution to the food waste problem but are a physical manifestation of the food waste problem. FællesSkabet Kolding is based on volunteer work initiated by Food:RE:Formers, a local food waste non-profit organisation, and supported by Riberdyb10, a physical place for communities and an office for a local city development project.

The fridges opened on the 10th of June with an opening party at Potentialet, an art showroom at Riberdyb10. The event included music, art, insightful talks, performances, surplus food, and a community dinner, all planned by the volunteers of FællesSkabet, Food:RE:Formers and Riberdyb10.

At the event, approximately 300 people of all ages from Kolding, Aarhus, Copenhagen and Odense attended the day. The event started with talks and workshops from Food Waste activists. Irene di Lauro was the first speaker and the co-founder of Fællesskabet Kobenhavn. She presented how she used her academic research combined with her work with FællesSkabet København and community building. After Irene’s talk, Iben Østergaard Fog, the co-founder of Food:RE:Formers and FællesSkabet Kolding, presented how the organisations use design methods and the volunteer’s skills in the organisations’ structures events.

Antonia Fedder conducted the workshop “Left over kitchen”, where she focused on how the consumer can use the food scraps that often go into the bin. The third speaker was food waste campaigner Matt Homewood, also known as An Urban Harvester. He talked about his experience with food waste and how his presentations work on social media to shed light on supermarkets’ massive food waste problems. He is currently working on a national food waste campaign together with other food waste activists in Denmark.

After the talks, the guests were invited to a community dinner created on surplus food and supported by Tobbers madbar, a local restaurant. During the event, “Potentialet” invited artists to create art, music, and performance, which all created a cosy atmosphere for the guests.

The fridges are now receiving food twice a day, collected, sorted and registered by volunteers from Food Reformers with support from other green communities in Kolding.