Community fridge saves 24,000 meals from landfill

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BBC A large free standing fridge fully stocked with vegetables such as spring onions, avacado, brussel sprouts and lettuce. Its doors are open. Beside the fridge is a large freezer section full of frozen meat, vegetarian and vegan produce.

Tens of thousands of meals have been saved from being dumped thanks to a community fridge in County Tyrone.

Local supermarkets and businesses donate fresh food, keeping the fridges stocked with perishable food which was destined for landfill.

Angela O'Brien, who manages the Owenkillew centre where the community fridge in Gortin is based, said it had saved 10 tonnes of edible food - 24,000 meals - since it was set up in 2023.

She said it was "horrendous" to see so much food being thrown out when it could be used by families.

Growing in popularity

A woman is smiling straight into the camera. She's wearing a blue coloured polar neck jumper and has a pair of glasses balancing on her hair. She is weighing a loaf of bread on a set of scales as part of the Community Fridge initiative. Sitting beside the scales are boxes of eggs laid by the hens in the community garden.

The Community Fridge Network is coordinated by Hubbub, a UK-wide charity dedicated to promoting sustainability and protecting the environment.

The first community fridge to open its doors in Northern Ireland was in Cloughmills in County Antrim in 2017.

They have been growing in popularity since then and there are now 15 run by community groups and volunteers in shared spaces such as schools and community centres.

Anyone can use them.

A corner of a room is filled with a colourful collection of cupboard items. In the foreground there are boxes of bottled water and packets of crisps. On the table sits a bowl of apples; loaves of many varieties of bread; cereals; jams ; pots of custard and ready made porridge in pots.

What is a community fridge?

Two well fed hens - one looking sidelong into the camera wait to be fed scraps beside a compost heap. They're in a sealed off area in a community garden. In the background are lots of vegetable scraps which the hens have been feeding off.

There are eight hens in the community garden, and when they hear Dave Rickford, who oversees the community fridge, rattling bags of fruit and veg, they make an excited dash to his feet.

Opening bags and scattering contents on the ground, Dave said the hungry hens have their favourites - grapes and cabbage - "but they'll have a go at eating anything".

They eat the food which is not legally fit for human consumption.

Their waste creates compost and they lay eggs which are used in the fridge.

A man wearing jeans and a sports' top stoops over a group of 6 hens. He's emptying a bag of stir fry veg which has passed its "use by" date. The hens bend their heads in unison to pick at the scraps. In the background is fencing which forms part of a secure enclosure for the birds.

According to the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), the average person in NI wastes 86kg (185lbs) of food annually - 210kg per household .

The Department for Agriculture, the Environment and Rural Affairs (Daera) is a signatory to the UK Courtauld Commitment 2030, with WRAP, the primary delivery partner for food waste prevention in Northern Ireland.

The estimated total cost of edible food purchased that ended up as wasted food in Northern Ireland for 2021-22 is £442m.

This represents £231 per person, or £572 per household.