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Hello there, I am looking for suggestions on Food waste, which is a big issue in the US. The average household throws away $470 worth of food every year. And at the same time 4 million people in the US are living in food poverty. The Community Fridge is a simple response. You can drop off good but unwanted food, and anyone can help themselves to what is on the shelf. I'm not replacing food pantry but minimizing food waste , what are the best place to get a community fridge in woodbury NY or in orange county NY ?

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"The Community Fridge is a simple response."

Really? Not so simple.

Who will run it? How will the food be stored? Who is going to pay to have the shelves, freezers, and fridges to keep the food? Who will pay to have a place to house all these? Who will be liable when people get sick or die from eating old food? Lawyers will love to go after deep pockets with bleeding hearts. Who will pay for insurance to protect from all the lawsuits? Who will pay for the salary and insurance for the people who will work there to accept and dispense food? Who will pay to get all the permits and licenses that NY requires? Not to mention who has time to drive in NY traffic to donate unwanted food?
I suppose you could get tax payers to pony up the money to run such a place, or ask people to donate money. But is that a good use of these monies to save old food?

If you want to donate or receive unwanted food, post it on Freecycle or Craigslist in your neighborhood, so people can contact you directly. Many churches also have their own food pantries. You can try calling and see which ones do.
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I don't use it myself, but I hear good things about Nextdoor, where people in a particular neighborhood can participate in private online message boards, apparently. I think I would want to know just who was offering the free food: how clean is their kitchen likely to be, how careful about food safety, etc. But I agree with you that food waste is a problem and I commend you for thinking about ways to alleviate it. Good luck!
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Dear Win999,

I hear your concern. I know we are all trying to do our bit to minimize waste. I know you can donate some stuff to the food bank. That might be safer option.

For me personally, I try not to overbuy in the first place. Or try to freeze as much as I can for later.
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What does this have to do with aging care?
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Here is how I eliminate food waste. I raise a handful of backyard egg laying chickens. Any old food and unwanted food go to the chickens. Chickens eat almost anything from table scraps to vegetable scraps. They in turn give me eggs, enough eggs to feed my family and some. So, my chickens recycle old food and give me new nutritious food. On top of that, they give me chicken manure which is one of the best fertilizers to feed my plants. Anything that the chickens don't eat or can't eat goes to the compost to later feed my fruit trees and vegetable gardens. I have very little trash to throw out on trash day. And I never throw away any food.
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Thank you for your reply , well I'm looking for possibility's to have a small community fridge may be library probably with a microwave, (which can help senior citizens as well ) idea is to keep only restaurants leftover but good food to be available to community so that we can minimize food waste .
of-course safety first for that fridge should have this note:

One must agree before using community fridge

1.Write in the visitors book what I take, my name and the date and time
2.Make my own judgement as to whether or not the food is safe to eat for me by checking that packaged food is still in date (either the use-by date printed on the label or the hand-written label).
3.Never use food that has passed its “Use by” date, even if it smells & looks good.
4.Not consume food from the fridge if I have any food allergies or food intolerance.
5.Only take food cooked or prepared by certified businesses, stating on the label the use by date, preparation date, and the name of the business.
6.Heat up any cooked food until it is steaming hot (75oC), and not reheat it a second time.
7.Wash all unpackaged foods before consumption
8.Not take raw meat fish or eggs, or home-cooked or prepared food and notify us if any of the listed are found in the fridge.
9.Use my senses; smelling and looking at the food before eating it, if in doubt don’t eat it!
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