18 people (mainly members) came to Bellfield on 28th April to a presentation by Hazel, about Porty Community Fridge and her passion to reduce food waste in our community. We learned that the community fridge is not intended as a food bank as such, but operates in tandem with nearby food banks so that excess food is distributed as appropriately as possible to ensure all food is taken. We heard that Hazel was informed of 550 surplus turkeys last Christmas Eve just from the few shops she knows about! She rescued 200 but 350 had already been thrown out! Lively discussion followed about how this might be avoided, getting into the philosophy of food distribution and supermarkets and how things really have to change. We also ventured into the need to transition over to lower carbon foods, comparing the carbon footprints of vegetables, and other things, finding cut flowers and porridge to be amongst the highest, and locality is not always an indication of low carbon. This local project is a small but significant step leading us in another more sustainable direction. If you’re interested in helping, email portyfridge@gmail.com. The meeting ended with a 5 minute tale told by our resident storyteller, Anne who has not only featured recently on the Porty Podcast, but she has just won the ‘Tall Tales Oscars’!
