How delightful to have seen the community fridge story from beginning to end. I loved reading the final product! Being your "research assistant" goes down as one of my coolest NYC experiences ever.
And, omg! Anne, you captured the weirdness of high-school dialogue so well! Those kids were a great way to kick off our tour.
I’m a co-founder of the fridge at S’MAC in East Village (9th st one)!! I moved so don’t work on it anymore but so happy to see it’s still being stocked. We estimated we were feeding upwards of 2000 people a week from that teeny fridge. It gets tons of donations from local bakeries, stores, and restaurants also. I’d heard about them from my research I was doing for work in food in 2019 (they originated in Germany),so we were one of the first in the city. So exciting to see how many there are now!!!
Wow Diane! That' so cool you're the co-founder of the last fridge in the story. Small world!
And very interesting to hear that the community fridge idea came from Germany. Any idea when that happened and when the idea was adopted here in the states? I never heard of it before the pandemic but have been imagining that maybe it was a 1960s invention.
Omg! I said 9th st and it’s 12th st & 1st. Get me out of nyc for 2 years and I start forgetting.... they’re traced back to around 2012. I think it started from excess dumpster diving. I wrote this when I was still in the food movement. Might give you some more info- https://wholehealthygroup.com/community-fridges/
wow, this issue was jam packed and i loved every second of it! i always wanted a series of pneumatic tubes. i had no idea the ones for trash existed, or that they've existed for so long. the ones i want are for sending food - so many times someone has wanted to try something i've made, and i wish i could just send them a plate at the same time as my partner and i sit down to dinner. or maybe everyone who wants to participate has a grid of buttons in their kitchen like the trash place's control board. and if you see a button lit, that's someone who could use a meal that day, and you can put a meal in something that looks like a star trek replicator and it gets jettisoned over to them. this is what goes on in my brain.
i wish there was a way to have a community fridge right outside my apartment. i like to clean and organize and would have no problem fixing up some of these. and if they're only open for a certain time, perhaps a human presence would dissuade some of the less altruistic goings-on, or you could have limits on what each person could take. i know most volunteers have jobs, families, just Other Stuff they need to get to and can't come every day or hang around for very long. but i don't have anything going on. i just don't like to leave my house. perhaps a Random Rich Person will read this and finance my proposed operation.
i remember during the height of the pandemic there were big trucks around here that would hand out boxes of food for free. but the problem is, they just gave each person a box. i understand they didn't have time to let people pick and choose, but what is an unhoused person going to do with a gallon of milk, you know? or if it had something people didn't like or need - it's okay for people in need to have preferences! anyway, there was a lot of waste and stuff thrown on the street.
Jerk Nugget! What if you had a community fridge attached to your home via pneumatic tube? Or maybe I could build a pneumatic tube and use it to send you a community fridge!
I also like to clean and organize. I'd like to have one of those Little Free Libraries to run except I live in a big apartment building so I don't have a yard or even a front patio to put it on.
And yeah, what you said in the last paragraph—giving is a lot harder than taking, if you want to do it right!
i also love the free libraries. putting anything good in those is truly an exercise in trust and/or altruism.
as an aside, whenever i think about donating food it reminds me of a time in elementary school (late 80s/early 90s) where they were always doing these odd fundraisers where instead of simply giving money or Good Stuff they'd collect pennies or UPCs and whatnot. anyway one time they were collecting the UPCs from canned goods. (perhaps this was some kind of precursor to "box tops for education" or whatever it is now.) so i went home and promptly removed the labels from all the canned goods in our pantry so i could bring in the UPCs. of course, being a child and not having developed certain skills like forethought, it didn't occur to me that now we'd have no clue what was in any of the cans. my mother was not pleased XD
I worked with pneumatic tubes for years at hospitals. They are a blast...a real blast! I filed an OSHA complaint because the hospital would use the same "pneumatic bullets" to send sterile medication that they used for fecal, blood, urine and sputum samples. "Hey, what's this brown stuff on my IV bag??!!"
EVERYONE on this thread needs to contact local hospital boards, health departments, their councilmen, Congressmen and OSHA because hospitals in NYC and throughout the country don't have seperate, dedicated "pneumatic bullets" marked "PHARMACY" and "LAB" in their pneumatic tube systems. Your Tylenol shares a container with Mr. Smith's stool sample!!
Little Free Libraries started in a little border town perhaps 15 miles from my home across the St Croix river between Minnesota and Wisconsin. They are EVERYWHERE here. Lots of them operate, at least here, as combination libraries and small food shelves. I always like when I'm walking and see a library to check it out. It's great when there is food for the taking. The map of the fridge sites was a VERY COOL use of Google Maps!
Mark! I've seen food in Little Free Libraries as well, but I didn't see any books in the community refrigerators. But I like the idea of free food + free books in general. If I'd hit that Powerball Lottery, I'd open one of those, with a free petting zoo attached.
Save yourself some trouble and just start leaving cookbooks in the LFLs. As for the petting zoo, leave the wrong kind of food in the LFL and I'm sure the critters will follow
I feel compelled to check out the contents of every little free library I pass, even though I almost never take anything. Now I'm going to have to scope out the fridges, too!
I always check them (LFLs) Cori. I often take books I am done with and leave them in a random, somewhat bare library. In our old neighborhood, I would estimate on a one hour walk I would go past at least 10 of the libraries! I included a photo of a rather ornate LFL built by a friend in one of my posts. He loves building stuff and organizes our local library sales so his is the best stocked consistent library I know! Bad form to put links so it's a treasure hunt if you want to see it look for "My Friend the Connector". The outdoor refrigerators sound crazy to me! My educated guess is that they rapidly fail outdoors and create a landfill item for 1000 years :) I think I am going to start leaving a piece of chocolate on my walks. Every good deed though can have bad consequences. I hope it doesn't attract critters.
Thanks for making me laugh. This sounds like the mantra to reuse and recycle :) Anne picks up on the most unusual stuff including the weird trash heaps. I think they must still be a big-city thing and will undoubtedly be picked up elsewhere when trash service degrades :) Her best trash healp by a longshot remains the one from Philadelphia which I recall included a doll with a severed head. This last one has the weird elements almost like a staged crime scene. Someone is genuinely thinking about it. Perhaps there is an element of planted evidence and staging by the photographer -- based on the marauders emptying the community fridges, it would seem someone is putting those hershey kisses into a foil bag and reselling them. I think the soy sauce is doomed against reuse.
I realized just now that you were profiled in this Newsletter! I loved that issue! It is a tribute to everything in the world is interesting and entertaining through the right lens. When I think of where you are I always associate it as the best Chinatown in North America, You did a great upgrade at least in regard to Chinatowns!
Best line: “Wow, this made me love him even more. He’s not doing it for the publicity. ITS ALL ABOUT THE PINEAPPLE.”
2nd best: “F you buddy, you’re on the F, you are associated with Queens.”
3rd best: “It was Jesus Christ, with a big box of food!”
The piece about the community fridges is fun, sad, happy and reveals the worst/best of human nature; really a pack of starving dogs may be better examples of magnanimity. As Gandhi said, “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs, but not every man's greed.”
The principle behind the community fridges reminds me of the work that “Wavy Gravy” and the “Hog Farm collective” did feeding the multitudes at Woodstock for gratis. All the photos of the various fridges were great; the one looks like the insides of mine!
I drove through Amish country for 10 years on my commute to/from the job and they had community Ice Machines; but, of course, the Amish are ALL about community, if you don’t try to shave their beards off!
Weird Trash Heap #23 is a work of art! It should be an installation.
Lastly, I must say I am impressed by the writing abilities of everyone who comments, and of course, Anne. You all humble me.
Best line: "The Amish are ALL about community, if you don’t try to shave their beards off!"
Glad you had the same reaction to community fridge as I did. I wonder if you took any subject it would essentially reveal the same mix?
I almost posted a photo of my own fridge. It seemed only fair, and mine isn't much better stocked than the worst examples in this week's post. But ran out of room.
I really think you outdid yourself with this week's edition! It was fascinating! Refrigerators all that biographers would need to tell the owner's life story. They are "junk-drawers" with perishables!!
I'd love to do an "inside the fridge" issue—not more community fridges but regular people fridges. I wonder if I could meet random people on the street and convince them to let me come in and peek into their fridge?
That is a terrific idea! OMG that is as personal as allowing you into the confessional with them! Singles, Families, old, young! Check expiration dates and give an award for the most ourdated! Call it "The Methuselah Award!"
I shouldn't rat him out, but Kyle admitted to me he turned the Michael Jordan head so it was right side up before snapping the photo. Cheating or artistic license?
Yes I wanted to clarify when I submitted that I rotated his head right side up, so there was no trash deception on this blog! When I walked by it I felt like I was struck by lightning with its beauty and elegance. And this was also a month before Halloween so the candy is from another source!
1. Though it sounds romantic, I have to disagree with Frank F. If the mystery is always better than the reality; you, dear Anne, would be out of work.
2. There is no PONOMA, CA but there is a POMONA which is where I grew up. Now I feel a funny obligation to also send you a surprise.
3. If you do go back to Roosevelt Island to investigate the vacuum trash collection system, please don’t forget to buy one of those Insane Asylum shot glasses for your altar!
Yes I would FOR SURE be out of the job. I have been thinking a lot, though, about all the people who actually prefer to let the mystery remain a mystery. I don't think I've EVER felt that way. I have, however, been in the situation of discovering that the truth was disappointing, and regretting my curiosity.
So at first I thought maybe that's what's driving the mystery preservers. That maybe there are two types of people: those who imagine the truth will disappoint and those who imagine it will delight, and the pessimists are those who prefer to let the mystery remain.
But I think there are also those who like a mystery for the sake of mystery itself!
Also, you are the second person to suggest a shot glass for the alter!
Anne -- I am replying here in the same spirit that I always include SOMETHING ELSE in the options in my polls :) -- perhaps someone in favor of the mystery (not me necessarily...) figures that in a rough and tumble city there is an anonymous person who decided it is worth their time and effort to care about a tree. By letting them be, perhaps there are are more trees in store for the future...that is not so bad -- i believe a person with such views is neither an optimist nor a pessimist but simply embraces a nice equilibrium :) -- such a person BTW might recommend altar instead of alter :)
Thanks Cori! I once did a column about my experience eating out of the trash and dumpsters in Brooklyn for three days straight. I ate pretty well but it was psychologically difficult. It felt terrible, even though I didn't HAVE to do it. Which was weird! It'd be interesting to see how the long-term dumpster divers—the die-hard freegans I mean—feel about it. Is that the kind of person you're talking about it?
Yeah, I was thinking of the freegans. I did a lot of dumpster diving for a couple of years and it was always interesting to encounter the hardcore freegans. And see how often people would try to get my number while I was digging through trash bags on the sidewalk. I started to feel weird about it once I had a steadyish income, which also coincided with my rarely finding myself in good dumpster diving spots. The freegans are much less singlemindedly determined to get the best stuff for themselves than it sounds like the folks going to the community fridges are :)
While efficiently run food "banks" have always been one of my prime charitable giftees, the idea of a community "fridge" convinces me only further that the road to hell is paved with outdoor restaurant sheds and modern examples of the "share culture". Of course I was fortunate enough to have only had to do the "roommate" experiment once (and for only six months), as a single, and I was never even a fan of "free sample" agents but perhaps this idea is a step above those "free store" cubby holes that always seem to not much more than unofficially sanctioned garbage dumps.
Hey, but more power to the high school volunteers!
I think what I love about these shared spaces is exactly what also their drawback—ANYTHING COULD HAPPEN!
I also think it is great that in this city at least we have some really great, well-run food banks AND these bonkers unofficial networks. Just like we have public libraries and Little Free Libraries. Something for everyone. It'd be a shame if we had to pick one or the other.
And I'm with you on those high school volunteers. They were totally having fun with their bickering and I hope that came through.
This is why we love you, Anne ! You have always been a unique "scout" that presents us with the more interesting "ties that bind", no matter if we prefer to be "bound" or not.
I'm certain even the official food banks get their share of abusers, so indeed, as an aging, though soft hearted & actually good natured crank, I agree-something for everyone. Not a bad thing at all.
One day I may learn to proofread before I post, and the bickering was part of the charm and came through loud and clear. Who in their right mind wouldn't want thoughtful high schoolers to bicker, right??
You need ID to get food from a food bank and some people don’t have or don’t want to share. The fridges feed the many people who fall through the cracks.
although i have always been pro-community fridge, i never knew (or thought) about this facet of it, wow. i decided to look into it a little and it seems to vary state to state. the AG issued a statement here in MA a couple years ago to stop requiring any form of ID. (i'm seeing some places try to say that requesting ID is fine because they don't share info and it doesn't have to be govt issued - but how is an unhoused person going to have mail or a rental agreement with their name and address on it?? ridiculous.) anyway, thank you for this enlightening comment.
Yet another interesting and unexpected thread. I have been involved with food banks for quite some time. At least where I live, it is a LEGAL REQUIREMENT for the person who provides food also. The ID requirements are for everyone's protection which seems to be a noble goal for the vulnerable. Again, where I live, there is significant support for the consumers including helping them attain an ID to help in their acccessing other needed services. It guarantees (or at least protects) the safety of the end consumer and provides effective traceability for safety and welfare. There are also protections on their privacy in a formalized way.
i understand regulations surrounding who can provide food, and it's also nice to help people gain access to other services like healthcare, SNAP, and so on if they are interested. but i still am totally lost on why people receiving food from a food bank would be unsafe without ID, or why they need to be traceable by a food bank.
I love Substack b/c even the dialog in the comments can be unexpected. I can imagine some are unwilling to provide an ID but I think it is done to provide a safe and reasonable experience for as many as possible in the eyes of the providing entity. For many, going to a shelf or a shelter brings some shame or anxiety. Doing our best to lessen and ideally eliminate these feelings for as many as possible is a worthwhile goal. I think if there is a genuine desire to have an anonymous offering an organization could establish such a place and manage accordingly. It seems the organizations that provide the service must always balance the safety and mission of what they are trying to accomplish and others are free to do the same. I would imagine it is useful to ensure that as many people as possible can be helped. As was described in this story, it HURTS a lot of people who need help if one person descends on a community fridge and takes it all, perhaps to resell it rather than having some means to at least help a few people. In our local community foodshelf it is used to protect against one person coming many times which impacts others in need. There are lots of people in need and it seems sensible to have policies to positively impact as many as possible. Just my opinion. I also know that when we receive a gift of something that would be of great impact, perhaps turkeys, it is IMPORTANT to limit one person from taking all the turkeys just because they can anonymously for example. At least in our community foodshelf, we let a small number of people into the "store setting" at a time giving them dignity and some semblance of anonymity. This distributes a reasonable mix of food to as many as possible which is a worthwhile goal. The ID allows us to be sure that the same person is not hoarding in deference to others in need. Finally, much like policies for access to beds, getting an ID protects the others who share a space with a bad actor who endangers others and even might prey on others. It runs counter to what the mission of the facility might be.
Once again, a sheer delight to read. Not only are your topics fascinating, not only is the way you engage with your readers so skillful and warm, you also make me think. Ponder. Why I like to keep some things mysterious, AND appreciate the Sherlock-Holmes/sleuth spirit what wants to find out what is BEHIND the appearances, for example. BIG thank-you!
Thank you Jessica for your kind words. Made me so happy!
It's funny yesterday I was investigating the TREE OF RESPECT and was feeling a bit stuck and then I thought, "Well, what would Sherlock Holmes do?" And then I realized, I had no idea! So maybe should read me some Sir Arthur Conan Doyle...
How delightful to have seen the community fridge story from beginning to end. I loved reading the final product! Being your "research assistant" goes down as one of my coolest NYC experiences ever.
And, omg! Anne, you captured the weirdness of high-school dialogue so well! Those kids were a great way to kick off our tour.
Haha it was so great to have you as my sidekick Jillian! Thank you! I wish you'd been there at the end as well. It was JUST AS WEIRD!
Me too! I wish I had gotten to meet Leon / Jesus! But I really enjoyed getting to read about it and being surprised by the gummy worms at the end!
I’m a co-founder of the fridge at S’MAC in East Village (9th st one)!! I moved so don’t work on it anymore but so happy to see it’s still being stocked. We estimated we were feeding upwards of 2000 people a week from that teeny fridge. It gets tons of donations from local bakeries, stores, and restaurants also. I’d heard about them from my research I was doing for work in food in 2019 (they originated in Germany),so we were one of the first in the city. So exciting to see how many there are now!!!
Wow Diane! That' so cool you're the co-founder of the last fridge in the story. Small world!
And very interesting to hear that the community fridge idea came from Germany. Any idea when that happened and when the idea was adopted here in the states? I never heard of it before the pandemic but have been imagining that maybe it was a 1960s invention.
Omg! I said 9th st and it’s 12th st & 1st. Get me out of nyc for 2 years and I start forgetting.... they’re traced back to around 2012. I think it started from excess dumpster diving. I wrote this when I was still in the food movement. Might give you some more info- https://wholehealthygroup.com/community-fridges/
wow, this issue was jam packed and i loved every second of it! i always wanted a series of pneumatic tubes. i had no idea the ones for trash existed, or that they've existed for so long. the ones i want are for sending food - so many times someone has wanted to try something i've made, and i wish i could just send them a plate at the same time as my partner and i sit down to dinner. or maybe everyone who wants to participate has a grid of buttons in their kitchen like the trash place's control board. and if you see a button lit, that's someone who could use a meal that day, and you can put a meal in something that looks like a star trek replicator and it gets jettisoned over to them. this is what goes on in my brain.
i wish there was a way to have a community fridge right outside my apartment. i like to clean and organize and would have no problem fixing up some of these. and if they're only open for a certain time, perhaps a human presence would dissuade some of the less altruistic goings-on, or you could have limits on what each person could take. i know most volunteers have jobs, families, just Other Stuff they need to get to and can't come every day or hang around for very long. but i don't have anything going on. i just don't like to leave my house. perhaps a Random Rich Person will read this and finance my proposed operation.
i remember during the height of the pandemic there were big trucks around here that would hand out boxes of food for free. but the problem is, they just gave each person a box. i understand they didn't have time to let people pick and choose, but what is an unhoused person going to do with a gallon of milk, you know? or if it had something people didn't like or need - it's okay for people in need to have preferences! anyway, there was a lot of waste and stuff thrown on the street.
Jerk Nugget! What if you had a community fridge attached to your home via pneumatic tube? Or maybe I could build a pneumatic tube and use it to send you a community fridge!
I also like to clean and organize. I'd like to have one of those Little Free Libraries to run except I live in a big apartment building so I don't have a yard or even a front patio to put it on.
And yeah, what you said in the last paragraph—giving is a lot harder than taking, if you want to do it right!
yes, pneumatic tube my whole life, baybee!
i also love the free libraries. putting anything good in those is truly an exercise in trust and/or altruism.
as an aside, whenever i think about donating food it reminds me of a time in elementary school (late 80s/early 90s) where they were always doing these odd fundraisers where instead of simply giving money or Good Stuff they'd collect pennies or UPCs and whatnot. anyway one time they were collecting the UPCs from canned goods. (perhaps this was some kind of precursor to "box tops for education" or whatever it is now.) so i went home and promptly removed the labels from all the canned goods in our pantry so i could bring in the UPCs. of course, being a child and not having developed certain skills like forethought, it didn't occur to me that now we'd have no clue what was in any of the cans. my mother was not pleased XD
I also really want to run a little free library - but there are a lot of reasons why I cant right now - but one day 😁
I worked with pneumatic tubes for years at hospitals. They are a blast...a real blast! I filed an OSHA complaint because the hospital would use the same "pneumatic bullets" to send sterile medication that they used for fecal, blood, urine and sputum samples. "Hey, what's this brown stuff on my IV bag??!!"
OH MY GLOB hahaha...wow. the perils of the pneumatic industry as told by a real insider!
(i'm glad you officially spoke up!)
EVERYONE on this thread needs to contact local hospital boards, health departments, their councilmen, Congressmen and OSHA because hospitals in NYC and throughout the country don't have seperate, dedicated "pneumatic bullets" marked "PHARMACY" and "LAB" in their pneumatic tube systems. Your Tylenol shares a container with Mr. Smith's stool sample!!
Little Free Libraries started in a little border town perhaps 15 miles from my home across the St Croix river between Minnesota and Wisconsin. They are EVERYWHERE here. Lots of them operate, at least here, as combination libraries and small food shelves. I always like when I'm walking and see a library to check it out. It's great when there is food for the taking. The map of the fridge sites was a VERY COOL use of Google Maps!
Mark! I've seen food in Little Free Libraries as well, but I didn't see any books in the community refrigerators. But I like the idea of free food + free books in general. If I'd hit that Powerball Lottery, I'd open one of those, with a free petting zoo attached.
Save yourself some trouble and just start leaving cookbooks in the LFLs. As for the petting zoo, leave the wrong kind of food in the LFL and I'm sure the critters will follow
I feel compelled to check out the contents of every little free library I pass, even though I almost never take anything. Now I'm going to have to scope out the fridges, too!
I always check them (LFLs) Cori. I often take books I am done with and leave them in a random, somewhat bare library. In our old neighborhood, I would estimate on a one hour walk I would go past at least 10 of the libraries! I included a photo of a rather ornate LFL built by a friend in one of my posts. He loves building stuff and organizes our local library sales so his is the best stocked consistent library I know! Bad form to put links so it's a treasure hunt if you want to see it look for "My Friend the Connector". The outdoor refrigerators sound crazy to me! My educated guess is that they rapidly fail outdoors and create a landfill item for 1000 years :) I think I am going to start leaving a piece of chocolate on my walks. Every good deed though can have bad consequences. I hope it doesn't attract critters.
Part of me is hoping that you wrap your chocolate in photos of Michael Jordan.
Thanks for making me laugh. This sounds like the mantra to reuse and recycle :) Anne picks up on the most unusual stuff including the weird trash heaps. I think they must still be a big-city thing and will undoubtedly be picked up elsewhere when trash service degrades :) Her best trash healp by a longshot remains the one from Philadelphia which I recall included a doll with a severed head. This last one has the weird elements almost like a staged crime scene. Someone is genuinely thinking about it. Perhaps there is an element of planted evidence and staging by the photographer -- based on the marauders emptying the community fridges, it would seem someone is putting those hershey kisses into a foil bag and reselling them. I think the soy sauce is doomed against reuse.
I realized just now that you were profiled in this Newsletter! I loved that issue! It is a tribute to everything in the world is interesting and entertaining through the right lens. When I think of where you are I always associate it as the best Chinatown in North America, You did a great upgrade at least in regard to Chinatowns!
“Did you contact the pineapple directly?” 😂😂😂
Best line: “Wow, this made me love him even more. He’s not doing it for the publicity. ITS ALL ABOUT THE PINEAPPLE.”
2nd best: “F you buddy, you’re on the F, you are associated with Queens.”
3rd best: “It was Jesus Christ, with a big box of food!”
The piece about the community fridges is fun, sad, happy and reveals the worst/best of human nature; really a pack of starving dogs may be better examples of magnanimity. As Gandhi said, “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs, but not every man's greed.”
The principle behind the community fridges reminds me of the work that “Wavy Gravy” and the “Hog Farm collective” did feeding the multitudes at Woodstock for gratis. All the photos of the various fridges were great; the one looks like the insides of mine!
I drove through Amish country for 10 years on my commute to/from the job and they had community Ice Machines; but, of course, the Amish are ALL about community, if you don’t try to shave their beards off!
Weird Trash Heap #23 is a work of art! It should be an installation.
Lastly, I must say I am impressed by the writing abilities of everyone who comments, and of course, Anne. You all humble me.
JudgeRoyBean!
Best line: "The Amish are ALL about community, if you don’t try to shave their beards off!"
Glad you had the same reaction to community fridge as I did. I wonder if you took any subject it would essentially reveal the same mix?
I almost posted a photo of my own fridge. It seemed only fair, and mine isn't much better stocked than the worst examples in this week's post. But ran out of room.
I really think you outdid yourself with this week's edition! It was fascinating! Refrigerators all that biographers would need to tell the owner's life story. They are "junk-drawers" with perishables!!
I'd love to do an "inside the fridge" issue—not more community fridges but regular people fridges. I wonder if I could meet random people on the street and convince them to let me come in and peek into their fridge?
That is a terrific idea! OMG that is as personal as allowing you into the confessional with them! Singles, Families, old, young! Check expiration dates and give an award for the most ourdated! Call it "The Methuselah Award!"
I’m obsessed with the Chinatown segment -- squabbling teens, food scuffles, and an interesting distaste for carbonated drinks. Fascinating!!
Yes it sort of raises more questions than it answers. They invited me to return when the operation is in full swing. I am tempted!
That trash pic almost looks staged!
I shouldn't rat him out, but Kyle admitted to me he turned the Michael Jordan head so it was right side up before snapping the photo. Cheating or artistic license?
Artistic license! Cheating would have been bringing the MJ head from somewhere else.
Yes I wanted to clarify when I submitted that I rotated his head right side up, so there was no trash deception on this blog! When I walked by it I felt like I was struck by lightning with its beauty and elegance. And this was also a month before Halloween so the candy is from another source!
1. Though it sounds romantic, I have to disagree with Frank F. If the mystery is always better than the reality; you, dear Anne, would be out of work.
2. There is no PONOMA, CA but there is a POMONA which is where I grew up. Now I feel a funny obligation to also send you a surprise.
3. If you do go back to Roosevelt Island to investigate the vacuum trash collection system, please don’t forget to buy one of those Insane Asylum shot glasses for your altar!
Terri!
Yes I would FOR SURE be out of the job. I have been thinking a lot, though, about all the people who actually prefer to let the mystery remain a mystery. I don't think I've EVER felt that way. I have, however, been in the situation of discovering that the truth was disappointing, and regretting my curiosity.
So at first I thought maybe that's what's driving the mystery preservers. That maybe there are two types of people: those who imagine the truth will disappoint and those who imagine it will delight, and the pessimists are those who prefer to let the mystery remain.
But I think there are also those who like a mystery for the sake of mystery itself!
Also, you are the second person to suggest a shot glass for the alter!
Also, I fixed the spelling thank you!
Anne -- I am replying here in the same spirit that I always include SOMETHING ELSE in the options in my polls :) -- perhaps someone in favor of the mystery (not me necessarily...) figures that in a rough and tumble city there is an anonymous person who decided it is worth their time and effort to care about a tree. By letting them be, perhaps there are are more trees in store for the future...that is not so bad -- i believe a person with such views is neither an optimist nor a pessimist but simply embraces a nice equilibrium :) -- such a person BTW might recommend altar instead of alter :)
That is a nice way of thinking about it—thank you Mark!
This heartwarming, life-affirming post is food for the SOUL. A wonderful, wonderful read.
Oh wow. Thank you Rebecca! So glad you enjoyed!
This was a delight, as always. I'm feeling particularly inspired by this week's trash. Is interviewing dumpster divers coming up in a future edition?
Thanks Cori! I once did a column about my experience eating out of the trash and dumpsters in Brooklyn for three days straight. I ate pretty well but it was psychologically difficult. It felt terrible, even though I didn't HAVE to do it. Which was weird! It'd be interesting to see how the long-term dumpster divers—the die-hard freegans I mean—feel about it. Is that the kind of person you're talking about it?
I'm going to have to dig up your column then!
Yeah, I was thinking of the freegans. I did a lot of dumpster diving for a couple of years and it was always interesting to encounter the hardcore freegans. And see how often people would try to get my number while I was digging through trash bags on the sidewalk. I started to feel weird about it once I had a steadyish income, which also coincided with my rarely finding myself in good dumpster diving spots. The freegans are much less singlemindedly determined to get the best stuff for themselves than it sounds like the folks going to the community fridges are :)
https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10000872396390443864204577623450975970554
So curious—did they want your number because they wanted to date a dumpster diver?
Thanks!
Presumably. I regret not asking!
While efficiently run food "banks" have always been one of my prime charitable giftees, the idea of a community "fridge" convinces me only further that the road to hell is paved with outdoor restaurant sheds and modern examples of the "share culture". Of course I was fortunate enough to have only had to do the "roommate" experiment once (and for only six months), as a single, and I was never even a fan of "free sample" agents but perhaps this idea is a step above those "free store" cubby holes that always seem to not much more than unofficially sanctioned garbage dumps.
Hey, but more power to the high school volunteers!
Chris!
I think what I love about these shared spaces is exactly what also their drawback—ANYTHING COULD HAPPEN!
I also think it is great that in this city at least we have some really great, well-run food banks AND these bonkers unofficial networks. Just like we have public libraries and Little Free Libraries. Something for everyone. It'd be a shame if we had to pick one or the other.
And I'm with you on those high school volunteers. They were totally having fun with their bickering and I hope that came through.
This is why we love you, Anne ! You have always been a unique "scout" that presents us with the more interesting "ties that bind", no matter if we prefer to be "bound" or not.
I'm certain even the official food banks get their share of abusers, so indeed, as an aging, though soft hearted & actually good natured crank, I agree-something for everyone. Not a bad thing at all.
One day I may learn to proofread before I post, and the bickering was part of the charm and came through loud and clear. Who in their right mind wouldn't want thoughtful high schoolers to bicker, right??
You need ID to get food from a food bank and some people don’t have or don’t want to share. The fridges feed the many people who fall through the cracks.
although i have always been pro-community fridge, i never knew (or thought) about this facet of it, wow. i decided to look into it a little and it seems to vary state to state. the AG issued a statement here in MA a couple years ago to stop requiring any form of ID. (i'm seeing some places try to say that requesting ID is fine because they don't share info and it doesn't have to be govt issued - but how is an unhoused person going to have mail or a rental agreement with their name and address on it?? ridiculous.) anyway, thank you for this enlightening comment.
Yet another interesting and unexpected thread. I have been involved with food banks for quite some time. At least where I live, it is a LEGAL REQUIREMENT for the person who provides food also. The ID requirements are for everyone's protection which seems to be a noble goal for the vulnerable. Again, where I live, there is significant support for the consumers including helping them attain an ID to help in their acccessing other needed services. It guarantees (or at least protects) the safety of the end consumer and provides effective traceability for safety and welfare. There are also protections on their privacy in a formalized way.
i understand regulations surrounding who can provide food, and it's also nice to help people gain access to other services like healthcare, SNAP, and so on if they are interested. but i still am totally lost on why people receiving food from a food bank would be unsafe without ID, or why they need to be traceable by a food bank.
I love Substack b/c even the dialog in the comments can be unexpected. I can imagine some are unwilling to provide an ID but I think it is done to provide a safe and reasonable experience for as many as possible in the eyes of the providing entity. For many, going to a shelf or a shelter brings some shame or anxiety. Doing our best to lessen and ideally eliminate these feelings for as many as possible is a worthwhile goal. I think if there is a genuine desire to have an anonymous offering an organization could establish such a place and manage accordingly. It seems the organizations that provide the service must always balance the safety and mission of what they are trying to accomplish and others are free to do the same. I would imagine it is useful to ensure that as many people as possible can be helped. As was described in this story, it HURTS a lot of people who need help if one person descends on a community fridge and takes it all, perhaps to resell it rather than having some means to at least help a few people. In our local community foodshelf it is used to protect against one person coming many times which impacts others in need. There are lots of people in need and it seems sensible to have policies to positively impact as many as possible. Just my opinion. I also know that when we receive a gift of something that would be of great impact, perhaps turkeys, it is IMPORTANT to limit one person from taking all the turkeys just because they can anonymously for example. At least in our community foodshelf, we let a small number of people into the "store setting" at a time giving them dignity and some semblance of anonymity. This distributes a reasonable mix of food to as many as possible which is a worthwhile goal. The ID allows us to be sure that the same person is not hoarding in deference to others in need. Finally, much like policies for access to beds, getting an ID protects the others who share a space with a bad actor who endangers others and even might prey on others. It runs counter to what the mission of the facility might be.
Leon! He really is a 'Jesus' -- doing the good work of feeding the need.
Love this feature. Thank you Anne!
Thank you Drew! Yep people like Leon are remarkable. He seems like the real deal.
Love this crossover collab between two of my favorite newsletters!
Thanks Mason! It was all Jillian's idea. I'm so pleased with how it worked out. I'll be linking Jillian's version in my next issue of course.
I love it when Substack feels like a small town—filled with nerds!
I loved reading this Anne! I think you and Jillian should team up again!
Thanks ZM! And thanks for the inspiration! And zee map!!!
Once again, a sheer delight to read. Not only are your topics fascinating, not only is the way you engage with your readers so skillful and warm, you also make me think. Ponder. Why I like to keep some things mysterious, AND appreciate the Sherlock-Holmes/sleuth spirit what wants to find out what is BEHIND the appearances, for example. BIG thank-you!
Thank you Jessica for your kind words. Made me so happy!
It's funny yesterday I was investigating the TREE OF RESPECT and was feeling a bit stuck and then I thought, "Well, what would Sherlock Holmes do?" And then I realized, I had no idea! So maybe should read me some Sir Arthur Conan Doyle...