Durham Community Fridges

The Durham Community Fridge project began in 2021 as a response to the COVID-19 crisis and has since become a community staple. The first of DCF’s community refrigerators and pantries was established on the exterior portion of the eastern-facing wall of St. Joseph’s Episcopal Church on Main Street in Durham, North Carolina. The second DCF refrigerator and pantry were built at Part and Parcel in the Lakewood neighborhood of Durham. The DCF project is led by a team practicing horizontal, collaborative leadership. Its foundation is built on the belief that food is a right, not a privilege, and that access to food should be dignified and safe. They also hold the belief that all forms of oppression are interconnected, resources are abundant, and that we should take care of one another. The refrigerators are accessible to all who wish to give or receive, at any hour of the day. This project challenges current economic and social structures that limit access to both food and community, offering a glimpse of what a future free from those constraints could feel like.

📍1902 W Main St, Durham, NC 27705

📍1901 Chapel Hill Rd, Durham, NC 27707

00:00 Introduction

01:20 What is Durham Community Fridge?

01:58 What need is this addressing?

03:05 Can you explain a bit about the mutual aid aspect to this project?

04:11 What are the guidelines for providing food for the fridge?

05:13 How is DCF organized?

06:16 How did DCF get started?

07:39 What materials are needed to build a community fridge?

09:19 How is food supplied for the community fridges?

10:36 Do you choose locations based on need?

11:47 How do you find a location for the community fridge to operate?

15:21 Who pays for the electricity?

16:35 What are the accessibility features that the community fridges take into consideration?

18:15 Who can interact with the community fridges and how?

19:16 Are there any values that guide the DCF project?

20:09 What is the "No Cops Policy"?

21:43 What are the benefits of promoting sharing over money?

23:30 Is this project a form of activism?

24:24 What does community care mean to you?

25:47 How can a community fridge project make our community more sustainable?

27:18 Do you have a vision for the future of the community and DCF?

28:43 Has being a part of the DCF project changed you in any way?

29:21 What's to come for Durham Community Fridge?

30:17 Is there anything else you think we should know about Durham Community Fridge?

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