Environment
First Fridge-Sharing coming for Aylmer
According to the Outaouais Food Spill Squad, Aylmer will receive its first “Frigo-partage” by next month.
Refrigerators are self-service community refrigerators that are accessible to passers-by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The goal with these fridges is to reduce food insecurity and avoid food waste by encouraging residents to share their surpluses with their fellow citizens.
Surplus gardens, vegetables and fruits that are less popular in the house and so on can be deposited anonymously at any time. The only rules to follow are not to put meat, fish or seafood, products already opened, or homemade dishes in it.
Various organizations, as well as Food Spill Squad volunteers, provide regular supplies to the 15 different refrigerators in the region.
The official opening of this Community refrigerator has yet to be confirmed, but this should be in September.
The Food Spill Squad in Aylmer
Every Sunday in the summer, a volunteer from the Phillipe squad goes to the Old Aylmer Market to collect the end-of-market unsold goods from several farmers and merchants and redistribute these fruits and vegetables to the Aylmer Food Centre, so that these beautiful foods can be given back locally to the families who need them most.
This summer alone, since June 9, more than 787 kg of fruit and vegetables have been harvested at the market and redistributed, not to mention the food products harvested during the group’s regular gleaning sessions at local farms.
Next October, the Food Spill Squad will host a recognition evening to recognize the efforts of their volunteers, farmers and community partner organizations who have supported them since their inception.
During the evening, Karel Mayrand, Executive Director of the David Suzuki Foundation, will present the public prize of the 2018 Demain le Québec 2018 competition won by the Anti-Gaspillage Squad last year.