Free99fridge: Community Fridges in Atlanta

Free99Fridge is a mutual aid initiative in Atlanta, Georgia, trying to battle food inaccessibility. The organization was founded in summer of 2020 with locations across Atlanta. Latisha Springer is the founder and has had help from a number of volunteers to start and maintain the fridges. Food accessibility is a problem that has been present in Atlanta for years and will likely continue to be. The fridges are accessible to any person or group wanting to take or supply food. 

A local Atlantan, Latisha Springer, has started a mutual aid group to combat food insecurity issues. Free99Fridge was started on July 20, 2020. It is a community fridge organization that runs independently. The refrigerators are located throughout Atlanta including Best End Brewing, Hodgepodge Coffeehouse, and Refugee Coffee Co. Each fridge is named after a person of color who has suffered from police brutality. Volunteers take donated fridges to the locations once they are approved, and install them in wooden sheds to shelter them from the elements. They also have shelves for canned goods or other household items. The fridges are plugged into the local business where they are located and otherwise run by the people of Atlanta. Food can be put in or taken away by any person or company. Volunteers maintain the fridges and sheds by cleaning them and throwing away expired goods.    

Any individual can take or donate food. Food is constantly being donated and taken at all times of day. The mutual aid model allows for this organization to truly be for the people, and by the people, although the idea of not having to show proof of hunger has caused some controversy. Still, those who have used the fridges comment about how much they appreciate the help. Additionally, one volunteer remarked,

“I have been amazed to see firsthand how many people both need the food and find ways to access it.”^[1]

Even residents in the area of these fridges are surprised to see just how many people are suffering from food insecurity.

Atlanta suffers from a poverty rate of 22.4%. The rest of Georgia only has a poverty rate of 16.9%. A majority of those impoverished in Atlanta are people of color (welfareinfo.org). With a higher poverty rate comes the trouble of access to food. As of 2019-2021, 9.9% of Georgians suffer from food insecurity (americashealthrankings.org). Food insecurity in Atlanta can be for a number of reasons: money, lack of a grocery store, or lack of transportation to a grocery store. It can also not just be about food quantity, but also quality. This causes a lack of nutrition and unhealthy choices (southface.org).

Springer maintains the organization as a mutual aid initiative rather than a 501(c)3 nonprofit. Her reasoning is that it would be hypocritical to support “the system we’re fighting against.” (https://free99fridge.com/index.php/faqs/) She is referring to the oppression of minorities in Atlanta and the country as a whole. The food insecurity issue stems in part from systemic racism and is the reason the fridges are named after victims of police brutality. 

Free99Fridge hopes to help those suffering from food insecurity in the Atlanta area. Allowing autonomy on this project has allowed it to grow and function as it is needed without top-down intervention. For donors, it is an opportunity to give back with no bureaucracy other than putting food in a fridge. For consumers, it is a shameless way to take the food they need without having to prove that need. 

“Food Insecurity in Georgia” Science for Georgia. Accessed October 24, 2022. https://scienceforgeorgia.org/food-insecurity-in-georgia/

 “Food Insecurity- Georgia” Accessed October 24, 2022. https://www.americashealthrankings.org/explore/health-of-women-and-children/measure/food_insecurity_household/state/GA

McKibben, Beth. 2020. “An Atlanta Entrepreneur Launches a Free Community Fridge Initiative to Combat Food Insecurity.” Atlanta Eater, August 27, 2020. https://atlanta.eater.com/2020/8/27/21400720/community-refrigerator-free-fridge-mutual-aid-fighting-food-insecurity-free99fridge-atlanta

“Poverty Rate- Georgia- Atlanta” Accessed October 24, 2022. https://www.welfareinfo.org/poverty-rate/georgia/atlanta

^[1]Ritchie, Logan C. 2022. “Free Fridges Are Fighting Food Insecurity But Not Without Controversy” decaturish.com August 31, 2022. https://decaturish.com/2022/08/free-fridges-are-fighting-food-insecurity-but-not-without-controversy/

Southface. 2019. “What Does Food Insecurity Look Like in Atlanta?” Southface.org, May 16, 2019. https://www.southface.org/what-does-food-insecurity-look-like-in-atlanta/