Dumfries and Sustainable Food Partnership Good Food Case Study

Name: Sheralyn Stuckey Food enterprise or project: South Machars community fridge Location: South Machars community centre,

Describe your enterprise or project We collect excess food from Aldi and Coop in and Coop in on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday each week. We have different volunteers for each day – I coordinate the volunteers and do some collections myself. The food is then placed in the fridge and bread of shelves and shared to social media for people to come and collect.

Why did you set this up or get involved? I moved here last summer and got involved with the community fridge as I had been involved in one previously. It’s been a battle to convince people that the community fridge project is not about poverty, it’s about saving food from landfill.

What sustainable food practices do you incorporate? Over lockdown we made hampers each day and we had a list of around 50-60 people that came and collected. Depending on how much food was donated. Any food that doesn’t get used goes to local animals or compost. On Sunday mornings myself and another volunteer serve free sausage baps using donated food. We also support the local youth group, providing pizzas, wraps, and other donated food. What have you learned? It’s still a struggle to get people to understand there’s no stigma attached to using the community fridge. Some people are still embarrassed if they see a neighbour because they are too proud.

What are your plans for the future? We have some funding from Sainsbury’s so planning picnics for people to take to the beach.