2. A help-yourself fridge
The community giveback of a restaurant in India may not translate well to the U.S. market because of health and sanitation-code issues, but a deconstruction of the idea and the assimilation of certain facets could be worth consideration.
A restaurant called Pappadavada has set up what’s been dubbed “the tree of goodness” by users. It’s a refrigerator outside the restaurant where anyone can leave edible food as a donation or help themselves to anything that’s inside. The establishment itself usually leaves enough food for more than 75 servings, according to manager Minu Pauline. The notion is to spare the needy from the rigors and indignities of having to dumpster dive for food.
The refrigerator is accessible around the clock, seven days a week.
A similar experiment has been undertaken in the Spanish town of Galdakao. A year ago, the town set up what it dubbed the Solidarity Fridge, a refrigerator on the street where restaurants and civilians can leave edible food they otherwise would have tossed. Anyone can take what they need. There’s a hope the self-serve aspect of the program will encourage people in dire hunger to help themselves, since they don’t have to suffer the embarrassment of asking for food.
The charitable aspect of a communal fridge is great. We've often wondered why restaurants don't try a help-yourself fridge in their dining rooms as a homey touch and a time-saving way of sparing servers from requests for milk, mustard, steak sauce or some extra pickles.