The Gate Church Carbon Saving Project is working with their local community to reduce food and household waste, help people to develop new skills and lower their carbon footprints and improve the reduce the energy consumption of their own organisation by installing energy efficiency measures to their community owned buildings. Their Community Fridge is a communal place where surplus food is shared, by local businesses and individuals.
In this post, Martha Smart from Bioregioning Tayside spoke to Lynsey Penny to find out more about their story.
Martha
Lynsey great to be talking with you! Tell me a wee bit about you, what you do at the community fridge, and the journey that you’ve been on to get to the point where you are now?
Lynsey
Yes well, it’s been quite a few years in the making! The community fridge is part of a bigger project based at a church in the West End of Dundee. The reason we went for a fridge is because we didn’t have a food aspect to our project and we felt there was a lot of scope for that. At that time there wasn’t much going on to save food from waste in Dundee. We’re looking at probably around three years ago now since we started thinking about this, it took a good year and a half to get it to a point where we were ready to open. We went for quite a bold model, you know, of having an outside base because we wanted to be as accessible as possible to as many people as possible, we wanted it to be a really public place.
The reason that it took such a long time to open is mostly down to that, but it was also because of the public perceptions of what we were trying to do. Surprisingly, there was there was quite a wee bit of backlash at the start, local businesses were calling us a soup kitchen or a food bank, they had all these ideas of what it actually was, but now since seeing it, they’re like, wow, this is really cool! I guess it was quite a different thing that they’d never heard about before so it’s understandable.
We opened in July 2019 and it’s just been so much bigger than we could have possibly imagined. We thought we were just gonna save a wee bit of food. I think we aimed to do a ton of food a month. On average though we have done about a ton per week since we opened. It was really fast paced, loads of places came to us and said we want to do this as well, we want to be involved. So, the public support and the support from local businesses was just so much bigger than what we anticipated. We just got our figures for last year and in 2020 we saved 72 tons of food, quite over our expectations. Obviously, we had to change it a lot with COVID, people were used to coming inside as it wasn’t actually manned before, it was just an open building with volunteers helping with maintenance and opening up. With Covid we couldn’t just have people coming in to touch everything, so we had to start manning it and reducing the hours. But we have not reduced the amount of food that we’re saving, we’re still open every day, we just have to get it out a bit faster. We get about an average of about 80 people per day coming just now. Then they’re taking that food home for their families, adding that together we think there are about 250 people per day benefit from the food, so it impacts quite a lot of people.
Martha
That is just so amazing! How did you get involved in this project?
Lynsey
Ah well, I already worked for the project. But I changed careers quite dramatically in 2017 when I saw an advert for a job on climate change, I was like, yes! This is what I was really meant to do. So I went for it, but my boss was the one who applied for the funding that year and the project was quite different at that point. That’s the thing with funding, you really have to adapt the project to what the funders want. Each year, we’ve had to change a wee bit depending on what the funders were looking for and the year that I joined it was about trying to benefit people who were experiencing poverty with whatever actions we were doing. We’ve managed to keep that as a main focus of the project because I think that’s really important, climate justice is something we talk about this quite a lot. So, it’s always been – we’re doing stuff for the environment but whatever we’re doing we’re trying to help people in need it at the same time so they can benefit. With the fridge, I saw the idea somewhere and I thought why can’t we have one of these here? It’s needed! So, we did a lot of research, we got the funding, and we made it happen.
Martha
So, was the poverty aspect and trying to help people in need the main motivation?
Lynsey
I think I’ve always been really passionate about food waste, we see it all around us, food waste is such a massive thing.
“It’s not just about the environment, it’s not just about helping people who maybe need that food, a community fridge for me has so many benefits. So, while people want to pigeonhole it and say, it’s about food waste, it’s about this or that, we did it because it does benefit so many different areas.”
Martha
What were the seeds of this? The wider Gate Church Carbon Saving Project?
Lynsey
The wider project was started in something like 2013, it was originally about making the church more energy efficient. All these old buildings are just leaking energy and they’re used to having to turn the heating on like two days in advance to get it warm enough for the Sunday service. So that was the initial idea, to get a grant and improve the church. In the first few years, they did a lot of innovative things that hadn’t been tried on older buildings before. My boss is a funding wizard and an innovator, he thinks of cool things to try, he gets the money for it and does it. That’s how it started. The church has got to a good point, it’s using about 20% of the energy that it used to in 2013. Now there’s always little things you can do but the wins are smaller, so they then started to think what could we do to benefit the community around us and try to get some bigger wins for the environment? And the Climate Challenge Fund said to us, this year we want you to try and help people in poverty, so it was it was a mutual thing between the funders and the project.
Martha
Nice! And what kind of expertise or skills did you have that you brought with you or that you’ve learnt on the journey?
Lynsey
So much, I can’t even put all into words! I studied geography and then I did a masters in mapping science so even from a young age I was always quite into the environment. When I was at university I studied climate change, the science behind it and what we expect to happen in the future, that really scared the heck out of me. Then for one reason or another after I graduated I ended up going offshore, so not quite in line with my feelings but it’s where my path led me to. It wasn’t just oil and gas stuff that I was doing though, we did a lot of wind farm construction and I was involved with hydro projects as well.
Before this job came up I became aware of food banks and started volunteering at the Dundee Food Bank, that’s been six years now that I’ve been doing that. I was at home for five weeks at a timeso I spent a lot of time there and learned a lot about how bad things were in the city and everywhere, but especially Dundee. So, when this job came up it was quite linked to that, I spent time at the foodbank in the first year meeting clients who were struggling with fuel poverty. I went to their house to help them reduce their energy bills or to get grants for new boilers. It all just kind of fit into place, I was already volunteering there when the job came up and I got to keep working in that area but with environmental issues too.
With the fridge, it’s just been a whole other thing, I feel like it’s a completely different job. I spend most of my time going around supermarkets or phoning up volunteers. I’ve learned so much about food waste and how to communicate that to people. We are always trying to be innovative to keep people’s interest, when we’ve got ten tonnes of bananas we have to think… how are we gonna sell this to people and get them to come and help us take it away? I guess the language that we use too is something I have learnt, we try not just to focus on the environmental side but also try to reduce the stigma so that people who need the food come, but we don’t want them to feel bad about it so it’s important that we invite everybody. And you get people coming along from all different backgrounds, all different interests. Some people wouldn’t know what to do with a brown banana and want to just chuck it in the bin, we try and say no! Make a banana loaf instead!
Martha
How would you describe your relationship to the to the place that you work in? A lot of the projects I’ve been speaking to are based in more rural settings but you are right in the heart of the city.
Lynsey
One of the many benefits of a community fridge is its role in building community. Because we put it in a really public place, right in the middle of the Perth Road, and people pass by all the time, that’s really taught me a lot about place. It’s acting as a little community hub, especially during the first lockdown when there was nobody else around but twenty people at the fridge all standing two meters apart. To be able to have that space where people could come and feel like they could connect was awesome. Seeing people coming just to speak to someone else. I learned a lot during the first lockdown for sure.
I think the West End has got a nice diversity. There’s this preconception that it’s only people who have money that live here, but it is not the case. There is such a range you’ve got older retired people, lots of students, a lot of working people, young people, families, there’s a cross section of society here that you might not find in other parts of the city. That was another reason that we chose this location, we thought it’d be quite an interesting experiment to see- does this actually bring all parts of society together? The space has been a really important factor in that.
Martha
I heard some exciting talk at the People’s Assembly about a community fridge for Broughty Ferry, now that you’ve seen how well it works in the West End how do you feel it would work elsewhere?
Lynsey
Since day one of setting this up we said, let’s do this as an experiment, see how it works here and then we can help other groups to set them up. I think there should be one in every neighbourhood!
Things have changed a bit over the last year because of Covid, there’s been so many other food charities set up, tough there’s not really anyone else that has the environmental side as one of their main focuses, they are all really aimed at poverty. And they’re doing amazing things but there are around 25 different projects, so I don’t know if there’s a need to have community fridges everywhere. But I also really strongly believe in the message of the community fridge where you include different topics, because…
” if you just focus on people in poverty, then you’re only going to get people in poverty coming and maybe not even everybody that needs it because there is so much stigma attached to getting free food”.
So, I do love that there’s other ones setting up and we would love to help them.
Martha
Having a community fridge in every neighborhood is the way to go! You’ve spoken about the climate and biodiversity crisis which is very much at the forefront of the community fridge alongside poverty which another massive crisis we face in the city. Can you talk a bit more about how crisis impacts the way you think about your work?
Lynsey
Helping the environment is the number one goal of our project and that’s what our funding is primarily for. We also want to help educate people on what’s happening and what do we need to do. There’s going to be lots of other crises to come now and it’s mind boggling to think how we’re going to try and take it all on. I am especially worried about the mental health crisis as we get out of lockdown, it is something that I see at the fridge all the time especially from older people and it is scary.
Martha
It is really scary but comforting to know they have somewhere to go like the fridge to talk. Is there any focus on growing food?
Lynsey
It has changed over the years, last year with Covid the focus was on keeping the fridge open, but the first year we grew loads of food in the small allotment we have. Nursery kids came up to help us plant and harvest, they took the produce back to the nursery and made leek and potato soup, it was amazing.
In the allotment there’s two large beds, and we’ve got some raised beds with disability access that are really cool, though we haven’t had any people in wheelchairs use them so I’ll keep shouting about that to get the word out.
It has been a mix, we had some grown produce in the fridge and have tried to use that to encourage people to grow their own food. A couple years ago when the fridge was relatively new I sent a poster around the community gardens and allotments because a couple of people had said a lot of food gets thrown out there. We did have some donations and used that to talk more about where the food had come from and the benefits of growing your own.
Martha
There is so much food waste in the supermarkets too isn’t there? I guess that’s a difficult balance for you- trying to choose what food to save. Thinking still about the climate crisis, do you feel like there are top priorities everybody should be working towards?
Lynsey
The last few years our project has put a lot of emphasis on individual actions because overall it is essentially about getting the community to reduce their carbon footprints. We know though that this is just one aspect of a much bigger problem. I’d like to see more pressure put on councils and governments towards tackling the systemic changes we need. We all need to act, and we need those in power to lead the way by acting too which will in turn encourage others.
And if there’s people that want to change, and they are not sure how then hopefully we are there to help them to do what they can…but it is not about putting lots of pressure on people, especially when we’re working with people in poverty. It is not about saying you need to reduce this, you need to reduce that, we’re not trying to do that because that’s not helpful for anyone. It’s about trying to do it in an empowering way not an antagonistic way.
Martha
How do you feel about the future in light of the climate crisis?
Lynsey
I’m very worried. That’s why I joined Extinction Rebellion and why I do lots of other things in my own time. The feelings do change though. I had been feeling for a while that something massive needs to happen because our recycling isn’t going to force the change we need from governments and major corporations, so I thought when Covid happened, you know this is big, this is what we needed. It stopped the planes, there was no cars, that part was great and so I think I felt really hopeful then, but over time there’s just so much talk about “getting back to normal”. It just needs to be much more radical. We can’t just go back to normal, people need to know that this is the start of everybody changing- because we need to.
Martha
In your field then, whether it is community fridges, food poverty initiatives, or energy efficiency, who do you draw inspiration, guidance, or leadership from? Are there some particular organizations or people that you look up to?
Lynsey
So many! That is the amazing thing about our funding, we are in this network of other projects and we can draw from that pool of what’s currently going on or what’s been done in the past. The Climate Challenge Fund I think is about 11 years old now and there’s been so many cool projects. I’ve learned a lot from them, anytime we’re trying something new I go and visit the other projects who are already doing it or did something similar and try and draw out what’s worked and what hasn’t. We get the same people coming to us to learn. The network and the funders are amazing help, I can go to them for anything. We ask each other- what would you do better? So that is really helpful. So many projects are just amazing and I look up to them all because there’s so many innovative things going on.
Looking bigger than that I mean Greta Thunberg I think she is amazing, for such a young girl she’s managed to bring it all to the forefront, we needed that kind of central figure. And someone like David Attenborough, who I’m disappointed in for taking so long to speak up, I think he could have said something before but I am glad he’s doing it now. He is making all these documentaries and now climate change, the ecological crisis, pollution, everything is at the forefront of what he’s doing, I’m really grateful for that. Everybody loves David Attenborough and I think when he speaks out it really makes people think.
Martha
I just recently watched his new documentary Life in Colour, it was fab! The next question is so relevant for what you do and everything you have said already- what does community mean for your project?
Lynsey
Community is everything. None of this would have happened if the community hadn’t embraced it in the way that they have. If they didn’t come along to get the food it would just be binned! But there’s so many little stories where you just think-if that hadn’t happened it wouldn’t have been the same. Someone for example made bunting for the fridge, she just came along and said, “I’ve made this for you, it’s got little hands on it, and all different colours to show what you give to people. We want to give back to you”. Little things like that happen all the time, people just really feel a kind of ownership of it that. I think is difficult for a lot of projects to get that. That feeling, that is community, that shows that you’re really embedded and doing something.
Martha
The next question I’ve got is thinking about networks. You have got this wonderful community of people who have taken ownership of the fridge, then you have these examples of people doing other amazing projects that you are learning from, you’ve also got a community of volunteers as well don’t you?
Lynsey
Yes, and that’s another example of people feeling ownership because people come along, they visit the fridge a couple of times and think “this is such a cool thing, it’s so different, I’ve never seen this before, how do I get involved?”. We’re one of the very few projects in the city who has never really had to ask for volunteers because we have people coming forward all the time. I think that is because it’s different, it is about climate change and a lot of people are scared about climate change, they want to feel like they’re doing something. But again, that’s the thing about having multiple benefits to what you’re doing, some people are attracted to the environmental side, some people are attracted to helping people, some people are attracted to having healthy food to give out, there’s lots of reasons why people want to come. I think that’s a reason why we’re quite successful with volunteers and we can’t do it without them.
Martha
It’s amazing, isn’t it! I just wonder if you can expand on that. What other kinds of support do you have?
Lynsey
Over the last year one that’s been really important has been an organisation called Faith in Community Dundee who are involved with poverty issues. They used to have a network called the Dundee Drop-in Network and our project was part of that because we always had some sort of drop in where people could come and get clothes, or they could come and get whatever. But when Covid happened and the only thing we could give out was food, we all quickly realized we needed a network, so we adapted and created the Food Insecurity Network. That’s just been epic, I can’t even put into words the amount of support that’s come through that and just having people to go to and say, “what do you think about this situation? Is this allowed?” or “we’ve not got very much of this item does anybody have some?”. Then someone will turn up with lots of stuff they’ve had donated. That network has absolutely made the fridge this last year and the council I have to say on this front have also been really amazing. They were always telling us, “if there’s anything you need let us know and we’ll sort it”, they have been really supportive. So, there’s not just the charities in the network, there’s the council, and there’s the voluntary sector, and councillors, lots of different people, it’s amazing.
Martha
Are there parts of those different networks that you think need to be developed further? Can there be more cooperation? What might that look like?
Lynsey
Yes, absolutely and that’s where our work setting up DCAN (Dundee Climate Action Network) comes in. The food network is now working very well and that is where the inspiration for DCAN came. We’ve got a network for charities, we’ve got a network for food insecurity, we need one for projects that are trying to do stuff about climate change. We had the different green groups but they weren’t talking to each other, so I think it’s great what we’ve done, we’re heading in a good way with DCAN even though there’s so much more to be done. I kind of wish we could just make it a project of its own sometimes and hire someone so we could do more stuff.
Martha
For people who don’t know much about DCAN, is it a way of bringing activists together or?
Lynsey
Activists are a part of it but it’s not the whole picture. You know, it has to be projects like the fridge, or businesses who are trying to be environmental, or people in the council who care about environmental stuff. It has to bring everyone together.
Martha
Why do you feel that’s important?
Lynsey
Because the climate and ecological crisis is everything, despite all these other networks that we’re part of none of that matters anymore when we don’t have food to eat.
Martha
It is about coming together under a unified voice.
Lynsey
Yeah! If we’re trying to really get things in the council for example to change, we need to do it in a more collective way that isn’t just moaning, we need to make it constructive. I think by working together we can have a bigger voice and all the groups have got a voice in that but it’s it shows fundamentally that we’re all coming together with a united front.
Martha
You’ve touched on this already but in what ways is your work affected or informed by the current political system? That could be local or national policies.
Lynsey
Hmm, I think we’re lucky in some ways that we have this Climate Challenge Fund, we’re the only country in the world that has a funding pot for community groups to go out and try and implement some sustainable practices. The Green Party have been a big part of that, and our project wouldn’t be here without it. That’s a direct thing from Scottish Government which we are really grateful for, but they need to do more and faster.
Martha
Yeah, we really need a wider system change, don’t we?
Lynsey
Absolutely, we talked about this at the Dundee People’s Assembly and it was actually one of the councillors that said, “society needs to change, we can’t go on like this, we can’t just go back to some version of the normal, it has to be completely changed”. Otherwise, it’s just not sustainable in the long term.
Martha
If you think about your work around food and trying to reduce food waste, how could the system change so that people wouldn’t be in food poverty?
Lynsey
I think there’s always going to be food waste, even if people weren’t in poverty we would still have this excess food to share out, I would hope. In terms of poverty I think if there’s more projects like ours that are not just about that single issue but are open to everybody then maybe more people might be encouraged to do alternative things like growing food in their garden to share with projects. Things that might encourage a wider sense of caring about your community. I grow a lot of food in my garden and it’s not just for me because I can’t eat all those carrots! You know the community fridge is something that can encourage people to do things not just for themselves but for their community. I think that fosters a looking-after-each-other. The more we look after each other and connect with our community, the more we can put pressure on the powers that be to make the changes we need.
Martha
Definitely! Are there things that you would love to do and develop if resources were unconstrained or even if they were managed differently?
Lynsey
So many things! Free bikes! A place where you can borrow and swap anything. I think we need a massive environmental hub where if you need a thing you just go there and you don’t have to pay for it. If you can’t afford it that’s fine because there’s just so much stuff in the world already.
Martha
I love it! We are almost coming to an end now but in your journey so far with the community fridge, is there a memory that stays with you, that meant something to you, maybe it sparked something that that energized you in some way?
Lynsey
Ahh, I think this last year has been the most epic because we’ve seen so many people going through so many struggles but being able to have somewhere like the community fridge where they could come for food, for chats, or for books, whatever it was that they wanted to do. As soon as Covid started we had an outpouring of volunteers. For me, I felt wow, we’re in a crisis and people have immediately come to us and said, “we want to help you”. People saw it as such an important part of the community and immediately came to support us. I think something really clicked in my head at that point. It made me realise how much the fridge is appreciated and it made me feel that we’ve done a really cool thing here.
Martha
What a perfect way to end this discussion! Before we go though, is there anything else you wanted to say?
Lynsey
Thanks. We’ve covered a lot of topics! I just want the council and government to give us all funding so we can do more. If we had ten extra staff we could do so many things! There’s so much potential in Dundee and people want to take part in these things. There are great things happening too like the MAXwell center, the Cycling Forum, and so many others, the potential is huge!
You can find out more about the Gate Church Carbon Saving Project & West End Community Fridge via this link here.