This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to. The fridges also offer a degree of anonymity for those in need that’s hard to find at more traditional food distribution centers, like food pantries. People don’t have to sign up or prove their eligibility to use them. “The whole point is dignified, anonymous access,” Zauderer said. “We’re not the arbiters of how much to take.” “Think about a half-eaten burger. That’s a no-go. But this is very rare. Most people bring good leftovers.” An insatiable need for sex and love. Periods of overeating or starving. A pattern of unstable and painful relationships.

The fridges also embody a straightforward solution to climate change. Each year, tens of billions of pounds of food, more than a thirdof what’s produced in the U.S., get tossed into trash bins. Most of those scraps end up in landfills, where they decompose and release methane, a powerful heat-trapping gas. The sheer quantity of the country’s combined waste makes it a major source of climate pollution: Food waste accounts for as much as 10 percentof global greenhouse gas emissions. And more food is being thrown out than ever.Your mom may have remained consistently disconnected, or too preoccupied to read a book to help you fall asleep at night or failed to comfort you, especially when you were hurting. She may have ignored your feelings and wanted you to be there for her instead, as in caring for her pain and soothing her worn nerves. A caregiver who was not at all interested in you as a unique person, with gifts, talents, and treasures. Your mom may have had an addiction or mental or physical illness that superseded her ability to care for you. You may have had a sibling who was chronically ill that required more time and energy from your mom with nothing left to give to the rest of the family. If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger. Donate WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO? That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Even a fridge that draws electricity from a coal-powered grid uses less energy each day than a single cell phone, said Dawn King, who researches food waste and policy at Brown University. “Is it worth using greenhouse gas emissions to plug in a refrigerator so people can eat food that otherwise would have gotten wasted? Hell yes it is.” If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger. Donate In her book “Mother Hunger,” Kelly McDaniel explores the consequences of growing up in a dysfunctional family system. She describes three crucial necessities to raise an emotionally healthy child: nurturing, protection, and guidance. Were you NURTURED? But community fridges are about as low-key and energy efficient as solutions get. Zauderer didn’t burn any fossil fuels to walk his pizza to the fridge near his apartment. And the Love Fridge, which acquires only used refrigerators, powers two of them with solar panels—a vision that Von Haynes has for more to come.One concern that researchers have with projects that repurpose food is that they require additional resources, like transportation and electricity. “Rescuing [food] still comes at a cost,” said Kathryn Bender, a professor and food waste researcher at the University of Delaware. A fridge in Austin, Texas, once went missing. It had been “borrowed” by someone who wanted to keep beers cold for an event at South by Southwest, according to Kellie Stiewert, an organizer at the ATX Free Fridge project. But such shenanigans are rare. That the fridges can be placed with a property owner’s permission just about anywhere—in front of a taqueria, a person’s home, an office building—is what makes the concept “beautiful,” Stiewert said.