“Food access doesn’t necessarily come to mind as what people would think a library is in place for, but it all really intersects with providing what the community needs and providing access to resources.” This, Kathleen Montgomery says, is what libraries are all about.
Kathleen, associate director of Community Engagement at the Charleston County Public Library, is talking about the Free and Fresh Fridge program, an initiative at three of their branches to help battle food insecurity in Charleston County.
GrowFood Carolina, the first food hub in South Carolina, has become a large contributor to the Public Library’s Fridge program, donating farm to table produce for the Charleston community since November 2023.
The program was implemented in March 2021 at the St. Paul’s library location in Hollywood, SC. The other two branches, Dart and Otranto, followed six months later. The idea was born because of Covid-19 when food insecurity became indoctrinated with the pandemic. The decision to install the program in these areas was made since the three branches are located in areas that traditionally see high numbers of food insecurity and low access to fresh fruits and vegetables. The program is supported by community partners and sponsors.
Benton Montgomery, Director of GrowFood Carolina, said the GrowFood and library partnership started when Maya Hollinshead, Branch Manager of the Dart Library, reached out to him in September 2023 to ask if the organization would be interested in becoming a part of the program.
Benton loved the idea and since November 2023, GrowFood has delivered produce every week. Austin Lucas, GrowFood Carolina’s Program Coordinator, handles the logistics to get it there, procuring the product and assigning it to the branches. Then, a warehouse staff member packs and delivers the orders, prioritizing food that will be shelf-stable.
GrowFood currently delivers to all three branches, and would be open to supplying additional fridges should they open in the future.
“We are committed to finding solutions to be able to provide folks in the community with as much fresh product that we can with the resources we have,” Benton said. “When it comes to food access programs, I have a lot of faith in our ability as a team to find ways to make it work.”
Kathleen explained how important sponsors and partners are to maintaining these fridges, saying they can’t meet the fresh food needs of the entire county by themselves. But, working with partner organizations like GrowFood, they can start to tackle it. The staff says they receive comments every day about how important the program is to community members.
Benton said he personally has always believed that libraries are community hubs; a safe place, and a great place for resources.
“GrowFood wants to support that more than anything,” Benton said. “If these fridges are helping bring people in who now have access to local food resources in addition to books, being a part of that is core to our mission.”
Produce is delivered weekly and includes a variety of options like apples, sweet potatoes, collards, onions, and more. The staff restocks throughout the week as the bins empty. For lesser-known items, the library provides recipes to incentivize people to use them in meals.
About 2,500 pounds of product has been donated by GrowFood to all three libraries since November 2023. Dart and St. Paul receive boxes on Tuesdays, and St. Paul’s on Fridays. Items usually include GrowFood’s highest-selling products of the past year include hydroponic lettuce, sweet potatoes, heirloom tomatoes, strawberries, peaches, and milk.
Kathleen has worked at the Charleston County Public Library for eight years. Having worked on the programfirsthand since its initiation, she has seen the impact the Free and Fresh Community fridges have had on the public library and its patrons. The program drew visitors to their St. Paul’s branch when it reopened in 2020 after Covid-19, and they have received positive feedback via surveys. Visitors tell them they wouldn’t have access to these types of foods without these fridges.
To complement the fridges, the library provides books on healthy eating and other resources like ingredient worksheets, cooking classes, and even a mobile kitchen unit to help visitors gain cooking skills. The library’s strategic vision includes a goal of food literacy. They know there can be stigma and embarrassment around food insecurity, so they want these fridges to be easily accessible to everyone – no registration required.
“Without food access, if people don’t have food in their homes or food to eat, then everything else seems less important,” Kathleen said. “If people aren’t able to cook dinner for themselves or provide dinners for their families, it’s really hard to focus on anything else.”
Benton explained the partnership has mutual benefits.
“It allows us to move more product for our growers, which is great,” Benton said. “The growers love knowing that it’s going to restaurants but also going back into the community. It puts money back into our farmers’ pockets, and ultimately that’s why we’re here: to help them stay on their land.”
How Can I Help?
Learn more about GrowFood Carolina’s Soil to Sustenance program that relies on private donations to support farmers and their land protection goals while helping South Carolina families who are hungry for fresh produce: https://coastalconservationleague.org/growfood-donation/soil-to-sustenance/.
Learn more about the Free & Fresh Community Fridge Program here: https://www.ccpl.org/freeandfresh.
Picture Credit: Grace Hendrix and Maya Hollinshead