With no questions asked, anyone can drop in and pick up fresh produce like greens, apples, sweet potatoes and radishes from the community fridge at the Midtown Carnegie Library.
The project is the result of a network of partnerships, grants and collaboration between the Springfield-Greene County Library District, Springfield Community Gardens and Community Partnership of the Ozarks.
What was once a retail coffee shop space at the south entrance to the historic library has been transformed. A few baskets and an industrial refrigerator, purchased with a grant from the Ozark Headwaters Recycling and Materials Management District, have turned the foyer into a small produce aisle. The Community Fridge opened in August 2023.
Gina Marie Walden, circulation department manager at Midtown Carnegie, oversees the program. She said since August the fridge has been stocked with and distributed 5,688 pounds of produce.
Walden said the fridge serves approximately 80 users a week, from all walks of life. In the time they’ve been open she said they’ve only had to toss maybe five pounds of food. Any waste is composted through a partnership with the Springfield Compost Collective.
Most of the produce they distribute is provided by the Springfield Community Gardens through a program called Nourish the Ozarks, funded by Community Partnership of the Ozarks. The Gardens delivers to Midtown Carnegie twice a week.
Anna Withers is Farmer and Resource Development Manager for Springfield Community Gardens, she said “the issue is not having enough food, the issue is getting it to where it needs to go.” That is where the Community Gardens organization comes in.
Withers said the Nourish the Ozarks program allows the CPO and the Community Gardens to buy produce at fair market prices directly from farmers in a 17-county radius around Springfield. They then use their resources to collect and distribute that food. Withers said advocating for, and properly compensating farmers is essential for the Gardens. She said many small farmers lack things like refrigerated vans that might allow them to get their produce to a market. While the Gardens doesn’t have the resources to directly manage sites like the fridge at Midtown Carnegie, Withers said they fill an essential role as a go-between for farmers and partners.
The Gardens delivers to over a dozen sites, including the South Side Senior Center, MSU’s Bear Pantry, the American Indian Center, the Fairbanks RISE Program, Grade Methodist Church and of course the Community Fridge at Midtown Carnegie.
Walden said the Fridge also receives some donations from Central High’s student Botanical Society, and from the Discovery Center. She sees the project as an extension of the library’s work with its Heirloom Seed Library, and cooking and gardening materials and programs. A holistic effort to build food literacy that she said introduces some people to cooking with raw produce for the first time. She said Midtown is a great choice because of its central location, and the fact that it is in a food desert.
Both Walden and Withers are passionate about introducing people to fresh produce. Withers said the Gardens hopes to facilitate more fridges and distribute more food in the future. She explained the philosophy at the heart of the project simply, that “we all eat every single day, multiple times a day, and it's just better for the planet, it's better for people, if what they’re eating is healthy local food.”
Withers said she’s looking forward to this spring and summer, when there will be an even greater variety of produce to share.
The Midtown Carnegie Library is located at 397 E Central St in Springfield, just east of the Greene County Courthouse and west of Central High School.