Saskatoon community fridge forced to move following complaints

The Riversdale Community Fridge is being forced to move following complaints from neighbourhood businesses. (Source: Facebook)

A food security resource in Riversdale is being forced to move following complaints from surrounding businesses.

“We understand that it is difficult to operate a food security and harm reduction project in a gentrified neighbourhood where profits are more important than people’s lives,” an organizer of the Riversdale Community Fridge said in a Facebook post.

The Riversdale Community Fridge is a self-contained refrigerator and shelving unit located in front of 424 20th Street West. It allowed people to drop off donations of fresh fruit and vegetables, dry goods, hygiene products and pet food for others to pick up 24 hours a day, no questions asked.

According to the group’s Facebook page, the move stemmed from complaints from nearby businesses.

“Unfortunately, we had some ‘haters’ on the block who did not want to see ‘those people’ in front of their businesses and filed several complaints with the city and fire department, we were ordered to move out of our current location.”

The City of Saskatoon acknowledged it received “several complaints” about the project.

“Follow-up inspections did identify concerns related to property maintenance conditions, potential fire hazards and pedestrian accessibility,” a spokesperson for the city told CTV News in a statement.

“Based on these considerations, the property owner and the volunteer group were contacted to remove the structure, with the city working with them on timelines to ensure that access to their service is not significantly disrupted.”

The structure will move to its new home at the Central Urban Métis Federation Inc. (CUMFI), at 315 Avenue M South, starting March 21. It runs at the current location until Sunday.

“We want to thank Shirley Isbister and CUMFI for stepping up on such short notice and welcoming us at their location. We are glad that we found another host who shares our vision and we are excited about this new location. It will be located only a few blocks away from our current location and will still be accessible to people who need access to the food,” the post says.

The community fridge organizers thanked their hosts at PAVED Arts and AKA gallery and the restaurants that stepped in with food donations to keep it stocked.