每日英語跟讀 Ep.916: See That Fridge on the Sidewalk? It’s Full of Free Food
A lonely refrigerator sits on a Bronx sidewalk at 242nd Street and Broadway. It’s not trash.
紐約布朗克斯區242街與百老匯街交口的人行道上，一台冰箱孤零零站在那兒。它可不是棄置物。
Painted in bright yellows, purples, oranges and blues, the fridge has “Free Food” written in bubble letters across its freezer, with the same in Spanish, “Comida Gratis,” on its side.
冰箱漆成亮黃色、紫色、橘色與藍色，冷凍庫上用泡泡字體英文寫著「免費食物」，側面寫有同樣意思的西班牙文。
Selma Raven makes good on that promise. She doesn’t ask prodding questions of those who visit the fridge. She sometimes chats as she disinfects the unit, which is plugged into a socket inside a restaurant, and stocks it with fresh produce and ready-made meals.
塞爾瑪·雷文兌現了這承諾。她不會問光顧冰箱的人刺探性的問題。她有時會邊消毒冰箱邊聊天，並放入新鮮農產品和現成飯菜。冰箱從一家餐廳內的插座取電。
Mothers, home attendants, nursing assistants and the unemployed stop by the fridge to pick up food, Raven said. At first, some residents were skeptical; even cabdrivers told her it wouldn’t work. Now, they’re allies.
雷文說，為人母者、家庭看護、護理助理員及失業者會在冰箱旁停下拿取食物。起初一些居民抱持懷疑態度，連計程車司機都告訴她這行不通，如今他們都成了盟友。
Community-led, free-food refrigerators, sometimes nicknamed “friendly fridges,” have been popping up on city sidewalks since February.
今年2月以來，亦稱「友善冰箱」、由社區主導的免費食物冰箱不斷出現在市街人行道上。
When the coronavirus pandemic and stay-at-home orders halted New York City’s economy, many residents — some suddenly out of work, and others sick with the illness — struggled to fill their own refrigerators.
新冠肺炎全球大流行和居家避疫令讓紐約市經濟停滯，許多居民（有些突然失業，有些患上這疾病）難以填滿自己的冰箱。
At community refrigerators, anyone is welcome to take whatever they want and leave behind food they don’t need, like extra produce. Many volunteers who clean and stock the refrigerators daily ask local restaurants and stores to donate unused or unsold food items instead of throwing them away.
社區冰箱歡迎任何人取走任何東西，留下不需要的食物，像是多餘的農產品。每天清潔和存放食物的許多志工請求在地餐廳跟商家，捐出未用過或未賣出的食物，不要丟棄。
The goals are simple: Reduce food waste and feed the community.
目標很簡單：減少食物浪費，並為社區提供食物。
Food insecurity and waste have plagued both New Yorkers and the environment long before the pandemic. In the city, about 2 million people, or 1 in every 4 New Yorkers, are food insecure.
早在這場全球疫情發生以前，糧食取得缺乏保障與糧食的浪費就開始困擾紐約的居民和環境。這座城市約有200萬人，也就是4分之一的人，處於糧食無保障狀態。
About 30% of the country’s food supply is wasted, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
美國農業部指出，美國有3成左右的糧食供應遭到丟棄。
A network of New Yorkers collaborating with In Our Hearts, an activist group, have set up and maintained at least 14 fridges, which are plugged into local bodegas, restaurants or homes with permission.
一個由紐約人組成、跟社運組織「在我們心中」合作的網絡已設立並維護至少14台冰箱，這些冰箱在當地雜貨店、餐廳或住家的許可下接上電源。
The volunteers who tend to many of the free-food refrigerators in New York communicate with one another on Signal, the encrypted messaging app, to coordinate the distribution of food from organizations like Universe City, an aquaponic farm and work space in Brownsville, Brooklyn.
在紐約照料許多免費食物冰箱的志工，以加密通訊應用程式Signal互相連絡，以協調來自「宇宙城」等組織的食物分配。宇宙城是個位於布魯克林區布朗斯維爾的魚菜共生農場和工作室。
Thadeaus Umpster, an organizer with In Our Hearts, said that people have been giving away refrigerators through Instagram.In February, Umpster set up the group’s first refrigerator in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.
在我們心中的組織者薩迪厄斯．安普斯特說，人們一直透過Instagram捐出冰箱。今年2月，安普斯特在布魯克林區貝德福-史泰維山特設置該組織的第一台冰箱。
As the pandemic worsened in March and April, other people asked to get involved. It also seemed that the more refrigerators New Yorkers saw on social media like Instagram, the more new ones appeared.
隨著疫情在3月與4月惡化，另有些人要求參與，而且似乎紐約人在Instagram等社群媒體上看到的冰箱越多，新冰箱出現的也越多。
In recent weeks, Umpster has been distributing food to other fridges and answering calls from people across the world who want to start similar projects.
近幾周安普斯特一直在向其他冰箱分發食物，並接聽世界各地想要啟動類似計畫者打來的電話。
Source article: https://paper.udn.com/udnpaper/POH0067/355531/web/
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