Free Food via freecycle or various other forms of freecycling

disabilitysportspoole

Bitsy_Beans wrote: »

I have seen people offering food on my local Freegle site although it doesn't happen too often

Never heard of freegle - Will take a look at that one.:money:

Jo_anne_2

I don't know if all freecycle groups are the same, but my local group does not allow food to be offered. I offered veg surplus to requirements and got ticked off by the freecycle moderators and the post removed.

valentina

I have seen some food on our freegle - stuff like cat food, crisps, tinned food, presumably things that people have bought in error or (in the case of multipack crisps/catfood) used what they wanted and don't like the rest!

ceridwen

Jo_anne wrote: »

I don't know if all freecycle groups are the same, but my local group does not allow food to be offered. I offered veg surplus to requirements and got ticked off by the freecycle moderators and the post removed.

I would imagine that was just down to a personal "quirk" of a particular moderator in one group only.

I've heard of freecycle groups offering food - eg picking the produce off their trees - before now and think its a very good idea.

There cant be any problem per se with offering food freely through a group of this nature anyway - otherwise we wouldnt regularly be "trading" food for Lets Credits in my own Lets group (eg both baked goods and surplus garden/allotment produce). I often "buy" surplus veg. and fruit that another member has brought along to our trading events on the one hand. I make the occasional loaf of bread for other group members for Lets credits on the other hand (I only had a member come round specially to my house yesterday for a loaf of homemade bread they had commissioned from me).

I would imagine Freecycle/Freegle groups operate on much the same basis as those of us in Lets schemes as to what is allowed - and the only foodstuff I've never seen "traded" is homemade alcohol and I'm not sure what the position would be about that.

So - if any odd Freecycle mod. has taken it into their head to ban food gifting on their group - then it would be best to have them replaced by another member who wasnt such a scaredy-cat/protect own personal back jobsworth.:). If I were on such a group and could see there was a demand from members for this - then I would stage a coup against that particular moderator (even if it meant I had to be the one replacing them personally - darn it!) in order to make sure the "job" was being done properly.

Maybe you need to scan "offered" sections on other Freecycle groups for food offers and confront that particular moderator with them as proof that Freecycle groups DO indeed offer surplus garden produce? (with the subtext of "There will be a coup if you still try and block this"). The founding ethos of Freecycle (now Freegle in some places) is too important/necessary for one particular moderator in one group to unintentionally "subvert" it because they havent understood it properly and are misinterpreting societal "rules and regulations" by mistake.

squeaky

NOPE! Honest

The rule is that foodstuffs on offer must be in unopened sealed containers or packaging.

There's too much risk of accidental contamination/deterioration/whatever of opened things.


For the poster who hasn't heard of Freegle - they are the main UK breakaway version of Freecycle. Freecycle is run from the United States under United States management and control. Freegle is entirely UK based.

See http://ilovefreegle.org

ceridwen

'Twould be useful to see "chapter and verse" for that rule then purlease:)

- as I would interpret "unopened" only as "Yeh...makes sense....it wouldnt be wise for peeps to offer "opened" packets of flour/grains/readymade foodstuffs" - but opened/unopened wouldnt apply to homegrown fruit/veg (as they never were in packets or subject to deterioration of the type that wouldnt be noticed - as they were homegrown in the first place).

(I always like to check absolute exact wording of anything AND the reasoning behind the founders intentions - as there is so often a tendency for subsequent to misinterpret).

*****************

My other thought is that if the rule re this does specifically and categorically state "ANY" foodstuff of "ANY" description - then it might well be an American rule (ie put in in the context of the country Freecycle originated it - ie a country that is the worlds most litigious country and where they eat a lot more ready made food than the British do even). Therefore Freegle (being British) could amend that rule to allow for our different circumstances.

Lets didnt originate in America - and therefore it was planned in from the outset in the design of the scheme that food would be "traded" in the Schemes (and basically - the design of LETS was that way specifically to cater for peeps being able to "trade" their surplus garden produce). We have never had any problems in any of our schemes that I have heard of from this "design feature" we have incorporated.

rosie383

On our local Freecycle I have frequently given away food. But it has been tinned or packet stuff that has been lurking and I know wouldn't get used by us. Similarly, I have given away homemade chutney and jam, and surplus veg. I suppose it does depend on local interpretations.
Off now to check out if there is freegle in my area, or LETS which I had never heard of.
Thanks OP for starting this thread. Food for thought eh?

ceridwen

rosie383 wrote: »

On our local Freecycle I have frequently given away food. But it has been tinned or packet stuff that has been lurking and I know wouldn't get used by us. Similarly, I have given away homemade chutney and jam, and surplus veg. I suppose it does depend on local interpretations.
Off now to check out if there is freegle in my area, or LETS which I had never heard of.
Thanks OP for starting this thread. Food for thought eh?

Which brings me back neatly to "sounds like the particular person concerned in that particular Freecycle scheme has misinterpreted the rule and needs to be persuaded of the error of their ways OR replaced".

Re LETS - try:

www.letslinkuk.net/

to find a local group

The main driver in the design of Lets was/is as a skills bartering scheme - but it was also designed to allow for that surplus garden produce/baked produce to be "sold" for Lets credits and this can either be arranged informally between members ringing each other up about it/putting adverts in the group newsletter/bringing foodstuff to their trading events.

It was known when the scheme was founded that it would be needed (amongst other things) eventually for helping people to be able to garner "free" foods for themselves.

Gigervamp

My local Freecycle groups allow food offers and there is even an offshoot of one specifically for food.

Hermia

Where I work we have a freecycle-style table in the corner of the staffroom where you can leave anything you don't want. I have seen some weird and wonderful things on the table over the couple of years we have done this, but almost everything gets taken. Food is allowed to. Mostly it's stuff off allotments etc, but people do also put food that is nearing the use by date that they are not going to get around eating. If it's cold stuff you put a note on the table listing what you have put in the fridge. Once a colleague bought a very expensive salmon that she couldn't use and there was a stampede for the fridge! I am surprised that more places (workplaces, churches etc) haven't thought of doing the same.