Every week, I pick up donated food from a neighbor’s house, and I drive around Albany and Troy stocking free food refrigerators. Sometimes I have enough food for three refrigerators, sometimes six. There are eight fridges operating in the area.
Free Food Fridge Albany is an all-volunteer organization that partners with community members, farmers, restaurants, and grocery stores to acquire food and donations to help feed people who are short on food.
In the wealthiest nation on earth, no one should be going hungry. And yet, in the United States, about 1 in 7 people (47.9 million Americans) live in a food-insecure home.
These numbers have been steadily rising. The 2025 tax and spending law—I believe Republicans proudly call it the “One Big Beautiful Bill”—cut federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funding by nearly $187 billion through 2034. Five million people have been tossed from the program, including about 1 million children.
Making sure people have enough to eat apparently isn’t a problem worth solving in our country.
So we need resources like free food fridges.
When I approach a refrigerator and begin to stock it, people magically appear behind me, looking for something they can take home and eat. I’ve had fridges almost emptied out within minutes of my filling them.
More than one person has asked me how I know that the people helping themselves to free food are people who actually need the assistance. I don’t know. A few here and there might be taking food they could otherwise purchase, but it’s clear from looking at most visitors that they need something to eat.
It’s kind of like SNAP. Were there a some people who were receiving SNAP benefits that didn’t officially qualify? Of course. There are always such instances. Our government’s approach was to scream about widespread fraud, blame poor people for being poor, and cut benefits.
I’d rather give hungry people the benefit of the doubt and the benefit of food.
