Episode 80
Taylor Scott is Nourishing Community One Fridge at a Time
What were you doing at 26? I was just barely figuring out how to adult. But, Taylor Scott is revolutionizing food access in Richmond, Virginia.
What started as a simple desire to share excess tomatoes from her hydroponic garden has blossomed into RVA Community Fridges, a network of 14 community fridges serving food apartheid communities. Taylor's infectious enthusiasm and "delusionally optimistic" outlook have transformed the way her community thinks about food security, proving that sometimes the biggest changes start with the smallest seeds.
In this episode, Taylor shares the whirlwind journey of RVA Community Fridges, from its humble beginnings to its current status as a vital community resource, as well as practical insights for turning the spark of an idea into a movement.
Taylor’s story is a powerful reminder that with creativity, determination, and a little bit of "delusional optimism," we all have the power to make a significant impact in our communities.
5 key uplifting lessons:
1. Small acts of generosity can spark significant change in communities.
2. Success can be measured in small, daily victories rather than grand end results.
3. Addressing systemic issues like food apartheid requires creative, community-driven solutions.
4. Embracing "delusional optimism" can help overcome initial doubts and fears.
5. Community involvement and feedback are crucial for sustainable, impactful projects.
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The Uplifters’ Web
Taylor was nominated by Caroline Scruggs.
This week’s opening is by the amazing Julie B. Hughes
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Transcript
TUP EP 080
Music: [:Aransas: Welcome to the Uplifters podcast, where I get to talk to amazing, inspiring women every week. Women like Taylor Scott, who at just 26 years old, has [00:00:30] already founded the RVA Community Fridges, which is a community fridge program that serves a food apartheid community in Richmond, Virginia. Taylor, I know you have a big job to do.
anks for taking time to come [:Taylor: Well, thanks for having me. I'm excited to be here.
Aransas: So how did RVA Community Fridges happen? I
hydroponic in my apartment. [:I was on the phone with a friend of mine who is in California from the South, and both [00:01:15] she and I had already experienced community fridges from places that we had been growing up. So she was just like, drop it off at a community fridge. And I was like, Oh yeah. You're right. I can do that. That's an easy way to not have them in the trash, but also not have them in my house.
So I [:There are 14 fridges now with, uh, we also partner with our local richmondfood. bombs chapter on Unleash Your Wave Kitchen, and we both cook in there once a week. That's
incredible. That's a lot of [:There's no map. Yeah. There's no ticket to buy.
like, what do you want to do [:What do they want to see us add and do better in? You know, how, maybe we'll go from like, [00:02:45] taking a pause on putting community fridges up and like, actually start getting into communities and helping people grow their own food. Maybe we'll start cooking food ourselves growing and cooking it and just handing it out.
ridges that I'm just like, I [:So they're always looking for more ways to help us be better. [00:03:15]
ny stories we've heard about [:We had the, a woman in Africa who is creating chili with women locally and sustainable food ecosystems there. And then we had another woman [00:03:45] just recently who is training. recent immigrants in food service so that they're able to hit the job market running as soon as they immigrate into the country. It is a matter of survival and true thriving.[00:04:00]
Absolutely. It's an intersection of those. And so what has What has this food access meant in your community?
e because I don't think that [:Like they, they had [00:04:30] never seen one before and it just makes it so special to them. And I'm always like, wow, like, I'm like, it's a community fridge. I didn't make community fridges. I promise you there are a million before the one that came here and there will be many more after. It really is the fact that there were [00:04:45] no other community fridges ever in the state, but I really think that people really hold these ones near and dear to them.
ne, older population of like [:Three times in one week. So like, there is so much squash going out to the community at one time. At one point, I was like, I don't even know what the community can do with all this squash. Like, we're going to take it, and we're going to put it out, and they were also taking it and eating it. [00:05:30] We didn't have to be like, we have too many, too much squash.
nuously expand and just find [:If they didn't ask for like a second fridge or like more for just to continuously [00:06:00] be put up, I probably would not do it.
iting them and engaging them [:Taylor: Apparently, it's my personality.
is the fact that you can be [:The community is just like, okay, how can we support, how can we, [00:06:45] like, make this great for this area in our community? And I never really imagined that that would be what happens whenever they want more fridges. Wow.
ve been on such a surprising [:Taylor: That's a great question. I think I would have originally defined success as like, Oh, you're in the gold product. You [00:07:15] know, like you'll know at the end of something like, Oh, was I successful or not? You know, but now I currently read the fridge's success on like, Oh, did someone get food out the fridge today?
d we stock the fridge today? [:That makes me feel like that was a huge success because, just in itself. So yeah, it definitely has skewed my idea of success. I don't think my success is [00:08:00] measured by just the end result like my success to be measured by like, Oh, we actually just came up with the idea of this pot, you know, like just saying we wanted to do this out loud and passing it on to the next person could be a success.
ia start their own community [:Aransas: And in that answer, I hear these little moments [00:08:30] and then it's these ripple effects.
arted or was it kind of just [:Taylor: I am a sedentarist, so I am what I like to call delusionally optimistic. [00:09:00] And this was a great time to be delusionally optimistic. My birthday also happened to be Thanksgiving that year. So usually when my, also this year, when my birthday falls on Thanksgiving, I'm always like delusionally optimistic that I'm going to do some like, I'm going to show up Thanksgiving because it's [00:09:15] my birthday.
New Jersey. Oh, why don't we [:Like it can be so easy to just everything else trickles down. Why can't a fridge trickle down? You know, like that was my thought process back then. I was like, y'all can have a fridge. Very easy. Never did I think of like volunteers to help me clean it by the week. I was like, you know what? It'll [00:09:45] be my one fridge.
t's crazy to see, like, that [:Cause like I had my friends come and stock the fridge that day. So it was extremely stocked. And I attempted to tell Instagram as much as possible back then, which I'm surprised that it was actually that stock. Not that I look at how many people we [00:10:30] have like following us and how much we can provide for a grand stocking for a fridge.
wow. Like, What if like mind [:This simple. I could do it again. That's exactly what I, and then that, when I said I could do it again, and that's when it hit that I was like, oh, [00:11:00] What am I doing? What do you mean I can do it again? I don't even know what I'm doing in the first place. And then that's when I had to like, get a team. And that's when I was like, okay, well, maybe this is not solo work.
actually chat about this all [:So waking up, trying to answer those messages about the fridge. Cause I just put it out. And [00:11:30] everyone's like, I've never seen this in my life. Tell us now. Tell us more. I can't imagine how
Aransas: that's happening. What is this free food? And can we really, is this real? As actually, it seems like what they were saying.
No, it was.
. They were like, wow, can I [:And it's not as hectic or
r work is the word apartheid [:So I went and did a little [00:12:30] research to understand where that is. That's sourced from, I think it's from Karen Washington, this idea of the food apartheid. Tell us what that concept has meant for you in your way of thinking about the strategy of [00:12:45] RVA Fridges.
it wasn't for the historical [:There's a lot of places here in Richmond where we have, like, three fridges, we're about to put a fourth fridge up. That side of town doesn't even have a grocery store anymore. [00:13:15] And it's crazy to see how many people live over there. How many of those people are people of color, how people over there have entire families that have been in Richmond for decades over there in the same houses forever.
em have access to like fresh [:I hope they're dropping off a full [00:13:45] pantry of goods on the side of it You know what? I mean? Like totally fine. Anybody can take what they need give what they can But realistically when we're placing them we want to be strategic about where we're placing them. It's totally fine if They're not all within redlined areas, which [00:14:00] some of ours are not.
So just thinking about like, [:Like all of that is what makes that area an apartheid and food is very much included in all that. And we just want people to just learn more. So we include that word so people can, like you, take a [00:14:30] second, read more about it and just understand the work that we're doing a little bit better.
Aransas: Yeah. And for me, what the distinction was between those two words, In addition to what you're saying, it was a distinction between a place.
Like the place is not at [:Taylor: I'm
Aransas: sure
tes when they live in a city [:Right. And it's just the real, the real ideal of it's crazy.
e an intentional choice. And [:You're
Taylor: absolutely right about the accessibility thing being a big point, because like, people always tell us like, one of the big points that they appreciate about the Fridges is that they're 24 7, and that we're not asking them questions about like, Hey, where, where are you living at? How old are you?
Like, [:who aren't able to come to the storage and then they'll drop it off. But like, we're hoping that like we can make a system that works for those people also, you know? So yeah, like we're using systems that work for us, but like not to a detriment of what we're doing. What
Aransas: a cool idea. Shout out the community.
A food [:And she said, I'm not going to question that. There's a reason that guy is here.
You just never know people's [:And we're really never trying to be like, you can't get food, you know, like that's not what we're here for. All right.
to be treated like children. [:Taylor: we get kids at the fridges all the time. So we try to make sure we get snacks, stuff for them.
They're always like, Oh yeah, I love that. Learning new fruits and vegetables. My kids would
Aransas: like, they asked me the other day, they're like, Mom, why aren't we normal people with snacks in our house? I'm like, we have snacks, we have celery and we have carrots
Taylor: [:I think about it all the time because I'm like, I don't have, like I'm, I'm already in the ingredients household. I see it now. I see it now. Nothing but like fresh fruit, nothing, fresh pantry goods, barely any chips. I see it all [00:17:30] the time. Yeah. We're, we're on the same boot. I'm, I'm going to have to ask you for some homemade snack to have dates and peanuts and chocolate will only go so far.
to have snack break together [:Taylor: Let's have a little snack break in the lunchroom, you know, let's talk about it,
Aransas: talk [:Taylor: That sounds banging, I kind of want to go get bananas now because we're off.
sas: It was delicious. Yeah. [:Taylor: Okay, yeah. That's what, okay, now that I work with all the farms, my dog eats all the raw stuff, and everyone's like, well, too, you really feed him there? I'm like, well, let me, I'm going to pick up chicken for my boyfriend from the farm partners, might as well get the chicken back for serious. [00:18:30] Chicken feet, you know, it's the same farm.
Exactly.
one in the household who is [:Taylor: oh, that's fair. Fair. That's what, and that's what I tell my friends all the time.
And I'm like, yeah, because why wouldn't I try to, you know, give him what we're eating, you know? And then now, now we're got a great looking coat.
Aransas: Here we are. Yeah, [:Taylor: Literally his own pot. I'm so glad we're the same.
You're the same. Sorry, Ilo. We didn't know what we didn't
as: know. Yeah. Same Sirius. [:Taylor: I have a personal, I guess now that I've been at Axe, I'm like, okay, well, if I had to choose what the Friggens did in like five to 10 years. And like, [00:19:45] making sure that they were just running and cleaned and on were not the main tasks that I needed to do, you know? I would probably say like, finding some type of restaurant where, because I've seen it done, so I know it can happen.
But there's [:No. But we'll get there. I've worked at like five farms since starting the fridges and now I know so much about farming. So you know, who knows where I'm gonna come
ing, just selfishly. Because [:Jealousy. It's so exciting. No, 100%. So, yeah, I know you've been doing hydroponic farming. Mm hmm. What are some of your favorite resources for [00:20:45] getting started on that?
started with what I think is [:But you could easily get like a AeroGarden. I now have a tabletop AeroGarden that does like six plants also. Very [00:21:15] easy, very simple, very beginner friendly. You can even use your own seeds. I have officially stopped buying seed greens from all of the people because why spend like 5 on a seedling that may get hurt in [00:21:30] transportation.
os. You could grow literally [:Aransas: I love my garden time.
. I'm like, this has been, I [:Taylor: nice library of like, Oh, I can tell you about this.
This isn't this. I love that.
like learning how people get [:Taylor: Get in the dirt. Yeah. Literally it takes one seat. One of our admins has two children [00:22:30] and they are always like around what we're doing with a friend and one of them has literally said that they want to be a farmer so they can grow food for the community.
st want to find a way to get [:Aransas: neighbors when you start growing. So the beautiful thing about this show is that our audience is all uplifters, too.
t's great. We, as uplifters, [:Taylor: Oh my gosh. Okay. The best way I think to like uplift a community fridge near you [00:23:15] is to stop by, visit the fridge yourself, you know, send a selfie to the fridge group that put the fridge up.
ropped off. There's a fridge [:And that is the best way you can uplift your fridge friends. If you have a dollar to share or spare, I'm sure every fridge group has [00:23:45] an open collective Venmo pass out that you can donate to. But honestly, we love in time and in kind donations the most. So hey, come hang. We love to come hang. That's amazing.
Absolutely. Like you have to be there.
Aransas: Yeah. [:Taylor: This is so great. Stop. I told so many people about the podcast already. Also because Caroline was on [00:24:15] it. I was like, everyone, like everyone listen to Caroline's podcast.
She's awesome. She's dope. I'm like, not Caroline nominated. I'm like, get out of here. Did I read that right? So then I had to go tell my friend Jess. I was like, Jess, your friend Caroline nominated me.
ere really is nothing cooler [:Uplifters, for listening. Go support your community fridge. Yes! If there isn't one, hey, look, it's your invitation to start [00:24:45] one.
Taylor: Yeah, we'll help you if you need some help. Happy to help. Thank you, Taylor.
m with the Uplifters in your [:com. Head over to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Google Play. Wherever you get your podcast and like, follow and rate our show, it'll really [00:25:15] help us connect with more uplifters and it'll ensure you never miss one of these beautiful stories.
sunshine with rosemary, and [:You find it. Faxing. Toss a star half for be around best love for relish in a new prime plant a tree in springtime dance. With [00:25:45] that all hindsight, bring the sun to twilight. Lift you up, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, [00:26:00] oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, [00:26:15] oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh Lift you up.
, do, do, do, do. Beautiful. [:so much. Bye bye.
