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They do cover this in the FAQ: > Who is the Little Free Pantry for? The LFP is for neighbors helping neighbors. In high poverty areas, the LFP is most often fo

They do cover this in the FAQ: > Who is the Little Free Pantry for? The LFP is for neighbors helping neighbors. In high poverty areas, the LFP is most often for those who are not easily able to meet everyday food and personal needs. In middle class neighborhoods, the LFP might stock after-school snacks for neighborhood kids or that "cup of sugar" you never have when you need it. (In my case it's an onion.) In all places, the Little Free Pantry is for those who want and/or need to give. They also go into how it differs from a traditional food pantry which already exists: > How does the Little Free Pantry differ from other food pantries? ... All that said, I do think this is won't turn out well for a few other reasons: - wild animals - liability - the elements Food is very different from books, books have relatively low value, and are easier to protect from the elements (they don't get literally baked by excessive heat/humidity). While it's nice to see the effort (I'm glad people are trying to make things better for each other) this might be a feel-good local thing to do, but it's not the way to fix societal problems sustainably. If you want to get rid of high poverty areas pay people living wages (in my opinion this is more than enough to pay the rent), and stop funding an already over-budgeted military in favor of funding school programs.

asark 7y ago
Most food, especially the sort that'll keep in a little box outdoors in even SF weather, probably doesn't have much value either, so far as the second hand market goes. If someone's stealing $0.49 cans of beans to resell for $0.10 each they probably really need the money, and the ones buying the $0.10 cans from some someone off the street probably really needed the beans. But for animals and the elements, we used to keep food (especially canned) outdoors year-round all the time, as a totally normal part of life. One of my grandparents was still doing it as late as the 90s. Granted that was done underground, but still, isn't that what technology's for? What good's all this newly-cheap democratized high-tech futuristic maker junk if it can't keep racoons and heat/cold from ruining a few cans of tomatoes in a box without having to stick it under the dirt like our very-recent-ancestors did? As for liability, maybe this'll have to be reserved for freer places than us, in the end. The US (and a couple other countries) love our huge signs covered in tiny magical-liability-deflecting words, after all. They'll be a key feature in our reconstructed religion when future archeologists are trying to figure out WTF was going on with us. They're not so far removed from the long formulaic texts you find on/in Egyptian tombs, actually, and in the same ballpark so far as silliness goes.
Theodores 7y ago
You should know your neighbours well enough to borrow a cup of sugar or an onion. Plus your actual neighbours should be actually next door, not halfway down the street. I think the LFP adds a great deal to a community so I am not knocking the idea. Maybe the idea needs to be more than a pantry though. We all chuck stuff out that could be given a second home. Some people pay good money to drive to the tip and dump stuff that could be re-used. We also get stuff in the back of our food cupboards that are not going to be eaten. Maybe we need small-shed sized 'pantries' that enable more to go on. As well as being community they could also have the council clear the contents out on a fortnightly basis, so it is just a well ordered 'cache' of stuff to go to the tip.

asark 7y ago

Most food, especially the sort that'll keep in a little box outdoors in even SF weather, probably doesn't have much value either, so far as the second hand market goes. If someone's stealing $0.49 cans of beans to resell for $0.10 each they probably really need the money, and the ones buying the $0.10 cans from some someone off the street probably really needed the beans. But for animals and the elements, we used to keep food (especially canned) outdoors year-round all the time, as a totally normal part of life. One of my grandparents was still doing it as late as the 90s. Granted that was done underground, but still, isn't that what technology's for? What good's all this newly-cheap democratized high-tech futuristic maker junk if it can't keep racoons and heat/cold from ruining a few cans of tomatoes in a box without having to stick it under the dirt like our very-recent-ancestors did? As for liability, maybe this'll have to be reserved for freer places than us, in the end. The US (and a couple other countries) love our huge signs covered in tiny magical-liability-deflecting words, after all. They'll be a key feature in our reconstructed religion when future archeologists are trying to figure out WTF was going on with us. They're not so far removed from the long formulaic texts you find on/in Egyptian tombs, actually, and in the same ballpark so far as silliness goes.

Theodores 7y ago

You should know your neighbours well enough to borrow a cup of sugar or an onion. Plus your actual neighbours should be actually next door, not halfway down the street. I think the LFP adds a great deal to a community so I am not knocking the idea. Maybe the idea needs to be more than a pantry though. We all chuck stuff out that could be given a second home. Some people pay good money to drive to the tip and dump stuff that could be re-used. We also get stuff in the back of our food cupboards that are not going to be eaten. Maybe we need small-shed sized 'pantries' that enable more to go on. As well as being community they could also have the council clear the contents out on a fortnightly basis, so it is just a well ordered 'cache' of stuff to go to the tip.