I suspect many of the people reading this will think “this is not relevant to me because I don’t live in an apartment building” or “because I don’t know my neighbors” or “because greedy people will just steal from it” or “because food pantries are the government’s job” or “because I’m not poor enough to need this so reading this won’t benefit me”.
If you see the title and think you don’t need to read it, that’s a sign you need to read it. Because it’s not just about the practicalities of setting up a shared pantry - it’s about how to think about poverty and community and charity and mutual aid.
It’s a wonderful article. Read.
Could also be a good way to reduce food waste. If you buy a bunch of ingredients for one dish and have some left over you probably won’t use right away why not share them? I definitely have some spices I’ve bought and haven’t touched in years but it could also work for stuff that has short shelf lives like produce.
I think a good mixer opportunity to get your foot with your neighbours and plant the seed for this idea would be when people move in or during emergencies like power outages.