Board of Health members and staff on March 11 discussed draft guidelines for a community fridge and asked staff to prepare a written policy for a future meeting.

Chris, a health department staff member, said he reviewed Watertown's community-fridge guidelines as an example and proposed a simple guidance approach that balances food safety with food insecurity. "I just saw Watertown's community fridge guidelines, and I just, you know, printed it as an example to see, you know, what areas you agree, disagree with," Chris said.

Staff and board members discussed practical controls: volunteers already check the fridge twice daily; the pantry also operates two days a week; commercial and grocery-store donations were generally considered acceptable. Several members raised concerns about allowing home-prepared, cooked meals because of inconsistent labeling and uncertainty around expiration dates and stewardship. One attendee said they would not support unrestricted home-cooked donations: "I don't agree with the home cooked cookies and and all that. So I just don't see it." (statement unattributed in the transcript).

Michael, the department's point person for food operations, will draft suggested guidelines for the board to review at the next meeting. Staff also said they will try to estimate how many private cooks or prepared meals are being offered so the board can better weigh food-safety risk against the community benefit.

The board did not adopt formal rules at the March 11 meeting but directed staff to return with draft language and usage data.