Frome fridge volunteer leader and community champion Terri Pitts was left feeling sick and tired following the challenge to eat ONLY from the free supply for the week of half term.

It was a challenge set by Edventure Frome who challenged her and her family to eat only from the community fridge to highlight food poverty.

She said: " It's been very challenging and thought provoking. There are some people I see every time I'm at the fridge, imagine if they only eat from the fridge.

We've eaten a lot of bread. There's been headaches and a lot of tiredness from us all. "

The Community Fridge was set up to combat food waste, but is now used by many as a lifeline. So finding out how it was to rely only on the Frome fridge was an education.

Terri said: " Before I started this challenge I thought The Fridge had a variety of foods going through it, but using it daily it's mostly bread or high sugar pastries. It's impacted my sons as they are now sleeping more, and eating less as the food offerings isn't as appealing to them. I myself have suffered from headaches and fatigue that I've needed to nap during the day. "

The community fridge is an award-winning and unique operation in Frome, but it has plans to expand what it offers and where.

The team has launched a new fundraiser for The Fridge (see above) to help with running costs but to help launch a new project at Frome College in the New Year. 

Food - the hard to swallow facts

According to The Trussell Trust which runs the majority of foodbanks in the UK (but not the one in Frome) they will be handing out 11,500 food parcels every day, the equivalent of one every eight seconds.

Between December and February last year, their food banks supported more than 220,000 children with emergency food, and 225,000 people who needed to use a food bank for the first time - the Trust thinks demand this year will be even higher.

There are just under 1,400 Trussell Trust food banks in the UK, in addition to at least 1,172 independent food banks - so in the UK there are foodbanks than branches of the fast food chain McDonalds, which has around 1,350.