CFHE launches first Ujamaa Café community fridge in Nashville

Coalition for Food and Health Equity founder Dr. Leeja Carter is expanding the group’s community fridge model to Nashville, Tennessee, with a new locally sourced food option for residents and unhoused people. The launch extends CFHE’s food-access work beyond New Jersey and Philadelphia as the organization pushes a health-equity model into a new market.

Why it matters: - The Nashville fridge gives local residents and unhoused community members a new source of healthy, ready-to-eat food. - The launch extends Coalition for Food and Health Equity’s food-access model into Tennessee for the first time. - The project ties food access to health, local sourcing and support for small businesses.

What happened: - Dr. Leeja Carter, founder of the Coalition for Food and Health Equity, launched the organization’s first Ujamaa Café Community Fridge in Nashville. - The new high-tech refrigerator is the first Ujamaa Café Community Fridge in Tennessee. - The fridge is designed to offer locally sourced, healthy grab-and-go food options at the location.

The details: - The refrigerator is intended to serve both customers and unhoused community members. - CFHE says the fridge is a community-based resource built to respond to food insecurity while supporting local food providers and small businesses. - CFHE’s Ujamaa Café Community Fridge initiative has been used to connect food-insecure communities with fresh meals and practical support. - Dr. Carter said, “Food access is health access.” - Dr. Carter said the Nashville expansion reflects a commitment to giving communities dignified, reliable access to nourishing food where they live, work and seek support. - Dr. Carter said the organization is excited to partner locally and bring the Ujamaa Café model to Tennessee for the first time. - Dr. Carter spent 15 years as a professor before leaving academia in 2021 to focus full-time on this work. - CFHE has used smart, tech-enabled refrigerators to feed families in food deserts in New Jersey and Philadelphia. - AfroTech featured Dr. Carter’s work nationally.

Between the lines: - The expansion shows CFHE is moving from food distribution alone to a broader community infrastructure model. - The Ujamaa Café and Ujamaa Well programs also address affordability, wellness, social-service navigation and economic opportunities for local small businesses. - The name Ujamaa refers to a Swahili principle of cooperative economics and collective responsibility. - Local sourcing and community partnerships are central to the model’s pitch: support residents while strengthening the local food ecosystem. - Dr. Carter said, “This is not simply a refrigerator.” - Dr. Carter said, “It is infrastructure for care, connection, and community health.”

What's next: - CFHE will use the Nashville fridge as a practical access point for residents who need immediate nutritious meal options. - The organization is expected to continue partnering locally as it grows the Ujamaa Café model beyond its Northeast base. - The Nashville launch could serve as a template for future expansions into other communities facing food insecurity.

The bottom line: - CFHE is turning a refrigerator into a community health tool, and Nashville is the latest test of whether that model can scale.