Throwing Together a Meal, One Swap at a Time

[phantom power]

Some have termed the swaps “collaborative consumption”— a new, tech-savvy angle on the familiar idea that sharing and trading is crucial to creating prosperous communities. Clothes swaps, co-working and car shares are among the most visible forms of the new sharing economy, with sites like thredUP (for children’s clothing), RelayRides (for cars) and Sharable.net (everything from bikes to data) gaining traction nationally.

Food sharing is an inherently personal form of collaboration; it is hard to quantify because most swaps occur privately. But thanks to social media and a resurgence in urban food production and preparation, it is now fairly easy to set up more formal exchanges.

No money changes hands at food swaps, and thus far, public food swaps have not been subject to Department of Public Health regulations, as underground restaurants and food markets are.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/25/us/25bcfoodswap.html