Freeganism.
 

http://uk.youtube.com/my_subscriptio...s=ObsGJIGNTeo#

Basically, freegans dumpster-dive at supermarkets and shit to find food that's been thrown out, normally because it's passed its sell-by date but not its actual expiry date, and as a result freegans completely sidestep food consumerism and have a shitload of money left over by eating the food that would otherwise be put to waste. Also, the food taken from dumpster-diving contributes to organizations like Food Not Bombs who give meals to the homeless, to disaster victims, civil war victims and to protesters. Freegans are technically meant to be vegan, but there are Meagans (that's seriously what they call themselves) who eat meat that they find.

Thoughts?

Freegans are not meant to be vegan. Most simply decide to be vegan also.
Meagans would be a closer property of freeganism than vegan freegans, as they salvage and eat everything that' still edible, including meat.
But you'd be surprised how much food is wasted that's still in its prime. It's so much that freegans can give themselves the luxury of keeping a vegan diet without resorting into the whole expensive 'organic' bullshit.

A friend of mind tries to be freegan. He tells me he gets so much food he can't keep it all, so he encourages me to go with him foraging when I move to the other side of the river.
A lot of businesses are even cool with it.

I keep meaning to look into this. I'd totally be doing it if I knew where to go.

A lot of small restaurants and such will actually give you stuff at the end of the day because they cannot sell it the next day, even though it is still good, it never even goes close to a dumpster so if actual dumpster diving seems a little icky to you then ask to see if you can arrange a time to pick it up while they are closing for the night.

I did that when I lived on the streets.

I do it sometimes when I'm out of cash. You're usually quite successful at larger supermarkets. Bakerys are usually a sure bet near closing time.

Thats pretty cool. I'll have to look into that.

It's odd reading how many people have gone dumpster-diving at supermarkets. I've worked at 3 different supermarkets and seen the dumpsters of 3 others. All 6 adjoined the building and couldn't be opened from the outside and the reason was specifically to stop dumpster diving.

When I was the overnight manager of a Jewel store I used to take home a shit load of food that would have been thrown away and the manager turned a blind eye to it. I asked why it wasn't given to charity and he said they used to give it to some church until they found out they were still legally responsible if someone should get sick. Paranoia of sickness and lawsuits is exactly why stores and restaurants have such a short shelf life on their food. Technically, they were also legally responsible if I took it home and got sick from it but me and the manager both knew it was perfectly good food. It's sad that in a world where so many people starve stores have to throw food into locking dumpsters to stop some greedy sue-happy asshole who would use the charities as an excuse for a lawsuit.

It's a real shame they can't have some kind of disclaimer - that you take the food at your own risk, knowing that it's "out of date", and assume responsibility for any illness which may follow.

However, liability aside, it appears to me that plain greed must also be a factor; not wanting to give their food away for free, knowing that the recipients would no longer be buying it.

I've done some diving for different things. I once had a vegetarian shepherd's pie from some associates dumpster diving and I once found a denim jacket, a belt, and a vest.

If I knew where dumpster dives could be pulled off in my city, I'd at least be eating fresh veggies every day. Good times.

I think this is a really cool idea, but I'd never be able to do it myself.

It's not quite a phobia, but I'm really really weird about eating food that's even suggested to be dirty.

Say I'm eating from a fast food place and I put my sandwich back into the bag--I cannot retrieve it.

I stopped dumpster diving after finding a bag full of rat heads.

I wouldn't ever do it, I'm very queasy about eating food when I cant inquire as to where its been or why its in the dumpster.

However like Solumina said, a lot of places will save food they would throw out for you, our 24hrs Tim Hortons throw their donuts and muffins out at around 1am, so after work we used to go up there and save them :3 weren't even stale, was just policy to throw them out.

Yeah...I don't eat out of the garbage.

I never dumpster dove for food but I grew up near a medical supply warehouse and the local armory headquarters. I found some cool stuff there. The medical warehouse would throw out an entire case of something if they smashed it and only broke half of them. The armory threw out old manuals. I was the only 14 year old I knew who had manuals on how to clean/repair the M-16, M-60 and M-203. They threw out books explaining where to put bombs on buildings and bridges for best effect and they threw out manuals on how to make bombs out of household stuff. And all this was back in the 80s--long before the Columbine shootings made people question what sort of dangerous stuff kids could download off the internet.

Is it just me, or is giving stuff like this a name like "Freeganism" (the implication of course, is that it's some sort of dietary lifestyle choice) seem really, really, stupid?

Dumpster-diving is not an artistic movement, and living off of other people's refuse is not "sticking it to the man". Let's call a spade a spade here, it's eating garbage.

I mean it's not like food is that hard to simply buy, and if you end up getting sick just ONCE from eating the wrong thing, the medical costs will overwhelm the money you saved by eating free dumpster food. I'm going to assume, that if you're one to do this, you don't have health insurance, so ONE bad infection is going to end up costing you more money than a lifetime of "Freeganism" will save you.

I suppose I can understand shit like this if you simply don't have the money to feed yourself, but quite frankly, everyone here has enough money for luxuries like the internet, so where the hell does someone get off attaching a pretentious name to this and dubbing it a lifestyle?

It's the same food in the same packets as inside the supermarket, except it's outside the supermarket in a plastic bag instead of on a plastic shelf. There's nothing unsanitary about it, people immediately think disease and rats when you say dumpster, but these are just the same foods packaged the same, safe way.

Simply, there's no reason to waste food. Freegans eat food that would otherwise be thrown out because it's pointless to contribute to this constant cycle of wastefulness when people are dying in other countries because they've got nothing.

...no.

Food in the supermarket is in a climate controlled, bright, and virtually pest free environment.

Food in the dumpster sits out in the heat in the dark (hello, bacteria) in an environment where pests are not taken care of.

Awesome concept. I'd never get away with it in this tiny-ass town, but I'd totally give it a try once I'm in Denver. I have a good friend who LOVES dumpster diving.

Check out www.freecycle.org
It's like dumpster diving without the work, lulz.

It is a dietary lifestyle choice.
If you buy, you are contributing into a system you might not agree with.
Besides, why buy something when you can get it free? That seems more stupid to me than the name 'freeganism'

Refraining to buy from your local grocery store is, if anything, an empty gesture. Do you really think someone eating out of a dumpster and calling themselves a pretentious name is any sort of a catalyst for social change?

Of course not. If anything deciding to pursue such a thing as a "lifestyle" is an example of western bourgeoisie arrogance, (not to mention downright stupidity). Only in a culture where food is so readily available do you find someone choosing to pick through the garbage so that they can identify themselves with some counterculture trend. Frankly, I think the people around the world who really are starving, who really do have to make sacrifices, such as eating unclean food and sifting through refuse, would find the concept insulting. It's like a suburban kid deciding to dress up like a homeless person and live on the street for a night, it's playing at being a revolutionary.

This is as dumb an argument as: "Eat all the food on your plate, starving people would be happy to have it." How exactly does whether or not jimmy eats all his broccoli impact life in Africa?

Eating out of a dumpster won't feed those people. If you're concerned about the quality of life in other countries join the peace corps, or work during the time that you would spend dumpster diving and send money to charities that do real work where people are starving. Hell you'll get alot more done if you donate to Bloodwater Mission than by eating garbage.

Or dumpster-dive and give the food to various dumpster-diving based food organisations who help victims of poverty and/or war.

Here's how freeganism goes:

Freegan: I do not like the things that food companies do. I will not give them any more money to finance the things that I do not agree with. Instead, I am going to take their produce, which is in fine condition, and stop it from being wasted by taking it or donating it. This way, food is not wasted, but shitty businesses lose money. I hope to spread my example to other people, because when others start doing it, it will impact businesses.

Non-freegan #1: HAHA GARBAGE I WILL DISREGARD EVERYTHING YOU SAY YOU EAT FROM THE GARBAGE LOLOL

Non-freegan #2: Hey, fuck you, Non-freegan #1, this sounds like a good idea and I am going to try it, or at least support it.

Eventually, I think this will grow.

See, that's the thing about dumpster-food, it doesn't exactly last very long does it? If you pull food out of dumpsters, where it was thrown because it is getting close to spoiling, and thus, no longer fit to sell and keep in line with health codes, how exactly do you plan to get it to Africa in any condition to eat?

What? do you think these shadowy "Food Companies" just throw food out for the sake of wasting. They're not like the villains on Captain Planet dude. That stuff winds up in the dumpster because of federal law.

Where precisely is this "Freegan food distribution network" you speak of? How are they funded? And for that matter, which "Food Companies" do you disagree with and which "practices" are you protesting?

Face it JCC, this is nothing more than people adopting a lifestyle because they think that giving themselves a cool name, and living "off the grid" will make them special somehow. It's not activism. It's the opposite of activism. It's fucking selfish, arrogant and bourgeois.

In reality? Yes!
And it's because of federal law.
Most food work a couple of days after the expiration date, and most stores, especially the megastores, throws their food away a little less than a week before it expires, because selling it in such a small margin of time is not practical.
And let's separate freeganism from dumpstering.
As for freeganism, what's so wrong about dumpstering the food that would otherwise be thrown away and growing the rest?
And as for dumpstering, what's so wrong about salvaging the books Barnes & Nobles would rather throw away than donate?