Anybody a Freegan?
Never heard of this trend before today. Vegans who only eat food obtained for free i.e. dumpster diving.
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29 Comments:
That's disgusting... even if I was, I don't think I would ever actually tell anyone that's how I was sustaining.
Southern_bella at 3:27PM on 09/10/08
I know a few freegans. And also, Giles Coren did a segment about it on the British programme 'The F Word,' in which he demonstrates that it's not actually disgusting - supermarkets throw away plenty of good food every day, and people who are serious freegans know where to go for reliably fresh food. Some freegans are proper vegans, and some will only eat meat/dairy/etc. that they have obtained for free.
caley at 3:42PM on 09/10/08
In her book Tender at the Bone, Ruth Reichel talks about her life in Berkeley, CA where she did a bit of freegan dumpster-diving.
HeartofGlass at 3:46PM on 09/10/08
@caley: I saw that episode. It blew my mind. Not that grocery stores throw that amount of food out (because I already knew that working at one for about 8 years) but that there are people (not homeless) that look for it. I didn't know that happened. It was a great show though and very informative. Nothing gross about it. Personally, I couldn't do it but...
Butrflygirly at 4:05PM on 09/10/08
I describe myself varyingly as a freegan or a flexitarian, but I've certainly never done any dumpster diving.
Rather, it's because I was 100% vegetarian for many years, and I still am in my own home, but as a poor college student on a limited budget and with little free time, it hurt to turn down all the free food opportunities one can find on a college campus just because they happened to be serving meat foods. Free, nicely prepared foods including meat seemed better than yet another meal of pasta with beans and salsa dumped on top (for which I had to purchase the ingredients, no less). I see no problem with living off free banquet/reception/lecture food as much as possible.
But now I go with flexitarian because the “only if it’s free” caveat has slipped a little in the last year or so. It’s a slippery slope, kids. Careful with your freeganism.
veggiesattva at 4:16PM on 09/10/08
also - guess I'll have to watch out how I describe myself! Didn't realize people associated this word with collecting food from dumpsters. The things you learn.
veggiesattva at 4:19PM on 09/10/08
I have been curious to try dumpster diving, especially after working in a cafe that threw out tons of perfectly good food everyday. But I don't want to do it alone, and my friends would rather respect social norms.
KarynMC at 5:21PM on 09/10/08
I would love to do this as well. However, I share your desire to have a friend. Also, I don't know if I would feel comfortable doing it with so many homeless and needy people around here.
nightowl at 7:58PM on 09/10/08
@nightowl - I don't suppose you're in the D.C. Metro area? ;-)
Well, if you feel guilty, you could try to find a Food Not Bombs chapter that will cook and distribute found food to the needy. Personally, it's not something I would feel bad about, because paying money at the grocery store does not directly help needy people. Plus, dumpster diving for staples would give me more cash to spend at the farmer's market, and I do like the thought of supporting local farmers.
KarynMC at 8:34PM on 09/10/08
Nope, New Orleans.
And the reason I would feel guilty is if I can afford to pay for food, but I take the free stuff, then it isn't there for the homeless people who might otherwise dumpster dive it.
nightowl at 8:51PM on 09/10/08
Well, that's why I suggested Food Not Bombs! I guess it would depend if I saw other people dumpster diving, I'm not really sure how many homeless people dumpster dive near bakeries and Whole Foods ... I do know, however, that expired food cannot usually be donated.
KarynMC at 9:20PM on 09/10/08
article from the new york times about freeganism:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/21/garden/21freegan.html?scp=1&sq=freegan&st=cse
i don't do the food thing but i certainly have taken my share of furniture, books, and other useful things home after finding them on the street.
cybercita at 10:32PM on 09/10/08
You've found books?! I've seen furniture, a lot of which I would take if I had a car, but I've never seen anyone do something so awful as discard books!
nightowl at 10:37PM on 09/10/08
It happens. All my books disappeared from school and my grandmother's huge library in her home disappeared. I doubt all the books were donated...
I can see this happening more during college years not only because it's a cash thing, but it's fun/challenge for some. My father paid for my tuition and I still went through a phase of "what can I get for free?" I would sit in on time share lectures and get free glass-bottom boat rides with lunch, etc. If it was too suspicious, I wouldn't do it though.
In high school, there was a flyer that went around that you could get free hot dogs and hamburgers at the cafeteria if you stayed for a lecture some evening. It didn't reveal what the lecture was. My friend went (again, she was from a well off family). She said that as soon as everyone assembled, they locked all the doors to the cafeteria. No one could get out after they started serving food. It was a religious lecture. I can think of several very wrong and suable offenses here...
I've never gone to the point that some of my friends have -- being test subjects for science projects for cash. They didn't even need the money either.
Cassaendra at 11:53AM on 09/11/08
You might want to hesitate in calling it disgusting, since most freegans aren't digging through garbage cans to salvage half-eaten slices of pizza. The freegans I knew in college were pretty dedicated to wasting as little as possible in their own lives, and therefore wanted to separate themselves from a clearly consumer culture.
So, they were actually pretty cool and organized about it. They staked out particular stores to get a handle on when "garbage" went out each night (when it truth, the "garbage" was often perfectly wrapped and packaged sandwiches/baked goods/etc that simply wouldn't be fresh enough to sell at full price the next day...think Starbucks and Au Bon Pain). Then, they either scooped up the bags as soon as they were put out on the street for collection, or even worked it out with some places to be there each night to "intercept" the garbage. Most of the businesses had no problem with the system.
And they were selective, too. If something clearly gross was in a bag with edible items, obviously it wasn't eaten. But many chains have really specific disposal rules, so you weren't getting rubber gloves mixed in with your muffins. As I said, things were shockingly well-packed to be thrown out.
If you're paying attention to hygiene and a little flexible with your diet (and broke) I can admire the effort.
savecara at 12:16PM on 09/11/08
i think this is the coolest thing I've heard about! I hate waste (especially food) and I'd gladly take left overs as long as it was clean and sanitary.
How do i find out when they do the food dumping?? do i just go into bakeries and supermarkets and ask them to hand over their left overs to me?
Until a couple years ago, I would NEVER eat left overs. I'm a changed person.
terabithia at 1:27PM on 09/11/08
@nightowl in NYC at least a lot of people separate their books and put them out in separate boxes assuming that people will take them from the curb. Everyone in my apartment builiding just leaves their old books in the lobby for others to take.
bobbob at 2:32PM on 09/11/08
I used to work across the street from a Dean and Deluca in NYC, and every night at closing time, they would dump huge plastic bags of bread, pre-wrapped sandwiches and boxed salads. People would come out of the woodwork -- many of them very well-dressed to scoop up the goods. At first, I was kind of grossed out watching people pull bags from the dumpsters, but in reality, it's not that gross. Everything was from that day, had just been thrown out, and was still wrapped in plastic (or the bread was separated together in their own large bags). So, freeganism isn't necessarily just for vegans and it isn't as gross as rooting through a garbage can for a half-eaten burrito or something. It can be gourmet!
sporkster at 2:40PM on 09/11/08
The freegans in NYC host regular tours of their sites (freegan.info) if anyone's curious enough.
namepl at 4:03PM on 09/11/08
I would seriously reconsider the "dumpster diving" aspect of freeganism. There are too many risks of cross-contaimination and spoilage. Also, restaurants have notoriously tight profit margins. The chance of actually edible food in a restaurant dumpster is slim. There may be stale bread, expired dairy, or other items the health department will not allow for service, but not the feast many freegan websites claim.
beth1 at 10:00PM on 09/11/08
I've worked in restaurants and seen people throwing away food in individually wrapped containers because of a bruise, defect, or some other small aesthetic reason. It was still perfectly edible. There is so much waste out there.
hotcobbler at 10:01AM on 09/12/08
Restaurants, grocers, food distributors, etc. throw out good food by the ton every year. It is really a shame that there is not some organized system whereby this stuff is distributed at the end of business to those who need it. My b-i-l used to bring home CASES of snack foods (jerky, chips, dips) that were "expired", but still guaranteed by the company to be good for 2 weeks after the date. He has a houseful of kids & they still couldn't consume all the food, so my sister started leaving bags/boxes of it on her porch (in town) with a little note for anyone who needed it to please take some. A couple of nearby families & a few homeless people came by her porch regularly. Also, we would carry a box of it in our cars to give to beggars. In another instance, my favorite waiter at my former favorite cheap buffet place got FIRED for taking food from the GARBAGE home to his fixed-income elderly granny & their neighbors! Needless to say, that restaurant immediately went on the "lifetime ban" list. Also, a recommendation on getting free food for a party: contact the trade association for the product you want. My aunt contacted her state's "Dairy Council" & offered to BUY some cow-shaped balloons they had for her BBQ party & they gave her a bunch for free AND gave her 100+ 8oz cartons of white & chocolate milk for the kiddos (lots or daddies went for the chocolate milk, too! :) )
KitchenHawk at 12:25PM on 09/12/08
So like...a hobo, basically, then?
rasellers0 at 3:07PM on 09/12/08
Never heard of it the way it's defined here, but noted it does exist in the Urban Dictionary, you can check their website www.urbandictionary.com.
My first thought upon seeing the word itself was, gee, it sounds like an insult..."You are SUCH a "Freegan" idiot, why did I ever waste time with you"???
iamon02 at 5:16PM on 09/12/08
Sorry, I'm a PAYGAN!
srhcb at 9:24PM on 09/12/08
Sounds like something only a devil-may-care, idealistic college student could pull off. Any adult, especially with a family to support, would probably opt for a lifestyle that afforded more reliable means of putting food on the table, especially for kids. That said, I think it's quite admirable to sustain yourself on the waste of our society. Starbucks, for example, tosses out all those pastries that don't sell within a couple of hours. It's practically criminal.
DaveFaris at 11:18PM on 09/12/08
Our local foodbank has deals with places such as Panera's, Starbucks, Einstein's, Breuggers, etc. where they show up at closing time to pick up anything that is left from that day. The food is perfectly fine, but the corporate rules require them to ditch it and start from scratch the next day. There are lots of other places willing to save food for shelters before it hits the dumpsters. Our food bank's problem is that they don't have enough volunteers or vehicles to take advantage of all these opportunities. This thread reminded me that with winter and the holidays approaching, I need to get more involved in my community's efforts to help those less fortunate. I live in a nice, upper- middle class neighborhood, but with the current economy, I was surprised to learn that there are lots of people in my community who are struggling to keep their homes and put food on the table. Organized Freeganism sounds like a great idea. Thanks for the thread.
Josdean at 12:12PM on 09/14/08
@srhcb, too clever by half! i'll be stealing that one, thanks.
cybercita at 12:17PM on 09/14/08
I saw it on Oprah. At first I was disgusted but then I started to understand it a bit better. I'm not about to "jump in" but I am more aware now of how much food is wasted by our society.
yummydietfood at 4:56PM on 09/21/08