Dumpster Diving: Yea or Nay?
Back in colllege I loved to go dumpster diving. It was fun, it was dirty, it felt revolutionary and it always resulted in loads of free eats. We'd hit the alleys behind grocery stores and restaurants (mosty pizza places) and carry home days worth of meals. The dumpsters around the dorms at the end of the semester were especially fruitful. Kids would throw out EVERYTHING THEY HAD before heading home for break. Shoes, furniture, brand new razors; I even got a brand-new printer in the box, and of course, lots of food, mostly packaged grub.
Now that I'm a professional cook, I have little reason to dumpster dive anymore. But I still think about it sometimes. How about the rest of you? Have you tried living off the dregs of society? What do you think?
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22 Comments:
It's astounding what people throw out. I certainly dabbled with it in my college days. Let's just say that many of the students at my school had had a charmed life, and many an unopened package was tossed for no apparent reason. I mainly took chairs, boxes and other non-edibles, but sometimes a perfectly good package of food would call out to me.
I really only feel comfortable taking things still in packages, like breads, and certainly stay away from meats and diary. Big cities have entire communities of Dumpster Divers. Personally I'm very glad there are those keeping doing something to lessen the load on our landfills and lower the amount of food waste, which is utterly unbelievable given that so many starve in this world. It is so socially unacceptable, but they are more people than you think who dumpster dive.
toasteebagel at 10:23PM on 07/22/09
Food items? absolutely no.
Other things--really depends on the location of the dumpster. Anyway, around here, someone's probably already looted them by the time you'd see it.
beth1 at 11:00PM on 07/22/09
I once new a couple of girls that were really hard up on cash who regularly visited the dumpster behind a local grocery store for packaged cheese that had just expired.
I also worked at a pizzeria in my younger years and we had a frat boy delivery guy who would swing by with his brothers just after the bars closed and go dumpster diving for any leftover slices/undeliverable pies. We always told him that it was a one second rule regarding the dumpster roaches--he and his buddies figured it to be a fifteen to thirty minute rule, always rising in correlation to the number of beers consumed that night. We also teased them about the old saying at "ten of two, all the two's become ten's"(last call in our area) and rather than referring to girls and the walk of shame, it instead applied to their dumpster diving eats.
dhorst at 12:19AM on 07/23/09
25 years ago when I was a punk rock girl a group of guys in our group used to like to DD and get leftover pizza ect.
pjracz10 at 3:14AM on 07/23/09
No.
Save $30 on food, then have a $3,000 emergency room bill for severe food poisoning.
HeartofGlass at 8:01AM on 07/23/09
Yikes - this thread brought backsome awful memories of seeing the real deal in dumpster divers. Many years ago I worked on a political campaign in Anchorage, The office was behind a mall that had a restaurant in it. One night as I was leaving our office I heard a rustling noise, turned and saw a man dragging a boxtop filled with table scraps into the shrubs by the dumpster. There were shelters around town providing food so who knows why people resorted to climbing into those smelly dumpsters for food. I can still see that food piled high in the boxtop, food that had been scraped off plates before being put in the dishwasher.
annzee at 10:06AM on 07/23/09
nay...for me, at least-particularly food
i don't care if other people do-more power to them
but it would give me the heebie jeebies.
gastronomeg at 10:51AM on 07/23/09
I would not go near a dumpster, let alone take anything from it.
flavacrisp at 11:43AM on 07/23/09
Nope, not for food. It's just not worth it to me.
emgroff at 11:55AM on 07/23/09
There are groups all around nyc that go dumpster diving in specific locations where they know the food is clean. Ive read lots of stories about dumpster diving and how supermarkets, and especially bakeries throw out perfectly good food every day. I'd do it if I knew what time they took all the food outside.
terabithia at 12:42PM on 07/23/09
No, nope, nay, nada, nyet, NO F*****G WAY!
finsbigfan at 12:43PM on 07/23/09
Why don't these places donate the food that is reusable to homeless shelters?
DELICIOUS at 3:13PM on 07/23/09
I once DD'ed behind a drugstore for junk food that had gone past the sell by date but was still in all its shrink wrapped glory. I have thought about going DD'ing for pizza or Starbucks pastries or things of that sort, but I never have.
DD'ing for non-food stuff is kind of a pastime in my family. We have gotten a computer desk, among other things. For the most part we only take advantage if it's already visible, though.
If I were broke (really broke) or homeless and hungry, I would have no qualms about eating the heat lamp burgers at the end of the McDonalds shift or the heat lamp pizzas after Pizza Hut closes for the night.
nightowl at 3:36PM on 07/23/09
I really cannot wrap my head around dumpster diving. Even if the food is unopened, still good, etc., it's surrounded by a sea of stuff that isn't! And going through that with my own hands for something I'm going to eventually put in my mouth makes me....nauseous.
Hillary
Chew on That
Chew on That at 3:41PM on 07/23/09
I'm in grad school, and a bunch of people here think it's fun to dumpster dive for food. As someone who grew up poor, I find no hilarity in digging through garbage in order to eat.
BangieB at 3:41PM on 07/23/09
Not on a f*ing bet.
therealchiffonade at 3:47PM on 07/23/09
Ewwww, eewwwwwwwww eeeeeeewwwwwwww!!!!!
finewinendine at 4:40PM on 07/23/09
freegans take their lives in their own hands, I would never dumpster dive for food. ever.
CATERPILLARGIRL at 4:41PM on 07/23/09
I don't think I would DD for food and am glad that I have never had to. When in Philly for the theater and dinner if I have leftovers bagged up, I leave them on a bench or concrete wall for someone who might be hungry to 'find'.
janaatwg at 4:55PM on 07/23/09
I've gone dumpster diving, but never for food. That being said, I could understand why people do. Major chains throw out perfectly good food for no reason.
My best friend works at Chipotle and he says they have tons of leftover food each night, but the people who work there aren't allowed to take it home because the manager would be accused of ordering extra food just to be able to take it home or pass it out to employees. So essentially, it's company policy to throw out all extra food at the end of the day. It's perfectly good and delicious. I'm sure tons of other places have similar policies. It's just wasting good food and some of them- also according to company policy- aren't even allowed to donate the food to shelters each night. I know that's the case at Chipotle.
PumpkinBear at 12:40AM on 07/24/09
At the Boston pizza place, the Upper Crust, instead of throwing out the extra pizzas at the end of the day--they put them on the back stoop, drunk college kids (me and my friends), homeless people, and those heading home from a Sox game can grab a slice off the stoop instead of out of the dumpster--great idea I think.
veggieout at 2:28PM on 07/24/09
hmmm....well untill its the last resourt I say NAY
...but to each their own I guess!
I can't help but picture that scene from Look Who's Talking when John Travolta comes home with "mystery meat" haha
hungrychristel at 4:07PM on 07/24/09