Freegans?

[moosmom]

Bev,

The thing about dumpster diving for food totally icks me out too. I can't even imagine not being able to find or afford food.

But the other finds, such as stuff people no longer want is a cool thing. I found lots of stuff I was able to use before I was able to buy some better stuff.

[columbine]

America's Second Harvest is an organization dedicated to minimizing food waste through "food rescue" - picking up food that stores won't sell because it's perfectly fine to eat but isn't A1 quality (bruised apples, day-old bread, wilted cabbage, cans with the labels stuck on upside down) and bringing it to food pantries and shelters where what needs to be cooked will be cooked immediately and the rest given to people whose appetites are guided more by need than by appearances.

A certain... oh, what the heck, Bread and Circus near where I used to live used to have plenty of scavengers nightly, picking up hotdog rolls, bok choy, broccoli starting to flower yellow - until they installed an enclosed dumpster with a CONVEYOR BELT into it (anybody ever read The Grapes of Wrath?) to make sure that the food would be wasted rather than attract Those People. I was walking past it one day with my friend Susan, who remarked on the graffiti someone had painted on the dumpster, yellow with purple dots: WASTE NOT, WANT NOT. "Do you like that graffiti?" asked Susan. "Yeah," I said. "I painted it," she said. I bought her a beer.

Hunger isn't far away. It's not just the homeless. It's largely kids from working families who look pretty much like your kids, except maybe they're having trouble keeping their eyes open in class. Someone in the family needed medicine, got hurt & lost their job, couldn't get to work without repairing the car. I bet there are folks here who've been hungry.

Love, Columbine

[Lizzie]

You are right, Columbine, you eat what you can when you are starving. I found myself totally penniless while living in Greece in my early twenties. Slowly, the pasta was used up and I didn't eat for three days. Starving is painful, especially when you are 22 and your metabolism is high. I couldn't dumpster dive in a country where food safety laws were non-existent (it was 1970) and it was hot. I asked for old bread at a bakery but they said they always threw it to the birds. I survived on the crusts of bread and honey left over by the child I had just started giving English lessons to. Boy, they tasted good and they prevented me passing out completely on the street. At night, I drank lots of water to fill my stomach briefly so that I might sleep. Fortunately, Pia told her parents what I was doing and they simply started inviting me to have lunch with them. I still remember that first lunch, okra stewed with tomatoes and olives - divine!

I believe stores throw out food that is past it's sell-by date. That means it's good to eat for a week or more after that. I often eat cheese that is weeks past its sell-by date. I would have a problem using vegetables that had been thrown in the trash, but I shouldn't since those same vegetables could have been mis-handled on their way to the store in the first place.

[jackie]

I read the Freegans site and while they have some good ideas, they also advocate squatting (housing is a RIGHT, not a privilege)and unemployment(For most of us, work means sacrificing our freedom to take orders from someone else).

Sorry, I am pretty green and love people who care about the environment, this group reminds me of PETA, just a bit too far out there for me.

[columbine]

Yeah, it's awkward when people who are mostly looking for attention co-opt an idea that's at its core quite sensible and twist it into a sideshow - because then that's ALL people see of the idea in the media (because spectacle buys "eyeballs" and sells ads).

Love, Columbine

[RICHARD]

I heard about the craiglist thing but had no idea as to the Freegan movement.

My brother discovered that a 'higher class" supermarket would put out day old bread into baskets at the rear of the store.

Some of the stuff that was thrown out was dated for that day.

LOL, a few honey buns into th mircowave? Good as new!

[lizbud]

I remember reading an article about Freegans once. I thought they
seemed like educated hobos. They don't want to contiibute to society
by working for food or housing.