Comments on: Freegans

By: Jes

Jes — Tue, 06 May 2008 02:51:48 +0000

My roomates and I have been eating a combination of dumpstered and bought food for over 2 years now. Last winter, the Safeway garbage compacter broke and they were just piling the waste of the day(which was emptied every night so all waste was only sitting out for that day) and we would go down there after the store closed and load up a shopping cart to take home filled with fresh fruit, veggies, cheese,meat,juice, milk, flowers, baked goods, etc. There are obvious guidelines, like, understanding the difference between “Sell by” and “Consume by”. Alot of stuff is thrown out simply because it must be sold by a certain date in order to be worth the consumers money, you know? Like, you would not want to pay your own money on a product with limited shelf life when you could get the same product with a much longer shelf life. More recently our dumpster destination has been a newly opened “Choices” market, which sells both commercial and healthier options, as well as having a huge deli and bakery made with fresh, organic meat and ingredients. They sell there meat as “Fresh” and “Packed on that day” So, they cannot have it sitting in the store as long as larger supermarkets do, because people are paying a litter more for the fresher quality. So when we eat these products, they are actually sometimes FRESHER then the frozen-thawed versions at the supermarket. Some stuff is definitely sketchy, and our philosophy is always to over cook meat/dairy. And NEVER eat dumpster meat during the summer, unless you find it still frozen. Ultimately, we don’t really have any sort of political reason for eating this way, its just mostly because we’re all young and pretty broke, and we can eat a wide variety of healthy, fresh foods on a low budget, instead of eating what we are more economically able to, such as mcdonalds and chips.

By: takepillsdie

takepillsdie — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 09:17:12 +0000

Everyone is freegan. it’s just a matter of how you classify your activities. ..and, some people get more to the point. Why try? do or die! there is no tomorrow. There is nothing we need to survive! We are making it all up! Go within or go without. The only crazy is opposite of hazy, nowadays. Out of minds is where’s the finds. thank you :)

By: Mike

Mike — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 14:08:37 +0000

There was an interesting story on the Today show this morning on Freeganism. In case you missed it the Web-site is http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/freegangirl/

By: Rob

Rob — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 12:38:18 +0000

Hello

I am researching for project I’m undertaking on the subject of freegans and freeganism. This is for the British press. I am curious to know whether you would be willing to participate.

Ultimately, I plan to write a feature on freeganism as a philosophy and profile several freegans. For the articles to be a success, I am very keen to hear the personal stories of freegans like yourself.

If this is of interest to you, you can contact me by:

Email: robcolville@hotmail.co.uk
Telephone: +44 (0) 790 96 288 20

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Robert Colville

http://www.elberto.co.uk

By: Barry

Barry — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 13:54:40 +0000

I did’nt have a term for it, but there were two seperate times in my life that I got all of my food from dumpsters–in two different states. I was not vegan then, but I was a vegetarian. I had no problem finding non-meat & non-sugar foods. i too found plenty of fruits and vegetables. These were not dumpsters filled with muck, just dumpsters with food sitting in them. Also, bags and bags of potatoe chips, one day past the date–fresh and crispy still. Some stores would attempt to sabatoge “freeganism” by slitting open all thrown away bags.
Later, I became a great consumer the capitalist way. I am still paying off a $10,000 credit card bill.

By: pauline toale-harvey

pauline toale-harvey — Thu, 11 May 2006 11:35:28 +0000

Dear Sirs..I heard about freeganism about three weeks ago on the radio[4]. Trouble is..I live in Essex..And I don’t get to know alot anything that either saves you money or makes your wages go further.. This freeganism sounds exactly right for making your “ends” meet.Can you tell me more about where to find the best skips to get your ‘rubbish’?[edible food..though maybe past it’s sellby date..] Are there any organizations in the Essex area that organize ‘Swar’ares’] around where these fruitful skips are? Thanking you..Yours Truly..Mrs. P.Toale-harvey..

By: Danielle

Danielle — Mon, 24 Apr 2006 16:42:58 +0000

Hey,

I’m a college student and once I’m done with my meal plan slavery, I intend to get a great deal of my sustinence from dumpster diving (that’s what we call it, I’ve never heard freegan). Anyway, sure, you can’t dive without the waste in the first place, but people who feel strongly about dumpster diving should put their money into other healthy food services like local produce, fair trade, and small business.

We activists need to be aware of elitism. I think it is a good thing though. I am a vegetarian (headed towards veganism) and I probably wouldn’t eat animal products even from a dumpster because it’s a bit to carnal for me.

By: ashwyn

ashwyn — Sun, 16 Apr 2006 18:02:18 +0000

About eating dumpstered meat, I can understand people choosing not to eat it for themselves (mainly for health reasons, or not to get addicted to the taste etc…) however it is entirely unfair to be attacking others for eating it.

Here is the situation: animal is killed because of human greed, animal’s flesh is left to rot because of human greed, ‘animal rights activists’ criticise people for putting the flesh to use.

How does it harm the animal? It is already dead, and to top that off, it has probably lived a miserable life. Surely it would be a monumental insult to the creature that was, to declare that this animal must go through all of that and then be discarded as a useless hunk of meat?

By: Kat

Kat — Fri, 03 Mar 2006 07:51:17 +0000

I think it’s amazing how fast everyone is to dismiss this idea because they know absolutely nothing about it. A lot of items are thrown into dumpsters in the packaged containers they came in, all because maybe it was the wrong order, a jar of sauce broke and got on all the other jars of sauce and they were to lazy to clean them up, leftover donuts that were just bagged and tossed, things tossed out because they were close or at pull date etc… it’s not all just “hey I found a pile of rice in this dirty dumpster, lets eat it” A lot of it is in better condition then somethings in peoples homes! Also, to me it is much better to eat non vegan food if it is otherwise going to rot and sit in a dumpster. Besides, it isn’t supporting the laws of supply and demand-I mean if you are’t buying it, it doesn’t increase the demand (therefore, more animals aren’t hurt/killed in the process)

By: chloe

chloe — Fri, 10 Feb 2006 06:14:54 +0000

as someone who has chosen to follow a “freegan” diet, i’d like to say that dumpster diving isn’t an art, it’s just common sense. tons of places across the country throw out bags full of perfectly good food just because the packages are damaged, the arbitrary sell by date has passed, or they’ve decided to stop carrying the product on the shelves. it’s obviously unwise to take meats or dairy (with the exception of some yoghurts) because of spoilage, but grains, breads, bagels, cakes, cookies, root vegetables, dried fruits, and nuts are totally okay. i’m often amazed at the selection of untouched food and other things available in some dumpsters. you can find anything from packages of unopened chopsticks, to flowers, to bags of potatoes. most cities have inner circles of people who know which dumpsters to hit and on which nights. keep your ears open and talk to others and you’ll find that you could get just about anything you might need. if you find a ton of one thing, don’t let it go to waste. spread the wealth, no one deserves to go hungry.

By: Ed

Ed — Tue, 07 Feb 2006 17:36:09 +0000

God bless the Freegans! Well done, guys!Good point! You are a living example of what Hewey Long (a presidential candidate from the 1930’s) once said: “America is like ten guys at a barbecue and the corporations are like the one guy who comes to the barbecue and takes the plate with ALL the food on it intended for the other NINE! Well, you’re just not gonna let that man walk away with the barbecue intended for everyone, are you?”
Good idea you got, there. Well done! I like it! We need more folks like you who really understand what’s going on!

By: Okay

Okay — Wed, 04 Jan 2006 18:59:13 +0000

I guess you can pet your dog and eat it to as long as you don’t pay for it? Hmmm, I will think about that. If they want to be of a pure non-capalistic view, why aren’t they growing the things they eat rather than digging in my gabage can for it? Seems to me that bums do the same thing. I didn’t know that were just looking for another title.

By: HEIDI

HEIDI — Thu, 29 Dec 2005 19:46:41 +0000

They have a point of how the U.S wastes food, but come on.!!!! They are trying to prove a point but are going to get sick in the process!!!!!!!!!!
Give me a break “FREAKINS’

By: Eva

Eva — Mon, 26 Dec 2005 20:11:09 +0000

My take on freeganism is that it is a way to be flexible and let go of some of the rigidity that surrounds eating choices. It is always an adventure to boot when one is digging around in the dumspter. It is amazing how much food in the country goes to waste and how few take advantage of it. Sometimes it pays to be flexible when money is tight and food out there is being wasted.

By: ash

ash — Sun, 18 Dec 2005 01:29:25 +0000

The idea of reducing waste and consumerism is great but there are others ways to do it. Freeganism makes an attempt to address animal rights, but by eating animals whether the food is free or not does not promote compassion towards animals.
I’m not saying freegans do this, but the practice of eating animals out of a dumpster could very well be an excuse to eat flesh once more but feel better about themselves.