I just saw a documentary the other day on Freegans, in case you don’t know who they are, from Wikipedia:
Freeganism is an anti-consumerist lifestyle whereby people employ alternative living strategies based on limited participation in the conventional economy and minimal consumption of resources.
Freegans “embrace community, generosity, social concern, freedom, cooperation, and sharing in opposition to a society based on materialism, moral apathy, competition, conformity, and greed.” The lifestyle involves salvaging discarded, unspoiled food from supermarket dumpsters, known as ‘dumpster diving’. Freegans salvage the food for political reasons, rather than out of need.
The word “freegan” is a portmanteau of “free” and “vegan”. Freeganism started in the mid 1960s, out of the antiglobalization and environmentalist movements. The movement also has elements of Diggers, an anarchist street theater group based in Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco in the 1960s, that gave away rescued food.
WHY I LOVE THE IDEA
Eating what stores waste is something that really great. I love the idea of eating those day-old bagels that stores would otherwise send to landfills.
One lead freegan in NYC said that 50% of what stores throw out go straight to the landfill.
50%! Can you believe that? You almost wonder why they don’t just sell it for half off or at a deeper discount for those who want to pay.
Lowering waste in landfills and feeding those who need it? I’m down for that.
WHY I HATE THE IDEA
I actually don’t hate the idea so much as I dislike what is starting to surface.
A few freegans were saying things like: Stores and people should set aside food for us freegans, but of course they would NEVER do that because it’s not good for capitalism.
Well. DUH. YEAH.
How would stores ever sell if everyone knew they would just set aside food for free at the end of the day?
What I really don’t like is the complaining about stuff not being set aside for you to pick up easily, prepackaged with a note “FREE STUFF” for you.
If it were that easy, you may not be able to find as much as you do now. People are also not obligated to tell you there is free stuff for you.
My gripe with the whole thing is mainly that someone out there paid for that.
Whether it was the store’s inventory, or that I threw out an onion that was half rotten (I wouldn’t do that by the way, I normally cut off the bad part and use the rest) — I paid for that.
Sure I threw it away, and sure I consider it garbage, but telling me that I am wrong for not labelling: “free stuff” for you to come and pick through my trash easily doesn’t sit well with me.
To top it off, telling me I don’t do that because I’m such a dirty low down capitalist, also makes me irritated because it is because of capitalism that there is the availability of food and such a lifestyle to grow organically.
I’m happy to be a capitalist. Do they even know what that means for each individual, and country?
Capitalism is an economic system in which the means of production are privately owned and operated for a private profit; decisions regarding supply, demand, price, distribution, and investments are made by private actors in the market rather than by central planning by the government; profit is distributed to owners who invest in businesses, and wages are paid to workers employed by businesses and companies. (Wikipedia)
I don’t see being a capitalist as supporting “The Man”, because “The Man” are the companies out there providing jobs and wages in a free-market sort of structure that allows stars to shine brighter than you can imagine and it pushes others to be competitive, which helps an economy thrive.
Can you really trust our government to dole out money to its citizens, without allowing for corruption either at the highest level or people at the individual level not pulling their own weight and being lazy?
Or admitting that there are those of us who can do certain jobs better than others and vice versa, and not capitalizing on each of our individual skills?
Where would freegans be if everyone was a freegan? Who would work if we could get everything for free? (I’m being facetious here).
Toronto on their Garbage Strike when I was there a few years ago
Freeganism works because there is waste generated from capitalism.
I am not saying the waste generated is right, I am just slightly peeved when you hear freegans complain about the situation or pooh-pooh capitalism because our society is filled with so-called mindless consumer-driven drones such as myself.
Anyway.
I am not saying I would never be a freegan either — I find the concept both eco-friendly, cheap and intriguing, but ultimately since I have the luxury of having money, I don’t need to choose between scavenging for food or buying it.
If I can choose and buy what I want to eat (miso paste I am sure, is not in those trashbags), I’d rather pay than leave it up to street garbage fate, because I have the choice to do so (some freegans don’t scavenge for food by choice, I recognize that and support their decision to survive).
But enough of my blathering rant.
Just a girl trying to find a balance between being a Shopaholic and a Saver.
I cleared $60,000 in 18 months earning $65,000 gross/year.
Now I am self-employed, and you can read more about 
I don’t believe ALL freegans are so self-righteous that they expect the food to be handed to them by these food chains. I think the author of this article is projecting the opinions of a few unto the whole freegan community. There are freegans who give back as much as they take. Often they hold community swaps, host dinners & gift leftovers. Freegans also will take furniture, bikes, and used goods off of sidewalks. It’s not primarily just food, but also most consumer goods. Most freegans go by the rule of “don’t take more than you need”. Mainly this is because there’ll be more tomorrow, but also for the fact that while our consumer culture is all about excess, freegans are against it. I’d be personally hesitant to jump in a dumpster–but if there was an abandoned, properly-contained bag of food that was in good, sanitary condition, then I’d hold off any presumptuous restraint that society conditioned in me. Unfortunately, this doesn’t happen in my state & there are no freegan communities to dive with here as of yet. For now, I don’t waste the food I have in my home. I’d have a feast of near-expiring food or cut off the moldy part of bread, before I’d throw any of it out. Mushrooms are fungus, cheese is mold & milk is pus, so I’m not so blind to be disgusted easily by those things. I just look at food in a different frame of mind. Food is just energy. If it sustains me, then I’ll eat it. I don’t buy more than I have to. In fact, most of the food I buy is frozen goods so that I’m not as militant about maintaining my food stores. Until I can comfortably be a freegan, this is how I do my part in the consumerist culture that I’m presently a part of. I pass no judgement on freegans or consumers. To each their own–however, I do hope consumers will focus less on the “own” & more on the “to each” in support of reducing waste 🙂
I saw a TV show here in the UK about freeganism. Whilst I can get on board with making a statement about waste (especially food waste), what struck me about this show was that these freegans didn’t pay any taxes. Now I’m not saying that they’re representative of all freegans- these freegans were probably particularly extreme, chosen by the TV crew to make for more interesting viewing. That said, it was quite hard to feel any kind of support for people who were surviving off corporate waste and putting their children through state-funded schools, whilst making the most of the UK’s state-funded health service without contributing to society.
Freegans have a point in that companies have to be environmentally and socially conscious. Wastage doesn’t make sense commercially or ethically. That said (and I hate to use inflammatory phrases like this) but sponging off a commercial entity isn’t the way to go about making this point, in my opinion.
The same people that whine about capitalism are the same ones that would hate a socialized world.
Humans have tried socialism and it didn’t work. Capitalism isn’t perfect but it’s the best we have. Europe is also starting to embrace capitalism because they’ve realized that socialism doesn’t work. It’s because of capitalism that Americans enjoy such a high quality of life.
Although I would say that right now the U.S. is becoming more bureaucratic and Hong Kong actually has a higher quality of economic freedom in the world. I would never choose to be a freegan. Why? No thank you.
With capitalism you have to earn what you have, with socialism you ride on the hard work of others. It’s fine to be a vegan, and to be environmentally friendly, and whatever else you want, but why can’t people do that without mooching off others?
I hate those that claim they want to save the earth but then they do it by mooching off the government, and from their friends, family, acquaintances, etc. It’s wrong.
Incidentally I wouldn’t say that Europe is ‘starting to embrace capitalism’. Europe has been largely capitalist since the 16th century! Former members of the Eastern Bloc have turned their backs on communism (which is distinct from socialism) since the fall of the Soviet Union, but that’s hardly demonstrative of the whole continent!
I don’t think I could be a Freegan. There was an episode on Oprah once about this and I believe Oprah went dumpster diving with freegans in the episode. It was quite disgusting and all of the freegans thought they deserved the stuff. How is anyone supposed to make a living if everything is free?
That’s the part I struggle with — I think most of us wouldn’t do it, so those who would.. end up being a small percentage of the population, so it isn’t like they’re trying to force others to let them freeload
Besides the obvious reasons why stores can’t just put out free food and clothing that you stated, let’s also remember that we have a lot of laws and red tape that make that difficult or impossible. You can’t give away stuff (or sell it) on the sidewalk in a lot of cities w/o a permit and sometimes not at all. You often can’t give away stuff without the right tax paperwork since it’s a charitable donation. Also if a fight breaks out over free food or someone gets hurt retrieving free food from a bin, the store may be held liable and subject to lawsuits.
I have no issues with freegans, but I don’t see that stores should go out of their way to help them. I also don’t think they should arrest them either (that happens).
I used to buy day old bread all the time. But most stores don’t sell it – they donate it (around here anyway).
Cheap Ass Van – I am also a cheap ass, and everyone at work who has extra food – fish they caught, fruit from trees, or too many zucchinis – they end up on my desk. Well, the fish ends up in the freezer.
Personally, I could see this more for items that are thrown away rather than food. I wouldn’t eat food from the trash, it makes my skin crawl to think about. I work in a grocery store and I know that the food that we throw away is either food that has gone bad, or that fell on the floor. I wouldn’t eat food off that floor. Anything close to its expiration date does get marked down and displayed on a discount rack, or in the regular displays but with a manager’s special sticker on it. I don’t know if other chains do the same (We have 67 stores but only in two US states).
I feel if a business wants to throw extra food out they have the right to. It’s the same as if I want to throw out bread that’s stale. Maybe someone else wants it however; I am not going to go out of my way to offer it on craigslist rather than throwing it out.
I’m not a big fan of freeganism either. I think the store should donate the food to food banks and soup kitchen instead of throwing them away. I heard on the radio that the stores don’t do it because they are afraid of lawsuits. That’s too bad. I guess freegans benefit from this dumb policy and our sue happy culture.
*sigh* That’s true. Lawsuits if you get sick from the donated food.. etc etc…
I used to go through the trash for food with some friends in the winter when it’s easier to do so here in scorching hot Florida. (Food will liquify in the summer, not a good idea to try Freeganism here in the summer.) I have a guide and photos of finds here: http://bit.ly/gu9Sv3
I’m a capitalist and don’t want grocery stores to make it easy for anyone, either. I would prefer that food was sold for less so everyone wins, stores don’t have to throw out food, and maybe lower income people who need it could afford it.
It PAINS me to see food thrown out. I’ve made several meals that last for days out of my friend’s oversized-restaurant portion leftovers. They know cheap-ass Van is the one to give their food cast-offs too 😉
The grocery stores in Canada have huge bins with marked down fresh food. The only thing about food that has mold on it (even a little) is that I read the spores go through the entire fruit before showing up on the surface.. and it isn’t safe to eat.
I feel like freeganism is one of those things that I really like in theory, but in practice, the whole manifesto just comes off as self-righteous and annoying. I would love to see stores and restaurants donating leftover stuff to a shelter, though.
This seems to be a recurring sentiment — donate it, discount it for the poor..
Hmmmm….really unsure how I feel about this. I am all for not wasting food and hate having to throw food out. However, dumpster diving is not my cup of tea. I agree with Snob in that supermarkets should donate food rather discarding of it.
I have the same issues with freegans as you.
My husband and I have found coffee tables on the curb and taken them, as also have quite a few things from FreeCycle, however assuming that people will just you food after they are done for the day rubs me the wrong way.
I do think there is too much waste and think the food should be donated to a shelter for example or discounted for the working poor.
OH! I love the idea that it could be discounted for the working poor. That would be a great way to get rid of the excess food. Perhaps like something along the lines of a food stamp program?
A lot of minimalists also seem to rely on “everyone else”… to lend stuff, discard stuff or whatever.
Just saying.
Good point. But I think as a minimalist I also lend stuff out. A lot of what we own, my family gets to use as well 🙂
I only give away or discard items if they can use it. If not, I donate it or toss it if it’s really useless.
I read an article in the newspaper about freeganism not long ago. I found it an intriguing phenomenon and an adventurous way of getting food, but one of the thing I too thought was: not everybody can scavenge for free food, as it has got to come from somewhere. And I don’t think I could do it – I’d rather buy my food to be honest.
That said, there *is* a lot of good food thrown away. I worked a couple of times at a shop selling bagels and smoothies at the train station and next to us was a shop selling sandwiches and baked goods and other stuff (both shops, but actually one company). They closed a little bit earlier than us and we could take home some baked goods like croissants or sandwiches as they had to be thrown away anyway because of food regulations. When we closed up, I often took home a big cup of juice or smoothie before throwing the rest of the can into the trash. Especially fresh smoothies and fruit juices have to be thrown away quite quickly (some you could only sell up until 6 or 8 hours after you made them).
But I do think it’s good that there is such a movement as freeganism, because it might make people think about all the food they waste and make more of an effort to actually eat all the food they buy. That’s what I try to do and it is actually a lot of fun, because it forces you to be creative and make new combinations (some good, some not so good).
No kidding. I see places toss a LOT of food, but could it go to the homeless as well? I always wondered about those begging for food on the street — if they could eat the leftovers in the pot.