A Freegan Was Forged

Food...from a dumpster? I'm positive that my initial reaction was akin to that of anyone who hears about dumpster diving.  Let's face it: no wants to eat food from the garbage.  When I originally thought about dumpster diving, I pictured vagabonds digging through trash for half-eaten sandwiches and the like.  My girlfriend, however, taught me that her experience was nothing like that.  In fact the food is often in such good condition, that there are families dedicated to creating most of their meals with food acquired from the dumpster.  Not only did this peak my curiosity, but I found myself getting excited for this new venture.  

    

 Before we began planning my first dive, she explained the significance of this act.  Food stores often discard items at the end of the night.  These items are usually at their sell-by date, or they have other small issues such as slightly crushed contents, over-ripeness, or ripped packing.  Instead of giving this food away to the needy, these stores would rather toss the items out completely.  Their reasoning is that if no profit can be made from the sale of these items, they would much rather make sure that no one has them.  Some stores even go so far as to purchase trash compactors, so that no one can go foraging for food.  I must admit to feeling a tad self-righteous, knowing that this food would benefit someone whether the company wanted it to or not.

       

We were prepared.  Well, sort of.  I made the mistake of wearing a white shirt for our supposed stealth mission, while my clearly more intelligent girlfriend donned all black.  My gf chuckled a bit at my unpreparedness.  My rookie tag was on full display.  Aside from that small oversight, we managed to bring flashlights, a step-stool, and re-usable grocery bags for the food.  As we drove off into the night, I was beginning to feel a tad skeptical.  What if we found nothing? What if we were caught in the act?  This act can technically be seen as trespassing, so we made sure to take precautions.  As we approached the mostly empty parking lot, the sight of an immobile police vehicle put me on edge a bit.  I looked over to my gf for reassurance.  She smiled, and gave my arm a pat.  I hoped for the best.

       

As we pulled up beside the dumpster, we made sure to shut off everything.  The trunk was popped, and our doors were gently shut.  Correction, her door was gently shut.  In my haste I slammed the passenger door, signaling anything within earshot.  After a quick "don't ever do that again" glance from my gf, I worked my way towards the dumpster.  As I slid the door open, I peered inside.  There were at least a dozen bags of trash piled up.  As I looked back at my girlfriend, she said the three words that would start a revolution within my own way of thinking.  "Alright, dive in."         

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First Dive Finds

4 Bananas
1 pkg Smoked salmon
1 Gallon of whole milk
2 lbs of Carrots
4 lbs of Potatoes
6 Ears of corn (threw away due to our error)
6 Bran cupcakes
6 Peanut butter filled chocolate cupcakes
1 container Cinnamon Rugelach
10 Fresh eggs
2 Frozen burritos
1 container fresh Baby bella mushrooms
4 Bags of lettuce (threw away non usuable 2 bags---soggy/brown)
1 lb Mozarella cheese
1 pound Jasmine rice
1 pkg Gummy bears
1 container Dark roasted Expresso beans

The best thing since sliced bread...is more bread!

As with trying any new activity with an element of danger, my first time dumpster diving was a bit of an adrenaline rush.

A few years ago I had heard the quiet murmurs of people choosing to eat trash and wanted to know more. I found out that it was something of a social campaign against food waste that corporations employ. They did this only because they refused to give the food to needy persons/groups. I knew I had to be part of the solution not the problem. I read that we as a society wasted 1/2, that's 50%, of all that we produced and that just sounded unfair---not only to the people who clearly needed help but also to the food. A lot of man hours, energy, and effort goes into producing food and when half of that effort is discarded unceremoniously it seems unjustifiable to me.

I found a group of local individuals who shared these common thoughts and feelings about food waste who were doing something about it. Aside from their other forms of protest they also went bin diving, once I had passed the unspoken initiation process I was lucky enough to be invited along on a dive. My first.

I was explained the basics and given a time to show up at our meeting place where we would walk to a local store. I wasn't given much else except a flashlight upon arriving and sleepless smiles for the midnight hour.

"We got arrested last month, so be on the lookout," said the guy who lead the way to the store in the darkness.

Arrested? No one had mentioned breaking the law!

I had two options: forge ahead to unknown territory for an adventure or back out like a coward. My morals had been reasons I stood on, unafraid of consequences before and now didn't look like the time to change that stance.

We trekked the eight blocks in hushed whispers, drawn hoodies, and quick steps. I'm sure to the untrained eye we looked like a small group of hoodlums, not the social concerned environmentalists that we were.

I'll never forget the words spoken to me when we finally arrived at that night-cloaked yet brimming with possibilities of a dumpster:

"Dive in!" the same guy who spoke of jail time grinned and said.

I stood back in awe and watched before doing just that. A dumpster full of bread seems to have that affect on one. Some of the bread was stale, a small amount was growing penicillin but for the most part it was all fairly edible. I filled my backpack to the brim with as much bread product as it could hold, I put one bagel on each wrist, and victoriously headed back to our "headquarters".

No police officers, a full dumpster of reusable foods, and a new solidified stance on an important global issue...it was the beginning of something beautiful.

One person's trash...

Dumpster diving.

It sounds so...dirty when you read it or hear it said.

It sounds like something only the homeless resort to but over the last 10 years or so it has become increasingly popular among certain crowds. Some people consider it "urban foraging" but we just consider it fun and Eco-friendly.

The great thing about dumpster diving is it isn't just limited to foods (that's our favorite!) but any items that can be found in dumpsters; clothing, furniture, and many other things deemed in good working order.

Based on what Wikipedia says my boyfriend and I would be considered Freegans. This due solely to the fact that we reclaim and eat food that has been discarded. And while I'm a flexitarian and sometimes eat meat, my boyfriend is a carnivore, though he'll enjoy vegetarian meals occasionally.

The bottom line is we love food!

With our borderline obsession of scouring the internet looking for new recipes to try and our liberal ecological views, it was only a natural progression that we'd end up here...diving in dumpsters for fun.

While I'm a veteran at bin diving my boyfriend is all new to this but he certainly has found a new past time.

It's with that, I welcome you to take a peek at our dive adventures, "trash treats" (recipes included!), and general ramblings about community, social concern, conformity, and greed.