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