Freeganism

[Chickpea]

Are there any Freegans here? I am awfully tempted to try waste 'reclamation', but its so cold at the mo and im a bit OCD with germs and stuff. Here is info on freeganism for peeps that havent come across it before: http://freegan.info/

I really hate waste, so this really appeals to me. Its probably too radical for most, and i cant imagine getting the bulk of my weekly shop this way (i like alot of fresh fish and veggies), but for well packaged goods with long shelf life i would consider it.

Any one have any Freegan experiences to share?

[jennipurrr]

I enjoy dumpster diving and "curb shopping" but I get kind of squeamish around food. In my mind I understand that is likely perfectly good, but I am not sure I could bring myself to eat it. Plus, I am weird about bread...one bite of stale bread has me "off" bread for several weeks. One time I did dumpster dive a haul of perfectly good olive oil and had no qualms with that.

I don't really get to dumpster dive much anymore though as my schedule doesn't have much free time and now with the price of gas I wonder if its worth it.

I'd love to hear if anyone is actually living as a full blown freegan. I've seen some shows on people like this and find the lifestyle very interesting!

[Chickpea]

sweet, yes im like you, i'd be ok with bottles/jars/tins (as long as outside was reasonably clean also) and well packaged goods (no air holes), but bread, vegetables, fruit etc i cant imagine being tempted at all =s ive never seen any docu's or anything on it, that would be interesting. I was following a blog by a guy who lives in my county who pretty much gets all his food this way, but it doesnt give him a well rounded diet imo, plus i like to try different recipes and cant imagine having my diet dictated by what i happen to find that week. Have you ever used Freecycle or sites like it?

[pony mom]

Freecycle doesn't allow giving away foods, but anything else goes.

One of my elderly neighbors is in a home and her children came and cleaned out whatever remained in her home. Lots of good things thrown away---such a shame. I found boxes of piano sheet music and posted them on Freecycle. Today a local piano teacher is picking them up.

I'd pick out things except food IF it's piled up away from dirty smelly garbage. Especially wood furniture.

[ApatheticNoMore]

There was a condom in the dumpster once while diving food. Certain associations are hard to get out of one's mind ...

(there are often a lot of other sources of cheap food and I don't mean anything as conventional as the store, if you look into them)

[HumboldtGurl]

Oh I can totally be into it but my one rule regarding food is that I won't take homemade foods that are left behind. It has to be in an original container, not someone's leftovers.

As far as everything else, from clothing to household goods, I'll definitely consider it as long as I know I'm not just taking something because its free but because I can actually use it.

It's such a fine line between being a freegan and being a hoarder.

[Zoebird]

I do some light/moderate freeganism.

First, we are part of a 'free to a good home' network. It's online. You have something you don't want, you put "free to a good home by date X" and then someone else says "i want it" and you arrange for collection. It's a great way to get things for kids -- since they grow out of stuff -- or furnish your house or whatever. We don't need anything, so now we are on the "giving away" side of things.

Second, we don't use a lot of processed foods, and most of the grocery stores here actually ahve food banks themselves and/or give to a near by foodbank. Thus, there's much less waste than in the US. Even so, once the produce is basically too far beyond the food bank's allowances, they just put them out on tables out the back. Since we drive by two big stores every day, I just look for the tables and crates. We'll park and run over and grab some produce. It's actually decent if you freeze and/or juice it (and freeze the juice) right away. It's also good, often, for stocks if you are getting veggies.

There is also the process of decent dumpster diving. You can get a lot of things "scrap" -- but there are a lot of "found art" artists here, so it can be tough to find things. YOu also have to be good at fixing things, because if you can't fix whatever it is you have, it' really is just 'junk.' Get a sense of the process, and talk to management as well -- some might have a real problem with dumpster diving, others will leave decent things out for you.

[HumboldtGurl]

I do some light/moderate freeganism.

Second, we don't use a lot of processed foods, and most of the grocery stores here actually ahve food banks themselves and/or give to a near by foodbank. Thus, there's much less waste than in the US.

That is so cool! I wish something like this could happen here in the states but I don't see that ever taking off thanks to our litigious (sp?) society. Sigh.

[Zoebird]

It's already happening and has been for years. Some shops get weird about it (ie, everything goes into the trash compactor, etc), but most places donate canned/boxed goods that have expired and give away produce either 'officially' or unofficially. Most of them do it very quietly, though.

[sweetana3]

We have two huge food gathering operations. Gleaners is monsterous (you can drive at least four tractor trailers inside and close the doors). "At Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana, we solicit, store and distribute food and critical grocery products to qualifying agencies who serve the public directly. Among those agencies are food pantries—as well as soup kitchens, halfway homes and emergency shelters.

The food bank is the storehouse for millions of pounds of food and other products that go out to the community. The pantry functions as the arms that reach out to that community directly and gathers all grocery type foodstuffs and sells some for pennies on the pound to all the smaller food banks. "

My husband and a couple of friends do a weekly pickup and delivery for a church food bank in one of our neighborhoods.

The second is Second Helpings. "We rescue prepared and perishable food, prepare it into nutritious meals and distribute those meals to more than 60 social services organizations that feed hungry people. We also use rescued food to train disadvantaged adults for careers in the culinary field, helping to eliminate hunger at its source." It gets a lot of positive press for both reasons.

[citrine]

I belong to Freecycle as well and will curb shop for furniture etc. I have not done it for food....I don't think I could.

[Chickpea]

Thank you for all the replies. Its great to read about so many organisations and people redistributing and working to combat the waste =) so good to see. I have a load of stuff i want to get rid of and will probably use freecycle to do it. I feel inspired reading of others efforts.

[decemberlov]

Chickpea, I think you'd really like the documentary Dive if you haven't seen it yet. I watched it on Netflix a few months back. Here's a link where you can watch part of it: http://www.divethefilm.com/

[reader99]

That is so cool! I wish something like this could happen here in the states but I don't see that ever taking off thanks to our litigious (sp?) society. Sigh.

Most of the meats and breads at food pantries here in FL come directly from local grocery stores.