Freeganism – Dumpster Diving For Dinner

Have you ever considered getting your dinner from the dumpster? Did you know you can find TONS of fresh produce, breads and more from inside those big huge bins? You can – and alot of people do! These people are called freegans.

Freegans are a large group of people who salvage food and other goods from the trash.

Most of the food that is found is still in the original packaging. Things like bagels, muffins, cookies, cereal, crackers, cheese and even meat. Most of it is either just slightly past the sell-by date or nearing the sell-by date. Things like cartons of eggs are thrown away just because one the eggs in a carton is broken, even though there are 11 other good other eggs inside. Fruit and vegetables are often thrown away because they have small dents. Supermarkets throw away this perfectly edible food mainly for cosmetic reasons, which is a shame.

I do have some concerns about safety while dumpster diving and if it is even legal (I’m sure in some circumstances it isn’t).

I’ve been watching some videos and reading articles about this topic over the last few days and am absolutely shocked at how much perfectly good food is thrown away. In one video someone found 8 packages of corn on the cob that was bright yellow, perfectly fine! I would totally eat that. This same person also found an entire crate full of perfectly good fresh parsley. OMG!

I’m starting to re-think whether or not I would actually dumpster dive for food. FOR REALS!

Freegans don’t only go ‘shopping’ for food, they also find things like office supplies, furniture, clothing and books – all in excellent condition. It’s amazing what people will throw in the trash.

Are you a freegan or would you ever consider being one?