Freegans - Living off of American Excess

onlyoneplanet · 02-21-2006, 05:57 AM

http://www.infoshop.org/inews/articl...00602201257323

Who would've thought you could score free stuff without having to win or steal it? And save the world at the SAME TIME!

More info:
www.freegan.info

As cliche (and almost pointless) as is it to say, someday our kids will have to confront the malignancies created by our careless wasting and polluting. Since reforms are pretty much out of the question, I think we all ought to take the advice of Mohandus M. Gandhi, and "be the change we'd like to see".

Even though most folks would be rather disgusted by the idea of picking through dumpsters, you'd be amazed at some of the stuff people find. Hell, it's even as easy as asking your local bakery for leftovers; that's how me and my buddies get food to donate to FoodNotBombs.

The point is, we're living in a country where people throw WHOLE BUILDINGS away, and we have to realize that just because someone threw something away doesn't mean it's trash.

On Wednesday (trash day), go take a peek in the dumpster of say, Best Buy, or Safeway. Stores will even throw shit away if the packaging is damaged, or if there's overstock. Half the time, there's nothing even wrong with the product itself.

Jefferson · 02-21-2006, 05:02 PM

If that's the way Freegans want to live, that's their choice.

I wonder if the Freegans frequent soup kitchens, homeless shelters, etc. Because if they do, that seems to be a bit of a paradox and hypocrisy.

foundit66 · 02-21-2006, 05:33 PM

I remember a story about a youngster who started a program of visiting fast food places to collect their "throw-aways" to give to the homeless.

Having worked fast-food in the past, I know they throw away perfectly good food which is past its "freshness" timing of well less than an hour from the time it was created...

I guess the obviously more disgusting aspect would be if they ate food that wasn't contained in a container and was just mingling with the other trash.

But regardless, a lot of this food could be given to feed the hungry...

Quote:

Last year, according to the Department of Agriculture, 34.9 million Americans like the Compeans were "food insecure" - the government's term for those who must survive on a diet not nutritious enough to keep a child healthy. More than 13 million of those people were children. The U.S. Conference of Mayors expects that requests for emergency food from families with children will increase in 91% of the nation's cities this year. They also document that emergency food outlets in 56% of the nation's cities turned away hungry families last year because they ran out of resources.

Federal Programs such as food stamps and free school lunches provide critical nutrition to millions of children. And an army of volunteers at food banks, church pantries, and soup kitchens is struggling to get food to the children who need it most. But the safety net that most Americans presume is there to catch children before they sink too far is torn in too many places, leaving far too many in free fall.

"Food is a basic right for every American child," says Bill Shore, executive director of Share Our Strength, the anti-hunger organization that works with PARADE and other partners to sponsor the annual Great American Bake Sale. "This is the wealthiest nation on earth, and we have the resources to wipe out child hunger in our time. All it takes is the political will to make the welfare of children one of our nation's top priorities."

The first step is coming to terms with the shattering effect with the unstable economy has had on families. "In spite of recent reports that the economy has rebounded, our pantries and soup kitchens are trying to serve a surging number of families," says Robert Forney, president and CEO of America's Second Harvest, a network of more than 200 regional food banks. Second Harvest distributed nearly 2 billion pounds of food last year to more than 23 million hungry Americans, including 9 million children.

"Millions of people have used up their unemployment insurance benefits, spent their savings, sold off their assets and come to us because they have no way to feed their families," Forney explains.
The San Diego Union-Tribune Parade inset, 04 April 2004, pp 6-7.

Jefferson · 02-21-2006, 11:23 PM

In addition, a lot of hunters in my part of the country donate a LOT of meat to food pantries and homeless shelters. Seems like a pretty good move.

onlyoneplanet · 02-22-2006, 03:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jefferson

If that's the way Freegans want to live, that's their choice.

I wonder if the Freegans frequent soup kitchens, homeless shelters, etc. Because if they do, that seems to be a bit of a paradox and hypocrisy.

Most of the freegans I know won't turn down free food. I've gotten soup and biscuits from those kinds of places, but 1.) It was offered to me, and 2.) I was there to donate liberated pastries.

RidinHighSpeeds · 02-22-2006, 04:22 PM

Key point in that article, "In our culture, we always need newer, shinier things"

onlyoneplanet · 02-22-2006, 04:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ridinhighspeeds

Key point in that article, "In our culture, we always need newer, shinier things"

Ahh, it's so agonizingly true.

02-22-2006, 04:22 PM		#6 (permalink)
	RidinHighSpeeds Website Owner Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Taxachusetts Gender: Posts: 5,514 Country: Thanks: 12 Thanked 74 Times in 64 Posts	Key point in that article, "In our culture, we always need newer, shinier things" Networked Web Sites Jon-Kingsbury.com DefendingTheTruth UML Forums

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