Taking It Too Far

Fourteen percent of food in the United States is thrown away rather than eaten; grocery stores and restaurants are responsible for most of that number. If you find those numbers in the midst of world hunger a little appalling, I suggest you join the new movement in town; freeganism.

While veganism encompasses not eating animal products, freeganism involves not eating food that you paid for. What's that now? Yep- it mostly entails eating out of dumpsters.

Am I merely the product of Western materialism by sating that once food spends a few seconds in the dumpster, no matter how fresh it may be, it shouldn't be eaten? This has actually had me thinking quite a bit. Isn't it a little immoral to throw out otherwise good food, letting it go to waste? Isn't it okay to open your mind to a different way of living?

No, sorry. Yuck.

Just in case you're interested, Marko Manriquez, founder of The Freegan Kitchen, gives us these tips for making the most of your dumpster diving:

• Be quiet, discreet
• Be considerate- don't leave a mess
• If you find something of value that you don't need, place it aside for the next freegan
• Bring a flashlight or headlamp
• A pocketknife is also helpful
• Bring a bag or something to carry your loot
• Gloves are nice but optional
• Early morning or later in the evening is optimal
• If a worker asks you to leave, don't argue, just move on to the next dumpster
• If it smells/looks bad, it probably is
• Thoroughly scrub your produce with a brush (and I like using baking soda too)

This Freegan biryani looks pretty good. Some lucky dumpster diver must have found a stockpile of Hyderabadi spices somewhere. (I wonder if that scrumptious-looking naan came from the garbage too.)