Freeganism: More than going green
Going Freegan means opposing materialism, greed, conformity ... and being open to dumpster diving
Jennifer Beaudoin
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Grace travels on her bike. It’s late at night and all businesses are closed. She gets to her first location, puts her headlamp on, and dives in. She looks through everything and takes all the good stuff she can find. She hops out and cleans up the area, making sure to leave it as it was, or perhaps better than it was. She takes her findings and puts them into bags. She quickly gets back on her bike to go to her next location, and repeats this until she is satisfied. Grace has just dumpster dived. Grace is a Freegan. [This interview was done via e-mail. All of her responses were in first person]
A Freegan, according to freegan.info, is an individual “who employs alternative strategies for living based on limited participation in the conventional economy and minimal consumption of resources.” The word "Freegan" is compounded from “free” and “vegan.”
One of the main characteristics of Freeganism is dumpster diving. According to Freegan.info, “This technique involves rummaging through the garbage of retailers, residences, offices, and other facilities for useful goods.” Most often, Freegans are looking for food products.
Despite the typical opinions that go along with food in the garbage, Freegans recover food that is packaged, usable and clean. They take food that is past the expiration date, but still acceptable. An example from Grace is that yogurt eaten a day or two past the due date doesn't have as much flavor, but is still good enough to eat. With produce and items that are not in packages, Freegan's simply rinse them.
Grace is from Sanger, Calif. She is 20-years-old, and has been a practicing Freegan for a year, after she moved out on her own. She decided to become a Freegan for one reason- “the fact that America throws out enough food to feed the entire world,” she said. According to Consumers’ Research Magazine, more than 96 billion pounds of good food is discarded each year, and the yearly cost of food-waste disposal is around $1 billion. During her dives, Grace looks for anything usable. “I love finding the gourmet and expensive items that stores throw out because they have a minor defect or are on the day of their best by date.”
Although “vegan” is part of the origin of the work Freegan, Grace clarifies that not all Freegans are in fact vegan or vegetarian. She knows other Freegans who actually take meat products from the trash. “As long as it looks OK and is cooked thoroughly there's nothing wrong with it.”
Sue Thompson works for Herbalife, a global health company. She has 10 years experience helping people with diet-related issues and recommends naturally related nutrition products formulated by Herbalife. According to Thompson, health problems to every system in the body can occur from Freeganism:
- Digestive problems- (rotting food can cause stomach problems, water can carry diseases)
- Cardiovascular problems- (too much fat/carbs in the garbage food)
- Immune health problems- (not enough antioxidants)
- General ill health- (not eating a balanced diet)
- Lack of energy- (food low in nutrients)
- Skeletal health- (not enough calcium)
- General weakness- (no protein)
- Skin problems- (lack of vitamins)
- Weight loss- (not enough calories)
- Weight gain- (too many calories from junk food)
According to Thompson, recovered dumpster food cannot have much nutritional value. “In my opinion the risk of malnutrition is a guaranteed 100% risk - I doubt that anyone can stay healthy through eating from garbage.” [Interview done via e-mail]
Although Grace can’t talk for all Freegans, she, has never turned ill from thrown-away food. “I've never gotten sick. The expiration date doesn't dictate when food goes bad, just when it looses its peak flavor.”
Despite living alone, Grace has the support of her parents. “They know I dumpster dive. They approve, because it's recycling, and this way, less gets sent to a landfill.”
“Freegan can be anything from a mindset to a lifestyle. Dumpster diving, curb shopping, squatting- it’s just another form of recycling. If we could drop a few of our preconceived notions no one would have to sleep outside in the street or go hungry,” said Grace.