Bin appetit

Warning: This is not for the weak-willed or the faint of heart. In certain parts of the developed world, more and more individuals are rebelling against consumerism by scavenging for food from supermarket garbage bins. Mind you, these are not desperate hobos or hippies with bare-bone budgets. They are educated people with money who choose to forage for political or environmental reasons. They’re called freegans and they’re proud of their lifestyle.

A mash-up of free and vegan, a freegan is a person who employs “alternative strategies for living based on limited participation in the conventional economy and minimal consumption of resources,” according to Freegan.info. Proponents, usually middle-class Brits and Americans, “embrace community, generosity, social concern, freedom, cooperation, and sharing in opposition to a society based on materialism, moral apathy, competition, conformity, and greed.”

These creative dumpster divers operate this way. Treating it like a party or a communal camping trip, freegans rummage outside groceries and restaurants after these establishments have closed for the day. Some — the more organized ones — come with shopping lists, but everyone goes home with enough stuff to last for days. From canned goods and boxed pasta to produce and jugs of milk, the freebies may be near their sell-by dates but they are still perfectly okay.

‘Ethical eating’

“The freegan philosophy of ‘ethical eating’ is a reaction against a wasteful society and a way of highlighting how supermarkets dump tons of food every year that is still edible,” wrote Daniela Relph of BBC News. It may not be a pretty sight, but freegans see their regular raids as a way around the traditional capitalist system.

In February, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown complained that Britons throw out £10 billion ($18 billion) of food each year, including 7m slices of bread and 4.4m apples each day. Imagine what the US and other industrialized nations throw away; you’d probably hang your head in shame and wonder why fighting wars became a higher priority than feeding the hungry. 

At about the same time, Daniel and Amanda Burt, an optometrist and civil engineer, respectively, from Nashville, Tennessee, appeared on Oprah to show just how much they were willing to sacrifice to stay true to their beliefs. In their case, it was about reassessing their needs and clamping down on wastage. Resolute freegans, the young couple has managed to furnish their apartment and prepare meals using other people’s cast-offs.     

The Cons

Of course, the movement also has its critics. Foremost on the cons list is safety. Even if freegans wear latex gloves while hunting for food, they could still be playing a rather dangerous type of food poisoning Russian roulette. While customers think that sell-by dates are not that important, manufacturers set them using scientific tests that show how bacteria grow in food.

Moreover, some online observers have pointed out the hypocrisy in freeganism. They say that freegans claim to be anti-consumerist, yet rely on consumer products to make their statement. From their point of view, well-to-do free economy people should leave the haul to those who need it more: the genuinely homeless. No matter how one sugarcoats freeganism with ethics, opponents say it’s still eating from a bin.     

Creative Recycling

Freeganism has apparently been around since the 1990s; recent world events have provided traction — and a new context — to the cause. That said, I don’t think it will take off in the Philippines, given that our garbage bins are too derelicte to touch, much less to raid. There are, however, several freegan principles we can adopt.     

First, since freeganism is not restricted to food, ethical consumers can rescue discarded furniture, spruce them up, and reuse them. Hitting junk shops may prove to be too extreme so one can start by asking family and friends for pieces they no longer need. Next, freegans-in-training can likewise grow their own vegetables instead of buying mainstream produce. Aside from the energy you could save, think of the satisfaction you’d get from eating something organic and pesticide-free. Last, Wikipedia states that sharing is also a common freegan practice. Carpooling is an easy way to go, as are walking and biking.

It all boils down to being more conscious of what we toss out. Some may view freeganism as mere freeloading, but it’s really about simple living and creative recycling. Remember: one man’s trash is not just another man’s treasure — it could well be a feast.