Press "Enter" to skip to content

12 Comments

  1. Matt, another
    Matt, another May 18, 2015 8:23 pm

    Dumpsters are good for food, shoes, furniture and the occasional sale able item.

  2. Joel
    Joel May 18, 2015 8:24 pm

    Well, my motto is – or would be, if I started having a motto – “People throw away the darndest things.” And I’ve made the best part of my living off those people for going on a decade now.

    And yet…

    I’ve a feeling I’d have a hard time getting along with freegans. Could be wrong.

  3. LarryA
    LarryA May 19, 2015 1:39 am

    She spent a whole month learning how to “farm sustainably,” then moved to New York City to live off surplus provided by others.
    Why does she have to turn heself in to leave?

  4. Karen
    Karen May 19, 2015 5:37 am

    I’m grateful that all the local grocery stores and Starbucks donate their cosmetically imperfect and soon to expire foods to the local emergency food pantry. Foods that are too far gone to give to people go outside and folks come get it for their pigs and chickens so almost nothing finds it’s way into the dumpster. I really don’t get why stores just throw food away that could easily be donated to food pantries or homeless shelters.

  5. MamaLiberty
    MamaLiberty May 19, 2015 6:38 am

    Karen, in many cases it would be dangerous to donate outdated or damaged food items due to liability. The nanny state is ever on the lookout for some way to use “safety” as a bludgeon to deny mutually beneficial trade or charity. Think of the people arrested and even jailed for making sandwiches for the homeless, or children trying to sell home made cookies or lemonade…

  6. Karen
    Karen May 19, 2015 7:56 am

    At our food pantry, the boss has to attend yearly food handling classes and we’re guided by USDA guidelines for food safety. We’re also covered, as are the donating retailers, by Good Samaritan law to negate the liability.

    From Wikipedia;
    “The Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act (Pub.L. 104–210, 110 Stat. 3011, enacted October 1, 1996) was created to encourage food donation to nonprofits by minimizing liability. Signed into law by President Bill Clinton, this law, named after Rep. Bill Emerson (who encouraged the proposal but died before it was passed), makes it easier to donate food by allowing donor liability only in cases of gross negligence.[1]”

  7. Laird
    Laird May 19, 2015 8:15 am

    I agree with Karen. As long as it’s not past the expiration date (which is very conservatively calculated, to leave plenty of time for use after you bring it home) not donating unwanted food to a food pantry or homeless shelter is reprehensible.

    In some senses I admire people like Marie (although, like Joel, I suspect I wouldn’t get along with freegans), but I couldn’t live like that. Perhaps it’s my own insecurity.

  8. Ellendra
    Ellendra May 19, 2015 8:36 am

    Freeganism is resourceful, which I admire. But it is also a form of voluntary dependancy*, which I despise. I’d have a hard time reconciling the mix.

    (*Note: INvoluntary dependancy is a completely different matter.)

  9. LarryA
    LarryA May 19, 2015 11:32 am

    Right. Marie isn’t “living free,” she’s bartering housekeeping, food-gathering, and cooking for room.

    Wait ’til the domestic worker unions find out. 😉

  10. Laird
    Laird May 20, 2015 8:42 am

    Well, LarryA, to be fair, by your standards no one can or does “live free”; we all have to do something to ingest enough calories and otherwise keep body and soul together. Animals in the wild spend the vast majority of their time foraging/hunting for food. Are they not “free”, either?

    The only thing one can really do “free” is die.

  11. LarryA
    LarryA May 20, 2015 11:47 am

    Not “free” as in “freedom.” “Free” as in “not paying.”

    She believes she’s staying in the apartment while not paying for it because no cash changes hands. But there’s a long history of working for “room and board.” In this case she’s exchanging board (and housekeeping) for room.

  12. Laird
    Laird May 21, 2015 8:39 am

    LarryA, true enough. And if we really want to get technical, these barter transactions are actually taxable income (to both parties) at their “fair value” (whatever that is). But let’s not tell the IRS, OK?

Leave a Reply