Freeganism is the practice of reclaiming and eating food that has been discarded.
Freegans and freeganism are often seen as part of a wider anti-consumerist
ideology, and freegans often employ a range of alternative living strategies
based on limited participation in the conventional economy and minimal
consumption of resources. The word "freegan" is a coinage derived
from "free" and "vegan". Freeganism started in the mid-1990s, out of the
antiglobalization and environmentalist movements. The movement also has
elements of Diggers, an anarchist street theater group based in Haight-Ashbury in
San Francisco in the 1960s, that gave away rescued food.
Practices = "Why Freegan" pamphlet=
The manifesto pamphlet "Why Freegan" defines freeganism as "an
anti-consumeristic ethic about eating" and goes on to describe practices
including dumpster diving, plate scraping, wild foraging, gardening,
theft, employee scams, and barter as alternatives to paying for food.
Motivations are varied and numerous; some adhere to freeganism as an
extension of anarchism or other anti-capitalist tendencies, or simply
for environmental reasons, some for religious reasons, etc.
The pamphlet does include a lengthy section on non-alimentary practices,
including conserving water, precycling, reusing goods, and using solar energy.
Some freegans consider these non-alimentary practices components of
freeganism itself; others simply consider them complementary, while some
are against them and/or have deeper analyses surrounding capitalism and its
effect on the world. = Freegan beliefs=
Freeganism is based on the idea of anti-consumerism and that there is
little need to purchase new goods because of the waste that society has
produced and because they want to help the environment. The writings of
sociologist and anthropologist Marcel Mauss inspire many values of freeganism.
Mauss studied the relationship between forms of exchange and the social
culture. Not only do freegans use their finds for personal use, they also share
their items and use them for free distribution. Since they believe the
general public greatly misuses resources because of the ideals and activities of
mass consumerism, freegans do not want to contribute to the consumerist
society. = Foraging=
Food discarded by retailers Freegans get free food by pulling it out
of the trash, a practice commonly nicknamed "dumpster diving" in North
America and "skipping" or "bin diving" in the UK, as well as "bin raiding" or
"skipitarianism". Retail suppliers of food such as supermarkets, grocery
stores, and restaurants routinely throw away food in good condition, often
because it is approaching its sell-by date, or has damaged packaging. Freegans
find food in the garbage of such establishments, which they say allows
them to avoid spending money on products that exploit the world's resources,
contribute to urban sprawl, treat workers unfairly, or disregard animal
rights. By foraging, they believe that they are keeping edible food from adding
to landfill clutter, food which can then feed people and animals who might
otherwise go hungry. However, dumpster diving is not limited
to rummaging for food. Many "dumpster divers" search for anything that can be
recycled or reused, from accessories to power tools in need of small repairs.
Some divers also collect aluminum cans, which they can then sell for a small
profit. Often, these people have all sorts of equipment such as a long pole
that they use to move items in the dumpster around. When searching for
food, a forager may come across food waste that is not entirely sealed from
the unwanted waste in the same rubbish sack. This lower quality food is
commonly referred to as "Scree". As bugs, rodents, and other
disease-carriers also forage in such places, there are risks associated with
sourcing and eating such food. Freegan resources
Much food is discarded by producers for reasons to do with food standards of
retailers and consumers. Examples include fruit and vegetables that are
smaller or larger than sizes required by supermarkets, edible offal, and a
species of Dover sole with all the qualities of sole but small size.
Freegans get their resources from dumpsters, typically at places like
grocery stores and pharmacies. An estimated 20 to 40% of United Kingdom
fruits and vegetables are rejected even before they reach the stores, mostly
because they do not match the supermarkets' strict cosmetic standards.
= Legality and sanitation= Eating waste food is seen as a taboo in
most developed countries, causing it to be considered socially unacceptable.
Non-freegans see eating from a bin as an unsanitary or dirty practice.
Wild foraging and urban gardens Instead of buying industrially grown
foods, wild foragers find and harvest food and medicinal plants growing in
their own communities. Some freegans participate in "guerrilla" or
"community" gardens, with the stated aim of rebuilding community and reclaiming
the capacity to grow one's own food. In order to fertilize those guerrilla
gardens, food obtained from dumpster diving is sometimes also reused. In many
urban guerrilla gardens, vermiculture is used instead of ordinary composting
techniques in order to keep the required infrastructure/room small. Guerrilla
gardeners claim to seek an alternative to dependence and participation in what
they perceive as an exploitative and ecologically destructive system of
global, industrialized corporate food production. Many rural freegans choose
to learn about native wild plants which are easily sustainable and either bring
favored species home to cultivate or identify wild populations from which to
forage. Often rural freegans are also "homesteaders" who also raise their own
dairy livestock and employ alternative energy sources to provide energy for
their homesteads, occasionally living "off the grid" entirely.
= Sharing= Sharing is also a common freegan
practice. Food Not Bombs recovers food that would otherwise go to waste to
serve warm meals on the street to anyone who wants them. The group promotes an
ethic of sharing and community, while working to show what they consider to be
the injustice of a society in which they claim fighting wars is considered a
higher priority than feeding the hungry. Really, Really Free Markets are free
social events in which freegans can share goods instead of discarding them,
share skills, give presents and eat food. A free store is a temporary market
where people exchange goods and services outside of a money-based economy.
Freegans also advocate sharing travel resources. Internet-based ridesharing
reduces but does not eliminate use of cars and all the related resources
needed to maintain and operate them. Community bicycle programs and
collectives facilitate community sharing of bicycles, restore found and broken
bikes, and teach people how to do their own bike repairs. In the process they
build a culture of skill and resource sharing, reuse wasted bikes and bike
parts, and create greater access to green transport.
In general, co-ops function to provide their local community with additional
resources; they are also typically vegan-friendly and
local-produce-friendly. = Squatting=
In addition to the belief that people should not have to go without food when
plenty of unused food is thrown away every day, freeganism also encompasses
the idea that people should not be homeless when unused buildings are
available. Freegans consider housing to be a right as opposed to a good. As a
result of this philosophy, many freegans are involved in squatting. Squatting is
the act of someone occupying a building that they do not have any legal claim or
ownership over. "Squatters take a stand against councils and landlords, who
would rather keep properties boarded up if they cannot make a sufficient profit
from them". Freegans see this practice as senseless and a counter-productive
use of resources. The criminality of squatting makes it hard to accurately
track the number of people involved in this activity. Striving for equality and
reform, squatting is a political action that has been incorporated in numerous
movements. Squatters view the act as a necessity because of the lack of housing
available. They believe that there should not be buildings remaining empty
when there are people who are in crucial need of a home but lack the resources to
legally obtain one. Ultimately, squatting is a way of housing the
homeless. However, the buildings that squatters reside in are sometimes used
for other purposes as well, such as being changed into community centers
that house programs for children, community organizations, and
environmental education. = Working less=
Working less is another component of freeganism. Freegans oppose the notion
of working for the sole purpose of accumulating material items. The need to
work is reduced by only purchasing the basic necessities for things such as
housing, clothing, and food. Not working resists the idea that joy can only be
found through the purchase of material items. Working is seen as sacrificing
valuable time to "take orders from someone else, stress, boredom, monotony,
and in many cases risks to physical and psychological well-being". This time
could be spent volunteering in service activities, bonding with family, or
participating in a number of other endeavors. The concept of voluntary
joblessness has been described as means of completing tasks out of love for
others while not expecting anything in return for one’s services. Working is
viewed as a component of a system that has abused the world both socially and
ecologically. It is realized that not working at all is not an option for
everyone, but that there are ways to limit the need to work as much.
= Veganism= Another aspect of the freegan lifestyle
addresses the basic human necessity for food. Many dumpster divers, because of
freeganism, practice veganism, which calls for the avoidance of flesh foods,
dairy, and eggs, and further extends to avoid the consumption or use of furs,
leather, wool, down, silk, and cosmetics and chemical products tested on animals.
Not all people who identify as freegan are vegan. There are some, because of a
confusion with dumpster diver, who consume animal products only if those
animal products would otherwise be wasted. "Vegans are people who avoid
products from animal sources or products tested on animals in an effort to avoid
harming animals. Freegans take this a step further".
Relationship to environmentalism Although freeganism is a movement that
has sprung from anti-consumerism and anti-capitalism, the movement also has
much in common with environmentalism. One of the main aims of freeganism is to
reduce waste and limit the amount of destruction that results from the
production of goods. Some of the practices established in freeganism
serve the function of addressing many of these same concerns. For example,
squatting makes use of empty buildings for the homeless, and dumpster diving
practices recovering food that is being wasted. Adam Weissman, eco-activist and
creator of www.freegan.info, states that "Freeganism is a reaction to waste, but
also to injustices like sweatshops and the destruction of rainforests that go
into producing goods in the first place".
Environmentalism has been described as a "binding philosophy, the start of
environmentalism was a religious reformation; an epiphany; an awakening
to desecrated surroundings". = Food waste=
In United States fast food restaurants, 9.55% of the total amount of food that
is used turns into food waste and in full service restaurants 3.11% turns
into waste. On average, 49,296,540 lbs of food is lost in all full service
restaurants and 85,063,390 lbs in all fast food restaurants per day.
Pre-consumer kitchen waste is anything from incorrectly prepared or spoiled
food to overproduction that contributes about 4–10% of food that becomes waste
before it is even served to consumers. Freegans focus on finding this
pre-consumer waste when dumpster diving. Countries
= Turkey= A local group of anarchist,
all-volunteer global movement Food Not Bombs has been collecting food from
grocery stores, local markets, and souqs since 2013 in İstanbul on a weekly
basis. Its activist scope includes gathering edible "food waste", cooking
food collectively, and open distribution. The collective also holds
various seminars and demonstrations in order to promote anti-militarism,
anti-specisism/veganism, and the topics related to DIY ethic. Another freegan
group from Ankara called "Çerçöp Çorbacılar" has been actively carrying
out practices of Freeganism. = Hong Kong=
Friends of the Earth did a survey in 2012 and found that the four largest
supermarket chains in Hong Kong discarded a total of 87 tonnes of food
each day, about a third that were still edible. One of the chains, ParknShop,
was accused of pouring water and bleach over the discarded edible food to spoil
it. A year later, their follow-up study found that ParknShop and Wellcome
donated food through their respective programs, and criticized CR Vanguard and
JUSCO for their inaction. See also
References Further reading
Stuart, Tristram. Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal. Penguin. ISBN
978-0-14-103634-2. Nelson, Soraya Sarhaddi. "Got Leftovers
to Share? In Germany, There's a Website for That". All Things Considered. NPR.
Retrieved 28 June 2014. External links
Fallingfruit.org/freegan—Falling Fruit's global map of freegan resources
Waste Not Want Not—A Freegan Documentary Trashwiki Freegan wiki-encyclopedia
Freegan.info—100 pages on freegan theory & practice with events and directories
primarily in NYC Freegan.at—Austrian Freegan page
Freegan!me—A community for freegans all over the world