Would you have a freegan lifestyle?

[avenanap]

Freegans (as per last wife swap). Would you go through dustbins instead of your weekly shop?

It's not all out of date. Mostly the packaging is damaged or they are end of line stuff. Even if they went out of date the same day, they could still donate it to the homeless or to womens refuges. Sell by dates are mostly rubbish anyway, we never had them 30 years ago, we've forgotten to look and smell. It's the supermarkets dictating to us again.

i agree avenanap, if stuff in my fridge looks/smell ok i eat it, but we do have a bit of a no win no fee culture at the moment and you can imagine the "sainsburys poisoned me with out date food" headlines

hmm. If it's looked after and goes straight away then there shouldn't be a problem. Have you never popped into sainsburys on a saturday afternoon and had a peek at the discount stuff in the fridge? All it's doing is taking anything left over to worthy causes rather then to landfill.

im not saying i agree with it, just that thats why the big supermarkets do it

It irritates me. Consumerism at its finest. Make loads of food and throw it away.

Stripey - am proud you are doing something you believe in - and intrigued too!
What do you get on an average day/week?
How much do you reckon you save?
Have you ever been caught/marched off premises or do you go in the dead of night?

I think it's appalling that so much food is thrown away and think that anyone who want to help themselves should be able to do so...

However my big issue with the freegan thing (admittedly all I've seen is the family who were on Wife Swap last week) is that it's not possible for EVERYONE (or even large numbers of people) to live like that. So it's not sustainable as a lifestyle for more than a few people. The freegan family on Wife Swap were actually going out 'spreading the word' about their lifestyle and trying to convert others, without seeming to acknowledge that the only reason they could live like that (finding out of skips, emptying their toilet buckets into what looked like council-provided toilets, sending their son to school) was that MOST people don't live like that.

Freeganism (?!) just isn't sustainable and I'd be more respectful of a family who really did try to opt out of modern society, growing their own food, etc.

I do it far less these days as I'm a single mum and can't get out to the skips at night! But I do it when I get the chance. Night is best, so as to avoid getting caught by staff or by ignorant members of the public who'll call you a dirty pikey or somesuch.

Most recent food skipping expedition was about a month ago, when I went with a friend who was staying - 7 bags of onions, some baking potatoes, dozens of packets of crisps, 3 trifles, a 4 pack of beer, and some chocolate brownies. DD and I check the skips round the back of the second hand shops in town a couple of times a week - toys, books, electrical goods, CDs, baby equipment, kitchen stuff etc, and what we can't make use of I offer on the local Freecycle.

I have been caught several times by shop staff, and these days I'd leave with no fuss. When I was younger and lairier, I did argue the toss with them about the ethics of the whole thing, but its pointless as its not the shop staff who make the rules.

I know someone that does this. I couldn't, personally, makes me feel ill thinking about it.

my dh has a friend whose brother has a massive supermrarket. He came home from seeing him the other day with a carload - including fifteen large pkets of fresh american cranberries, 10 kilos of oranges (fresh juice every day for a month), 15 pineapples, 40 family sizes double pkts of crisps (promo finished)and five loaves of organic bread, chocolates, biscuits, flowers(!) - amongst other stuff. All stuff fresh and within sellby but would have been binned. B loody waste.

freeganism isn't suatinable if everyone did it. The whole population loitering outside shops waiting for sell by dates!
Same as with 'living off-grid in the country' Nice idea but 60 million peeps can't do it.
Although it is good waste gets taken and used, there just shouldn't be any in the first place. Makes me

i think it shows that the food buyers/merchandisers have got their sums wrong tbh - same as end of season sales in clothes shops. if they were on the ball, there'd be little wastage at the end of the day (apart from people deliberately spoiling food on the shelves).

it's not for me but if someone can use it, good for them.

I agree that the waste of food is hideous and that food should be donated to those who need it. However - I can't agree with freeganism as a principle. As folk said above its not sustainable if everyone did it. Further than that though- folk who live as freegans are actually depending on the capitalist/consumerist society which they say they disagree with so much, and they are benefiting from this system without putting anything back (based on the wife swap program couple). Its all of us who pay for our food who are allowing these people to live without paying anything.

The food isn't always out of date. Often it gets thrown away because the packaging is damaged. That food could easily be given away.

Is it just food from supermarkets or non food too? What about other shops?

I wouldn't, mainly because I am too lazy and also we don't live near any supermarkets.

But I've gone to freegan parties and known freegans and if folks want to do this fairplay to them.