FREEGANS?

RE: FREEGANS?

Hello and welcome to the HealthyPages discussion forums 🙂

I have no idea how many of our members seek food in other people's garbage, which seems to be what Freeganism is about, but hopefully their posts here will enlighten further 😉

Holistic

RE: FREEGANS?

Most freegans- vegan and free -are veggie/vegan so who knows how much it willapply here.I think simply saying these people get food rooting through rubbish and nothing more makes themsoundsimply like dirtydrop outs, this isn't the case:this movement, with landfills over full, retailers wasting far too much decent food are politically minded people willing to take a step to help this

Yes, I just googled for 'freeganism' to see what information was out there, and there's quite a lot. The BBC's website usually seems to have reliable information:

[DLMURL] http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2006/01/06/insideout_freegans_feature.shtml [/DLMURL]

though I'm not sure what their error message is all about, the linkworked OK for me.

Supermarkets and restaurants would appear to be the main sources of supply, rather than the bins of private individuals.

They'd get slim pickings from mine 😀 There's a food recycling scheme here, run by the local council ... and my contribution is remarkably small. Anything 'veggie' like stale bread and vegetable peelings goes to the bottom of the garden and gets thrown into the field behind for next door's poultry.

Holistic

RE: FREEGANS?

Freeganism concerns me for a number of reasons, its not hygenic for starters to go rooting through bins looking for food etc.
Also, this seems to be a lifestyle choice for a lot of people, there are people starving on this planet who dont make it a choice.
There are other ways of reducing landfill without resorting to that. People could also campaign for foods that are approaching their sell by date to go to people in need.

I can see their point but it would be a movment or life style choice that would very much stay in the minority I'd imagine, I'd never heard about freegans until this post. Years ago for short spell I used to live in squats in london, many people used to go to the back of supermarkets at the end of the day & get the food out of the skips that had past it's sell by date & the shop had chucked out (also there was often lots of indate stuff & booze ect that the staff had sneaked out with the intention of pinching it), the skips had a lid on so the food ect didn;t really get weather damanged. I didn't ever see any problem with people living like that..
Love
Amy
xxx

RE: FREEGANS?

ORIGINAL: crystaltherapy
Freeganism concerns me for a number of reasons, its not hygenic for starters to go rooting through bins looking for food etc.

Only in some instances would it not be hygenic. Most supermarkets throw out enormous amounts of food with a lot of it still in it's packaging. The food inside that packaging is still as hygenic as if you'd bought it off the shelf. As for how hygenic that it, well... that's up to youto decide. 😉

RE: FREEGANS?

ORIGINAL: crystaltherapy

Also, this seems to be a lifestyle choice for a lot of people, there are people starving on this planet who dont make it a choice.

Yes, it's very much a lifestyle choice. However, on one of the links I read ... probably the BBC one I gave above ... someonewas quoted as saying that freegans are aware that some very poor people need to obtain their food in this way, so they are always careful to leave some for those who truly do not have a choice.

Holistic

RE: FREEGANS?

ORIGINAL: Holistic
so they are always careful to leave some for those who truly do not have a choice.

There are also some charities (and even individual people)that go around to supermarkets and bakeries, collecting left-overs from the day and taking them to the homeless and needy.

😉

RE: FREEGANS?

Hi there jemimastar,

Thanks for bringing such an interesting subject to attention. I´m not one but I think Freegans are against this crazyness which goes on in the western world. Overproduction trough subvention and just to keep the price up..lots of food ends up in the skip....or like I´ve witnessed in Italy...tonns of tomatoes just throwen in the sea , followed by 1000s liters of red wine.
It might be an extrem lifestile but so is our throw- away- society which is on top of it ignorant and very distructive.
Hope you find some Freegans in London...sure there will be a few.

x

RE: FREEGANS?

[blockquote]

ORIGINAL: Energylz
[blockquote]quote:

ORIGINAL: Holistic
so they are always careful to leave some for those who truly do not have a choice.
[/blockquote]

There are also some charities (and even individual people)that go around to supermarkets and bakeries, collecting left-overs from the day and taking them to the homeless and needy.

😉

[/blockquote]

Some years ago I had an office job in a large organisation with a catering department, to meet the requirement for entertaining visitors with (mostly) buffet type lunches.

The law stated at that time that any food which had been OUT of the fridge for more thanan hour (it used to be two hours, but that was tightened up) MUST be thrown away.

At the end of the lunch hour a telephone signal to office staff had us all rushing to the now vacated dining room armed with poly bags and plastic boxes for the leftovers. I used to take home enough 'finger food'to last several days, with never any ill effects, although we were warned there was no come-back should anyone get a stomach upset.

So I guess I have been a Freegan without giving it a name ... also asking for doggy bags in restaurants, sometimes for me, sometimes for the doggies;)

Holistic

RE: FREEGANS?

The media write rubbish about freegans. They do way more than rifle through rubbish. Below is an article I wrote about freeganism for a magazine and some useful links. I hope it helps!

The Freegan Choice

Vegetarians and Vegans may not yet be passé but Freegans are hot on their heels encouraging a less consumer driven, more community orientated society. Dawn Mellowship investigates the Freegan ethics.

The Macmillan English Dictionary defines a freegan as 'a person who consumes food that has been thrown away, especially someone who wants to protect the environment by reducing waste.'

Whilst this defines a minute aspect of freegan activities it leaves out the core principles and many other freegan practices. A US freegan representative Adam Weissman sheds some light on the matter

"A common misunderstanding perpetuated by the media is that freeganism is this act of dumpster diving, of going into trash and pulling out things that people can use. The media have focused on recovering food from the rubbish and whilst that is certainly something that freegans do it is like saying vegetarians eat asparagus. They may do but that is not the definition of vegetarianism."

The Freegan Dilemma

"Similar to vegans freegans share a concern about world consumption. However we extend the argument to realise that under an economic model where profit is the only overriding consideration for anyone in business, we as consumers are complicit in a form of exploitation. Every product we buy is implicated in various forms of exploitation from worker abuse to environmental destruction to cruelty to animals.

Freegans believe that since none of us individually would want to support these kinds of injustices we have a moral responsibility to the greatest degree we are able to step outside of this ruthless and destructive economic model. Instead we field cooperative community projects and live a lifestyle based around ecological sustainability, sharing resources and living ethically without being dependent on the capitalist economy to provide for our needs.'"

Freegans maintain that on a planet of finite resources we cannot sustain our current competitive economy indefinitely. This is not really a cutting edge concept as the reality is that 'freegan activities' have existed for thousands of years. UK based freegans Martin and Alf elaborate.

"Mostpeople in developingcountries re-use what they can, and recycle even such things as cardboard,plastic packaging and timber throw-outs. Most of these people have had very little consumer media conditioning and have a deep understanding of working for the good of society and are content to live on very little and place much higher emphasis on social values and the importance of family and friends."

An Inequitable society

Freegans also aim to reassume their time, refusing to be 'enslaved' in jobs that only serve to fuel the capitalist profit driven economy and instead devoting their time to what they consider to be truly important in life. By opting out of a consumer society they diminish their financial needs and live off what others dismiss as refuse, recycling and repairing materials to avoid the need for constant purchasing. They find this to be more fulfilling and less taxing on an already overburdened natural environment.

Freegans consider one of the most detrimental components of our contemp

Erm, forgive me for being stupid. Whats a freegan?

F x

Here's a link that will enlighten you Veggiegirl, i've just taken a peek as i didn't have a scooby-doo what it was either .:confused:

Warmest wishes- calla lily x

There were some links higher up in the thread, but they were broken during the forum move so I've now been and fixed those ones. 😉

Hi - I have just searched the forum under the term Freegan and found only a couple of threads - thought there might be more!! :o)

Have watched a Tonight programme a week or so ago, we got quite interested in how much usable food our local supermarkets throw away - it is an amazing (and disgusting amount!). In 1 week we have seen countless loaves of bread, sausages, salamis, pizzas etc . . . . . . .

I wondered what thoughts people may have on this subject now - with food prices rising in the wake of wheat prices?

I look forward to some replies

Wispy~Misty x

Freegans in Cornwall

Hi all,
Could someone tell me of any freegan events coming up in cornwall. I want to write an article about freeganism and how people can get involved. Any help would be appreciated.

I'm new to London and I was hoping to find out about freegans in London, specifically in Southwark. Does anyone know of any freegan events or groups which I could contact? It seems impossible to find practical information online.
I'd really appreciate any guidance on this topic. Thank you!