Freeganism

[cupcakechef]

I read about this concept a few years back, where people collect discarded food that is still seen as edible and consume it.

A common place that food is often sourced for by these 'freegans' is out of supermarket dumpsters and things like that.

I agree that a lot of the time supermarkets throw out food that is still perfectly good, but getting it out of a dumpster crosses an icky line for me.

What do you think of the concept? Would you do it to save some money, or is the thought of eating from a dumpster not something that you could handle?

 

[Food4thought]

In the UK most supermarket dumpsters are now placed behind locked gates, so it would involve criminal activity to gain access to discarded food. A few years ago freeganism did become popular with some people who collected out of date food from dumpsters, so some stores started pouring bleach over the waste food to make it inedible.

A new law in France forbids supermarkets to waste food and forces them to donate it to charities who can share it with needy people. Unfortunately British laws do not allow food that is past its sell-by date to be redistributed in case anyone takes legal action after suffering from food poisoning.

 

[DancingLady]

I am all for it. If you have enough money to pay for your food, you should, but there are far too many people who truly can't pay for food as well as adequate heating or air conditioning to stay safe and healthy.

A basic understanding of what truly spoils bs a little stale, slightly bruised, and carefully examining packaging is all that is needed to do the s safely. If I were to get to that point, I would do it. I've dumpster diced for fans and bottles before, so this doesn't strike me as all that gross if the alternative is malnutrition.

 

[sidevalve]

In the UK most supermarket dumpsters are now placed behind locked gates, so it would involve criminal activity to gain access to discarded food. A few years ago freeganism did become popular with some people who collected out of date food from dumpsters, so some stores started pouring bleach over the waste food to make it inedible.

A new law in France forbids supermarkets to waste food and forces them to donate it to charities who can share it with needy people. Unfortunately British laws do not allow food that is past its sell-by date to be redistributed in case anyone takes legal action after suffering from food poisoning.

To be fair to the supermarkets it is the get rich quick by legal action brigade that force the situation where out of date food must be ruthlessly disposed of and even destroyed rather than being used or donated. Many food banks and charities would benefit greatly if these greedy fools would act responsibly.

 

[Berties]

There is a pop up restaurant that is trialing a free food menu with a changing menu of close to date foods , has any one else heard of this type of establishment , they obviously charge but the empasise is using food that would have been destroyed

 

[cupcakechef]

In the UK most supermarket dumpsters are now placed behind locked gates, so it would involve criminal activity to gain access to discarded food. A few years ago freeganism did become popular with some people who collected out of date food from dumpsters, so some stores started pouring bleach over the waste food to make it inedible.

A new law in France forbids supermarkets to waste food and forces them to donate it to charities who can share it with needy people. Unfortunately British laws do not allow food that is past its sell-by date to be redistributed in case anyone takes legal action after suffering from food poisoning.

I love that in France they don't waste food and donate it to charities - there are so many people out there that are in need of food that to me it seems senseless to throw things away that are still edible. But yes - where I live there's the same sort of worries about legal repercussions - it's a very litigious society here and suing people is not uncommon!