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Free To Be A Freegan
By
Jen Chung
Published Oct 12, 2004
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Oct 12, 2004
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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While Gothamist is a sucker for the entire process of cooking a meal, from thinking about a recipe, buying the goods, and then attempting magic in too-small kitchens, an article about people who forage the city's trash for food caught our eye. First of all, this takes a mindset shift, one from consumer to one of frugal scavenger. They call themselves freegans, and it sounds like some wacky hippie dippie idea, to wait for organic grocery stores to close, attack their garbage and then use "bare hands to scoop steaming brown rice and veggies into a plastic container." But, considering that much of the food is fresh that day and even unopened, in the scheme of things, this is not the worst idea we've heard. And people will pick up other people's old furniture or dishes that are left on the street. It's just that food...well, sometimes there's a reason why it's been dumped, and Gothamist wonders about instances of stomachaches and food poisioning. The article goes to great lengths to explain the freegans are employed and tend to forage for philosophical reasons. We do think people (ourselves included) are way too wasteful, and that's why we like charities like City Harvest, that donates uneaten food to needy people.
More about freeganism at Freecycle. This also reminds us of the part from The Day After Tomorrow, where Jake Gyllenhaal gets tips from the homeless man about insulating themselves with pages torn from a book. That might have been the most useful thing from the movie, that and remembering to always listen to the upstart kid if there's an apocalyptic event.
Photo of Weissman from Newsday/Oliver Morris
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While Gothamist
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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