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attaboy

The American frontier is long gone and blazing a trail requires a differnet mindset. Some people have taken to rummaging through thrown out food as a challange. Restaurants and supermarkets set the food out on the curb and the "freegans" are there to pick through it. The homeless will have to buy a wristwatch so they can time their arrival at dump sites. They'll have to organize their routine a bit now that they must compete with highly ideologicaly motivated "teachers, social workers and students".


"You look at it. You smell it. You feel it. If it seems okay, you take it." - the freegan rule of thumb

Now I can relate to that. I always give her ass a little squeeze.



Garbage gourmets on the streets of New York


Garbage gourmets on the streets of New York Time is GMT + 8 hours
Posted: 28-Jan-2006 01:44 hrs A woman holds a bagel she found in a garbage bag outside a shop in the Greenwich Village section of New York. She is with an informal group called "freegans" who use alternative strategies for living, including "urban foraging" or "dumpster diving" which involves rummaging through the garbage for useful goods.


"I've got yogurts!" Stephen Woloshin shouts in triumph, causing other (monkeys) of his group to lift their rummaging arms and heads from the rubbish bins outside a Manhattan supermarket.

Teachers, social workers and students, Woloshin and his fellow scavengers are far removed from the swollen ranks of New York's homeless, belonging instead to a new faction on the fringes of the environmental movement.

As "freegans," they regard over-consumption as a pernicious global trend and seek to demonstrate how people can feed themselves for "free" on the mountains of produce discarded by others.

On one particular evening, the group, kitted out with small backpacks and string bags, are on a mission in Greenwich Village, scoping the streets of the chic district before the garbage trucks rumble through.

Their first target is a large pile of black bags dumped on the sidewalk outside a supermarket. Squatting down, they give different bags an exploratory squeeze before pulling off the string ties and plunging hand first into what they hope will prove a mystery hamper of edible seconds.

The results are mixed, both in origin and appeal -- apples, oranges, garlic, baby carrots with seasoning, and vacuum-packed chestnuts.

The freegan rule of thumb for what goes into the shopping bag and what stays in the garbage is simple: "You look at it. You smell it. You feel it. If it seems okay, you take it."

Next stop is a bakery -- "who wants some bagels?" -- followed by the upscale wastage of a "Gourmet Garage" outlet, where the attractive aroma of rejected pastries mixes with that of rotton lettuce.

For Woloshin, a social worker, this is his second freegan expedition.
"It's a good thing to expose the waste," Woloshin says. "I make good money and I can afford to buy food, but it's a shame to see this waste."
Janet Kalish, a 47-year-old high school teacher, criticizes stores for overstocking as a cosmetic measure to keep shoppers happy.

"It's an attempt to give people a sense of wealth .... people feel good to see shelves that are full," says Kalish, a veteran freegan of more than one-year standing.

Kalish has become so adept at scavenging that the only food she still purchases in traditional fashion are the soy-based products she requires for her strictly vegetarian diet.

"My meals have become more diversified because I find surprises," she says. "Things I probably wouldn't buy in stores, like endives and avocado. I wash them well and I know where there's clean garbage."

Discussing memorable finds, math teacher Jason Samuels recalls with a gourmet's grin the still-frozen, whole turkeys he picked out of a top-end grocer's rubbish.

"There's not a single food we can't find in perfect condition in a bag on a sidewalk," Samuels insists.

Founded several years ago, the freegan movement embraces aspects of myriad other groups, including ecologists and the anti-globalization lobby.
"The solution to world hunger lies on the streets of New York," says Adam Weissman, the organizer behind the local chapter.

"So much food is wasted in the United States," says Weissman. "When I go to a restaurant, I bring my meal."

According to City Harvest, a non-profit organization and "food rescue" program set up in 1981, millions of pounds of good, edible food are thrown away each year by New York City food businesses.

The New York freegans hit the streets as a group two or three times a month, although many scavenge on their own, guided by a freegan website that carries recommendations for where the most palatable garbage bags can be found.

Their activities inevitably attract the attention of passers-by, some of whom, like Ronnit Keha, approve of what they see.

"This consumerism, this waste ... is disgusting," Keha says.
Some of the group members acknowledge to moments of discomfort when their rummaging in garbage bins draws stares.

"There's a bit of a stigma. I used to feel my heart pounding and people looking down at me," says Kalish, for whom the rewards outweigh the embarrassment.

"I once found some fantastic strawberries," she beams.


There's a forum.
Dumpster World - Index

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As a kid I always thought my nickname was "attaboy" until I realized they were rooting for the dog: "Attaboy, get 'em! Get 'em!".

Spin

These guys are the nasty hedge monkey types that you see heading to Koh Phangan for the Full Moon Parties.
Any human that eats of of rubbish when they really dont have to is an idiot in my opinion.

danbo

"....bread and butter in the gutter, happy birthday to you"

At last it all makes sense.

attaboy

What does this mean? When he dines out with others he brings his garbage with him and then he struggles with some poor restaurant manager about whether his garbage has a right to be consumed at the table?

Spin

^ maybe he takes all the ingredients he found in the trash can and asks for the chef to cook it for him so he can eat for free?

kingwilly

feck it they got a point....

i used to pay a baker $20 a week and would receive his leftovers every day in return....

and i'm taking a garbage bag a day of bread, and pizza etc that he couldnt sell but was perfectly good....

attaboy

They do have a point. There is a terrible anount of waste in restaurants and supermarkets. Although the supermarkets here contract with farmers to feed livestock with expired produce. In the case of supermarkets I would think foodbanks could pick up fresh or processed food before the expiration date. The problem there is it becomes a donation to charity by the supermarket rather than a loss against income. And donations can't be written off as an expense at full cost. Restaurants are another story. I know of one that sends the leftovers to a kitchen which feeds the homeless. But any of these donations come with the risk of lawsuits if people become sick.

(pic from Yahoo freegan news article)

From what I read of the article it sounds as though not all the food is dumped" into dumpsters. In some cases it is "packaged" so to speak and set out. But here's still something off about competing with homeless people who make their rounds eating from restaurants and supermarkets.

Check out their forum. Dumpster World - Index

Spin

^ what did you do with it?

kingwilly

mate i'm irish catholic from a family of 10....

we feckn ate it ......

Milkman

I think the "Freegan" thing is good as long as people do it in their own countries.

Makes a point about all of the over-consumption, waste, and consumerism that goes on.

Spin

Your right there, i would get some funny looks rummaging through the bin outside my local 7-11

friscofrankie

So poor hungry fuckers that really cannot afford to buy food now have to fight over scraps in the garbage bins with folks in well payng jobs? After an evening in North Beach or SOuth of Market, I'd always take my "Doggie Bag" and give it to one of the homeless wandering around downtown.

You'd see the smart one rummagin around the back doors of restaurants and markets. I got a job, What the hell I want to fight over some half rotten cabbage with some poor fucker can't even scrape together rent money for?

If the cheap bastards'd buy the fuckin food in the first place it wouldn;t have to be thrown away!

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Storekeeper

One of my brothers used to go dumpster diving. I'd never heard of it till he told me about it. He had all the supermarkets scoped out and knew when to get to certain dumpsters for steaks, donuts and other goodies. He told me that once he had it figured out, he was only retrieving goodies that had been expired less than 24 hours. This is all happened during a stretch of a little over 10 consecutive years when I didn't go home, didn't write and didn't call.

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Hootad Binky

I wonder if those yuppies would feel out of place here?



I've heard they do fabulous work in Manila.