Hey all,
Just wondering if any of you guys have ever used freeganism as an option for obtaining the foods you need in training (freeganism is a lifestyle that doesn’t require money, and where people glean perfectly good foods from waste bins outside of supermarkets to protect the environment). When I am in east Africa, I can’t really use freeganism as a means of getting food (mostly because there’s so little waste there!); but I’ve had some great finds with freeganism in both America and London, even finding the kind of things we SHOULDN’T be eating stock-piled outside of supermarket bins in perfectly good condition (e.g. cheesecakes, chocolates, beer, wine, etc.). So I was curious if any of you other guys utilize freeganism as a tool to help cut back on expenses for food, thus allowing for more money to be used on training neccessities, and other expenses (not to mention the fact that it’s environmentally friendly!). Worth considering.
are you serious?
Rent Animal House and fast forward to John Belushi in the cafeteria line. there you’ll see a perfect example of your concept at work.
If you don’t have a way to get decent food without scavenging, you should have other priorities than training. You can eat decently for <$50/week, not to mention it isn’t going to be (as) contaminated and filthy as out of a trash can.
:D:D
- I could only imagine the types of bacteria in supermarket bins. Foodcourt food has fecal matter on it before it enters the bin. Well most burgers anyway.
Well that went over well! No actually, I more of less expected the kind of responses that came in, simply because people who are uneducated about the concept of freeganism usually react in a similar fashion when first introduced to the idea. So forgive me for not taking more time to explain.
Firstly, no one is saying you have to get ALL of your food from supermarket skips (although if you live in either America or England, you most definitely COULD… trust me on this one!). And further more, I’m not advocating you eat left-over, half-eaten chicken bones left outside of the trash-can of KFC! What I am saying is, if you check the bins behind one of the skips in inner-city London at say, 9 pm, you will find perfectly good steaks, veggies, lean meats, bread, etc., all UN-OPENED, and all perfectly edible. Please don’t be so quick to condemn something that you both have no knowledge about, nor have any experience with. Thank you.
How long does it typically take for you to go find food that is both edible (non-spoiled or contaminated with other garbage), what you need nutrition wise, and tasty? How much money are you really saving once you consider your time and efforts, along with great potential of sickness?
I’m not so sure I’d want to eat meats that have been sitting outside, potentially in the heat, and around garbage or veggies and fruits that have been in the same condition for that matter. Maybe you can get by on freeganism, but can you thrive on freegansim?
Why do you suppose they threw it away if it’s perfectly good?
We already have enough issues taking back food that has turned after it has been passed off as acceptable by the stores. I’m really not interested in sampling what THEY think is bad enough to turf.
I freeganism’d (or at least cheapganism’d) day-old donuts at the supermarket in college for 10 cents. Great postworkout nutrition, right?
Joe, the answer to your original question is a simple “no”
Excuse my ignorance but I just can’t get my head around the concept. Well, this thread was good humour.
forget the Good Humour. by the time you get to the bin, the Good Humour bars will have melted!
About 5 minutes (especially when I’m uptown, where they’re more strict on “sale-by” dates), and at most a half-hour. I try to skip past the small whole-salers, and instead opt for the major supermarket chains, as they are more likely to have a wide variety of foods to ensure that I stay well fed… and for free! Certainly I can see your point about it not being worth it, economically or time wise, if you have to spend an hour foraging through trash cans just to come out with a battered and bruised apple! But I would have to say that that has not been my experience of freeganism (at least not in America and London), and so I highly doubt that you will find it to be like that.
As far as health and safety goes, even though the majority of stuff we glean is fully packaged and pre-wrapped, my freegan friends and I have a policy of bleach-washing everything prior to eating it, in addition to utilizing common sense tactics to circumvent sickness (e.g. not eating food that smells “off”, looks damaged, etc.). I can honestly say that after about eighteen months of freeganism, I have never been sick even ONCE as a result. If you use common sense (and bleach wash everything prior to eating it!) sickness should not be a problem.
And yes, if you live in America or England (and maybe even Australia) you can MOST DEFINITELY thrive as a freegan. (Now if you live in Kenya or Tanzania, then it’s a different story!)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Charlie Francis
forget the Good Humour. by the time you get to the bin, the Good Humour bars will have melted!
In all honesty, Charlie’s hilarious humour has humiliated me to the extent that I can only sulk… and go get some “Good Humour” bars! 
Just kidding. Actually in reality, it generally IS the stuff that is bad for you that you find in the highest quantities outside the skips (eg. chocolates, cakes, cookies, etc.). So I normally try to avoid skips behind “carb-factories” (eg. Dunkin’ Donuts, etc.), and stick with the general supermarkets, where I’m more inclined to find stuff that won’t fatten me up.
On another note, Charlie, I spend most of my time in East Africa living in a rural village (where freeganism in not so much an option, I would add as well), where I don’t have access to weights. Would you suggest adding more plyos (eg. depth jumps, hurdle hops, etc.) as a way of narrowing the gap between the Strength-Force curve, or is there something else that would be more effective? Thanks.
…“When you are prepared to hear what you don’t WANT to hear, then you are pretty close to finding the truth.”…
Freeganism was the topic on Oprah today. I didn’t see most of it because I was watching in a auto bodyshop while I was waiting. They had some lady who makes 6 figures showing all the food she got from garbage bags in NYC. They also video taped her leading a group to do a dumpster raid (or whatever they call it). Lisa Ling was on also I believe supporting it. Oprah looked like she loved it (sarcasm).
Isn’t that illegal. Why would she raid a garbage pin with a 6 figure salary. She’s robbing the homeless.
I don’t know you’ll have to ask Oprah.
lol, thats a good one
Just saw the Oprah bit on freeganism… terrible. Why would you spend time going to get cheap food out of the dumpster? Not impressed you find old bagels in trash when you can get a dozen fresh ones for a few dollars and day old ones for dimes.
Here would be the response: It’s all about the movement. It is important for a 6 figure salary citizen to waste 2 hours ($100+) looking for shitty food and cleaning it…why should I have to pay for food when I can just lose more money wasting my own time:D ?