The problem with Freeganism

Hi Jen,

Thanks so much for turning us on to Barbara's rant on Freeganism. I had no idea that such a movement was taking form. Also, Alanna's pointer to Barbara's other post on the Raw Food Fad was equally interesting. Reminds me of so many conversations I've had over the years. Just don't get me going on the urine drinkers....

Elise Bauer
Simply Recipes ( http://www.elise.com/recipes )
Learning Movable Type ( http://www.learningmovabletype.com )

Link Text ( http://buildpeace.blogspot.com )Build Peace

I should slow down and read rather than skim. Sorry. Stealing is not "right" - I agree, but if a homeless person gleans is that any more right... yes. If FNB (I talk to one of the founders of this org regularly) gleans to feed those who will accept their food is it wrong? FNB gets "tip offs" as to where unused food will be left and when it will be unguarded. Is this right?

I guess one question I have is how to distinguish those who have to glean versus freegans -- don't some freegans do it because they are on the edge and trying to make what they have go further, or make a political statement? I'm really not sure.

The real (wow, am I sounding pedantic or what?) problem is the waste that is tolerated, accepted, and encouraged by American society and its corporate overlords. Freegans strike me the same as anarchists. Okay in priniciple but really annoying to have to interact with.

Nancy

... is exactly what I LOVE about Barbara Fisher's essays. She once wrote about what she called the 'raw food fad' ( http://www.tigersandstrawberries.com/2005/11/30/ba... ) and when I asked -- wanting to learn -- whether anything redeeming was to be found in raw food, she wrote another essay ( http://www.tigersandstrawberries.com/2005/12/05/ra... ) -- completely worth the read if only to get a huge laugh from the comparison of righteousness of raw foodists to ... oh, read it yourself, it IS very funny along with illuminating.

Alanna Kellogg, The Veggie Evangelist ( http://kitchen-parade-veggieventure.blogspot.com/ )

I mentioned Food, Not Bombs in the original essay--I really like the way they do things. I have no problem with gleaning, per se--I have problems with the rationale (or lack thereof) and the way in which freegans pursue it, because they are doing it at the expense of others who have no choice but to glean.

That, and their own writings advocate stealing, which is not right.

Barbara

Link Text ( http://www.tigersandstrawberries.com )Tigers & Strawberries
Link Text ( http://paperpalate.net )The Paper Palate

True folks are living off the corporate wastes, but not all about gleaning the good stuff is to be scorned. What person doesn't feed into supporting the corporatist state in every aspect of his or her life? Waste is a crime against nature from my worldview. So anything that diminishes waste is good.

For another view of "freeganism" check out Food Not Bombs ( http://www.foodnotbombs.org ).

buildpeace.blogspot.com ( http://buildpeace.blogspot.com )

Hey, Alanna--

Thanks for pointing out that post to me--I had no idea it existed. In fact, I had no idea freegans existed until they were pointed out to me by a reader who wanted to see what I had to say about the subject.

I think that I have more to say, yet. Look for another essay next week on the subject of what I would do if I were a freegan--or some such. Because Alanna--as you know--I am not good at just providing criticism of a problem without also seeing the other side, and sometimes providing solutions.

Barbara

Link Text ( http://www.tigersandstrawberries.com )Tigers & Strawberries
Link Text ( http://paperpalate.net )The Paper Palate

Really interesting stuff. It is about STUFF. I'd like to talk to one of these Freegans, I bet it would be a fascinating conversation. I just can't imagine it, for myself.

~Denise

It IS a small world: See the view 9000km and 7-10 time zones away from the US, from the Southern Hemisphere, from Africa: Kitsch'n'Zinc ( http://kitschnzinc.blogspot.com/2006/01/friggin-fr... ).

Alanna Kellogg, The Veggie Evangelist ( http://kitchen-parade-veggieventure.blogspot.com/ )

Great post Jen. I was going to ramble on a bit more about it, but Pam already said it so well in the first comment.

Kalyn Denny
Kalyn's Kitchen ( http://kalynskitchen.blogspot.com )

This is the first I've heard of Freeganism. I read the post and one of my favorite ironies is that THEY HAVE A WEBSITE! What? They're websurfing? Okay, okay, maybe they're doing that at the public library. Okay. Still. A-hem.

I find the movement oddly materialistic. It's about STUFF, right? It's about how you can get stuff for free! It's not about less stuff, it's about how there's LOTS OF STUFF and you can have it! Without money!

I am a notorious cartoon lefty with a thrift store wardrobe and a subscription to an organic farm and a 1985 Tercel. Instead of finding ways to acquire STUFF, I try, in my ulitmately fallible manner, to buy quality stuff that I won't be throwing away any time soon, and to not buy stuff that I don't need or won't use.

It's cool to score a nice piece of furniture from the alley. Good for you. (The owner should have Freecycled it, anyway.) But critics of society need to participate in ways that affect change, not sponge off the edges. Dumpster diving isn't activism.

This kind of "I'm sticking it to the man" attitude when you're just a self-serving dork irritates me. I bet they're against VOTING too. ARGH. Meh, I'm rambling. Shutting up now.

www.nerdseyeview.com ( http://www.nerdseyeview.com )