Freegan

Freeganism is an anti-consumerist lifestyle which is based on limited participation in the conventional economy and minimal consumption of resources.

Freegans "embrace community, generosity, social concern, freedom, cooperation, and sharing in opposition to a society based on materialism, moral apathy, competition, conformity, and greed." Freeganism involves choosing to salvage discarded, unspoiled food from supermarket dumpsters, known as 'dumpster diving'.

The word "freegan" comes from "free" and "vegan"; freegans are not necessarily vegetarian, the "egan" comes from vegans who cite ethical rather than health reasons for not eating or using animal products. Freeganism started in the mid 1960s, out of the antiglobalization and environmentalist movements. The movement also has elements of Diggers, an anarchist street theater group based in Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco in the 1960s, that gave away rescued food.



Personally, I don't see anything wrong with this movement. In fact, I think it's a great way to show how much of a wasteful consumerist society we are. But I'm not a activist and I'm far to lazy to ever do something about it.

However, I'm also in the mind set of if food has been on the shelf not a few hours before it's on the streets, then it's still good enough to eat. I dislike it when people waste food and will actively eat left overs.