Comments on: Scrounging Around

by: Eric

Sun, 02 Nov 2008 14:35:36 +0000

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I cannot agree on everything you say in this article, but perhaps I missed some of the points you were trying to make….

by: Sarah

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 16:41:56 +0000

Pam, I think you’re missing one of the important points of the post, and one that several scrounger commenters have made. It really is an accepted practice at Reed, and even one that’s imbued with a sense of cool. If you’re standing around the scrounge table (used to be a low wall), Freshmen come up to you and nervously, reverentially, ask you questions, and say hi. As underclassmen, buying extra food for the scrounge, and even just being nice to them, makes you part of Reed, because the scrounge is part of Reed. There are, of course, people who don’t like it, and they don’t have to give their food to us. But it’s generally socially acceptable enough that people don’t voice these opinions loudly.

I’ve been scrounging for over a year, now, and have never once worried about people sabotaging food. I think one of the commandments tells people not to, but it really just doesn’t happen. Besides the acceptability and even coolness of the scrounge, that would be an Honor Principle violation for us, and Reedies take the HP very seriously.

by: Trin

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 09:21:35 +0000

One of the sweetest compliments I’ve gotten in the past year is when a Reed scrounger mentioned my son bought extra food for the scroungers when pickings were slim. I had been a little annoyed at him that his board points ran short before the end of the semester; that was evidently why. Toward the end of the year, I think he did some scrounging himself.

My impression is that people don’t play mean tricks, because it’s a small college with an honor code, and it would be against that to do something mean to someone else like that. If you did such a thing, people would know and there would be some negative social pressure.

by: PAM

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 20:07:11 +0000

Oh, my God, I cannot believe what I am reading. Were there not the pranksters who would stick stuff in the food, knowing damned well that there were “scroungers” looking for leftovers?? I would be so afraid that there would be a huge mucusy snot in my food, or a snuffed out butt……how absolutely disgusting.
Where I went to college, it would have been a daily occurance for the jocks to purposely sabbotage the food, and then sit back and wait for the scroungers to consume it !!!
I would never have been caught dead standing in a line waiting to eat some leftover shit someone else had not deemed fit enough to eat, or that they just plain didn’t want. How completely humiliating. I don’t care how little money I had, there was always the dollar store, or the generic brand foods in the grocery store….whatever it took, to keep your heads up and not be seen looking like street rats waiting for someone elses scraps.
Again, I still cannot believe I am reading this….I hope it was all in fun and not true !!!!!

by: Jonathan

Tue, 20 May 2008 00:13:36 +0000

Ah…college.

by: octopod

Mon, 19 May 2008 22:32:36 +0000

At Caltech, this happens exactly the same as described. I think it’s actually illegal here and they claim it’s an honor code violation but that’s bullshit…

by: Red Door 3000

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 19:08:45 +0000

I remember several good years of scrounging in the late ’90s . My whole house was on the line. There were like 8 of us plus a group of close friends. Lunch was our daily family meal; we’d get together in the scrounge, talk about who hooked up the night before or some political happening, and we’d eat. Most people scrounged lunch, and a good number scrounged dinner. Only the die-hards would scrounge breakfast, because you had to hit it at exactly 8:45 to catch all the freshmen before Hum 110.

I agree with everyone else: the scrounge made my immune system better. Also, I once scrounged a girlfriend. That was hot. Never look down on the booty scrounge… it’s the gift that keeps on giving.

It was also funny how you’re attitude about things changed over time. At first you’d only hit the food that was untouched. Then you’d eat dry items (like chicken fried steak) but not soups. Eventually you’d give in and eat anything on the plate. Each of us had quirks though - I refused to drink 2nd-hand milk. I’d drink anything else, but milk was just too much. It just struck me as disease haven.

Almost all of us scrounged for practicality. We were mostly kids on some sort of financial aid, so we really needed to scrimp a bit. Although I’d be lying if I didn’t say that the money saved from scrounging help me score a nice sack of weed now and again. It was a lot better then giving plasma.

by: Betsy

Sun, 30 Dec 2007 06:55:30 +0000

Confirming adams accounts, I also (almost) never got sick from the reed scrounge and I scrounged at least one meal every weekday, sometimes all three meals, for three years. I stayed healthy (way healthier than certain dormie classmates), saved a bunch of money, and reduced food waste. Since I studied so much, the scrounge was frequently my only opportunity to get outside my own head and enjoy a free, communal meal.
Here are some random scrounge memories: The biggest problem I faced as a scrounger was not hygine but competition for the best morsels during peak hours. When I couldn’t get a good spot on the line, I would assign myself the job of runner, checking the dish return areas in the cafe next door to the dining area and bringing back the food I found. Or scarfing the loot down myself. I don’t remember a ’scrounge recommends’ board but we occasionally posted requests such as “more beans and rice, please” for the vegans. Baked potato nights made for the BEST scrounge. Many dormies didn’t eat the skins, which are the most nutritious part of the potato - I always left full of starchy goodness.
According to my economics professor, the scrounge arose because dormies used to paid a flat rate for meals back in the day. Because of the flat rate, reedies would load up ridiculous amounts of food and, intentionally or not, feed quite a few people. The dining service switched from the flat rate system to a points system (where more food cost more) to get rid of us. But, by that point, scrounging had become a cherished institution and could not be exterminated.
Message to impoverished reed grads living in portland: miss those free, communal meals? New Seasons is your new scrounge. You would not believe what they set outside the store for people to take–good bread, greens, fruit, mostly organic and regionally-sourced and not in a dumpster. Of course, if you scrounged, you’re probably already hip to this.

by: Anna

Mon, 10 Dec 2007 22:01:54 +0000

Hi Jonathan- it was scrounging.org, and it was interesting in a sense as a catalog of industry excess!

So for the all -you-can eat model in a community setting, as colleges are, compared to 400 individuals go to Trader Joe’s once a week and by packaged meals, half of which go to rot in the refrigerator. That’s more the comparison I had in my head, and probably should have expressed in a more detailed manner. So I agree that the volume of food is probably greater at colleges- what if no one likes the 10 trays of enchiladas they made, for example, compared to single person’s wrapped burritos that sit in the refrigerator for a month then end up in the trash. The individual packaging fallout is more of an issue with the urban dwelling, and more actionable by individuals to only buy what they will consume, instead of overbuying (my own weakness!).

Speaking of, went to a Mexican restaurant the other night and took away a leftover container that was the size of another whole burrito.

by: Jonathan

Wed, 05 Dec 2007 15:14:33 +0000

Thanks for sharing those insights about life as a scrounger, Anna. Scrounger.org sounds like a fun site. And you bring up a potential “real world” application for scrounging–industry events!

I’d be curious to know why you think college cafeterias aren’t wasteful. In my experience, they’re terribly wasteful. At least the all-you-can-eat ones are. They are unable to predict demand and are expected to have an abundance, even toward the end of the meal. Some schools are better than others at repurposing leftovers, but there’s a reason many colleges compost: they have tons of food waste.

To be fair, a great deal of that is students’ uneaten food. Many campuses will do a waste awareness week where they measure diners plate waste to get students to think about what they’re tossing. But imagine if everything you scrounged went straight into the trash, as it does at virtually every other school.

Finally, you’re right about cruise ships! Talk about expected abundance.