Pass the cheese, help yourself to some wine…it’s time for the opening of the second exhibit in the Wasted Food Gallery.
This exhibit comes to us from the camera of “Secret Freegan,†a Phoenix resident who dumpster dives and donates her findings to the hungry. You can view Secret Freegan’s photos via the Gallery tab, which is always atop the site.
Oh, and once you’re in the mood, you may want to catch a British take on the same activity–“Skipping.” The gent in the video explains how he gets his daily eats from supermarket “skips.” Stay tuned to hear about his quaffable “Holy Grail” of dumpster diving. If only he could have saved the beverages for this gallery opening…
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4 responses to “Gallery Now Open”
I watched that video about the British guy, and while I don’t actually skip-dive myself, his statement about ‘moral obligation’ really resonated with me – I just hate to see food thrown away, it feels wrong at that sort of level. It was all I could do to stop myself from crying (or crying out in outrage) when I was at a dinner party and the host scraped all the leftovers from the plates (there were a few fussy eaters around) straight into the bin. OK, it’s been on someone’s plate and they’ve picked at it a bit with their fork, but it still feels wrong!
Plate scrapings at a hosted party–that’s a tough one, Julius. I’ve been there and I agree that it feels wrong. Yet, it’s one of those situations that I’ve made peace with because there’s really nothing you can do about it (without crossing certain social boundaries). Maybe if you’re quite close with the host and want to pull the “Are you gonna eat that?” routine…
You could also tell them you’ll take it home to compost, but that can come off as a bit smug.
Loved the Secret Freegan . We were so impressed by the amount and quality of the food that she was recovering and donating. Most interesting fact was that there is a Good Samaritan law regarding donated food that has been in place since 1986 (hubby a retired lawyer double- checked it). That means all those big guys who claim they fear liability in donating out dated food are just plain lying. It makes me wonder what the real motivation is behind not donating the stuff directly from the stores and other places.
Freegan is an amazing person. Thanks for the introduction to such an inspiring person.
Boundaries schmoundaries. It’s just the kind of act that, in my circle of friends, has taken on new social form over the years. Over a certain amount of time, you get judged for eating other people’s left-overs, but friends stick around, and change the way they think. Many of my friends–even my own mother–now takes advantage of those opportunities where others are throwing away perfectly good food and they snag it, snarf it, and occasionally they ‘splain it too. At the end of a good long explanation, I’ve found that many people are inclined to feel a bit guilty about it, but that’s alright. They should feel guilty.
As for the big guys and their fears (it turns out that big guys and gals are a lot more fearful than they would at first seem), it’s not entirely fictitious. Sure, there’s a law that provides blanket legal protection in case of death or injury, and it’s written in language that a chimpanzee could understand. But if you’re afraid, it’s going to be difficult to alleviate those fears. I find that lots of the big guys don’t consider that a law such as the Good Semaritan Food Donation Act will provide them with liability protection so far as public opinion is concerned. Many lawsuits never make it to court because big guys are afraid of encountering bad press and a bad image for themselves. In light of that, many big guys would just assume foregoing the donation route. I find that, in order to unlock the donation streams, it’s occasionally necessary to appeal to the big guy by telling them about the good press. Some of them are generally concerned with hunger in their community, or morally opposed to trashing good food. Others, you have to work at a bit, and the law is just another stick you can use to leverage them from their position.
Peace and Love,
Dan