In praise of freeganism*

Things are tough all over, as they say. (Who’s “they”? And do they really say that? I don’t know.) We here at FPC are no exception.* So the past couple weeks as we’ve scrounged change for subway rides and stolen the Kleenex from our hotel room, we’ve been contemplating the joys of the freegan lifestyle. If you’ve never heard of this, you can learn more here. The “official” arm of this movement tends toward the Adbuster-reading, Dumpster-diving extremist. (If you’re my brother, you might call these folks “dirty hippies.” I won’t say which brother.) But the premise is sound and admirable: that it’s worth it to salvage at least some of the large volume of food and materials being wasted daily by Americans.

And you’d be surprised once you start looking around you just how much is to be had for the taking. Last week we obtained 4 lunches out of 5 days through the generosity of friends or our company. (It helps to work in an office that often has leftovers from conferences—although this means eating variations on the same veggie wrap much of the time.) Farmers markets are also a great source of free food in the way of samples; a couple spins around the Union Square Greenmarket and you don’t need dinner. In fact, scavenging at cafés in New York can be incredibly fruitful. For example, Cosi puts out bread samples, and last week when we walked by and they were out, a very nice worker told us to wait a minute and gave us a whole bag of fresh, warm, doughy chunks.

I (we) could go on. This whole blog could be about adventures in freeganism, as it already is about veganism. For now, though, keep your eyes open for the bounty around you, and let us know if you find any great deals.

*(freeganing?)

*Why the royal we all of a sudden? For distancing, I suppose. Shut up.