lace your boots!

We're going on an adventure. I want to delve into the realm of non participation with the global economy.
I'll try to learn about permaculture, squats, local currency, locally grown foods and free music and free food and free conversation and free friendship. I'll need a blog to give me a place to report. I'll need an audience to listen, care, advise, answer, argue etc.

Join me, it'll be fun.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Urban Foraging

I first attempted urban foraging with a group of freegans in New York city, freegan.info is their web site. Their beliefs are listed on their web site, but honestly I had no such lofty goals for the evening, I was simply hungry and broke, and they were offering to teach me where to shop for free food.

Basic Rules:
1. Foraging starts around 9pm - Most grocery stores close between 8:30-10:30pm in NYC, this may or may not hold true in your area.
2. Bring plenty of extra bags - plastic or cloth, washable cloth
3. Wait for all managers to leave the premises
4. Get your hands dirty, and plan to bathe when you return home, gloves can be helpful.
5. Leave bags and/or dumpsters as you found them - Many store owners have taken action against messy foragers, pouring bleach into bags, holding garbage inside the store until the garbage truck comes, calling the police. Needless to say, it is best for all concerned if we treat our hosts with all due respect.
6. Talk to other foragers, to garbage men and any curious passersby. Have as many conversations about urban foraging as you are presented with, you never know who will lead you to the store that throws away cheese, fresh mangoes or other delights.

clues for badness:
smell the food, slightly alcoholic? maybe that sweet smell of rot? don't risk it, there is plenty of good food available.
prepackaged meals will swell their plastic containers as bacteria eat and produce gas, don't bother picking up burst or swelled packages.
White bread is always more stale than any other kind of bread.

clues for goodness:
fruits or vegetables with small bruises or scars on their surface, often these marks are easily cut out and the rest of the fruit is in perfect condition.
prepackaged salads, greens, cured meats and cheeses are often perfectly good, if a little past expiration.
Bagel shop that bags all of its bagels separate from other trash in one bag. same for grocery stores with bakery department.

My experience:
I've only gotten sick from eating food found in the trash once, it was one unpleasant bowel movement, and I knew the stuff tasted funny when I'd eaten it.
If you're worried about health risks, find experienced foragers, they'll guide you in the right direction.
If you're still worried, give your foraged foods the same test our hunter gatherer ancestors used for the majority of our history as a species. eat a little bit, is it bitter? spit it out. if it tastes good, hold it in your mouth and be aware of yourself. burning? numbness? spit it out. if it is nothing but tasty, swallow it and wait a day. if it passes through your digestive system well enough, you have a new supply of food.
My friend asked me the other day, do you eat for your stool? do you "put in" with an awareness of needing to "get out" again?
What if we were to give this poison test to all of the foods we eat, bread with rye or white or spelt flour. Fast food hamburgers. Spinach. Steak. Milk. What would we learn about what we need to eat, and what we can leave to someone else's foraging hands.
The assumption that what is gotten for free is inherently less healthy than what is gained at high cost is exactly the sort of thinking we must ignore. your health is not dependent on your wallet, nutrition is a choice that we make with our heads, not our bank accounts.

So Why Should I Dumpster Dive?:
you might say. Well here's my feeling, you should only do what you want. but here's why I do it.
A: very fun, sort of like scavenger hunt, or that shop till you drop tv show.
B: good community of people.
C: easy to save money, or work less, depending on your preference.
D: Variety! food you would never have bought before, now you have to learn how to cook? Guacamole anyone?

Any suggestions are welcome to be posted, please feel free to voice yourself.
Thanks
b

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Great post. To the point (which is a good one), informative, and well put B.