I got tricked into eating food out of a dumpster
We thought we were going to get yummy free food. But there was one – very big – catch…
Yesterday, me and my floor mates were given the opportunity to go on a “free food” tour, meant to show us all the places to get free food around the East Village.
Obviously as starving, broke college students we were not going to say no to the chance to eat without taking out a cent from our wallet. We were instructed to bring bags in order to take back all of our “yummy finds”.
Exciting, right? But there’s a catch.
The food was completely free but nobody mentioned where it came from.
It came from the trash.
Yes, you read this right. The trash.
More specifically the big pile of plastic bags put out by stores and restaurant before closing.
Once my floormates and I understood this tiny detail we were tempted to leave. But the temptation of free food and curiosity made us stay.
8.45 – About to open our first bags. I was not feeling it
You’re probably really grossed out by now.
“Eww she chose to eat food out of a trash bag that’s nasty.” Honestly, I thought the same thing but the experience somewhat changed my mind.
To understand why, you’ll need a bit of background info.
9pm – I was not dressed for dumpster diving and tried my best to avoid touching any of the garbage.
The woman who led us on the tour is a freegan. Freegans are people that believe our society is too wasteful and there are ways to live without taking part in the system. Freeganism is a fairly discreet way to make a political statement by rejecting consumerism.
In New York this is totally legal as long as you are careful to leave a clean sidewalk and close the bags once you’re done. The member of the movement retrieve discarded food and other objects in order to do their small part in reducing our society’s waste. The whole aim of the tour was to introduce college students to freeganism. If I’m being very honest, I’m not a convert. Not at all. I like my coffee from Starbucks and my croissants from the bakery.
But there’s something to be said for the movement. When we set out in our quest for “yummy” dumpster food I was convinced that there would be nothing edible in the plastic bag that our group was digging through. Honestly, it’s astonishing to see the amount of good food that stores throw out: unopened yogurt that hadn’t even gone past its expiration date, bags full of fresh bread, perfectly edible chicken still sealed in its plastic container…
9.10- We found a bag full of kale and lettuce and people just started taking it out- that was too much for me to handle
9.15 – I still stood on the sidelines while people started trying to forage for edible stuff. The smell was enough for me to steer clear
9.40- Our guide found a bag full of yoghurt and chicken. We were offered both and graciously put it in our bag, although I was not planning on ever eating that stuff
It took me a bit of time to actually try to look inside the bag myself. I’m a complete germophobe and was wholly disgusted by the idea of putting my hands in trash or, God forbid, actually eat any of the food coming from there. But I tried it because everyone else was and I have to say, it was perfectly yummy food.
We found a bag full of pastries at Dunkin’ Donuts that looked good to eat but had been thrown out on the curb. I cannot believe I am writing this, but I actually took some of this food from the trash back to the dorm.
I might not be a convert freegan but the experience was definitely eye opening.
10.20 – We found a bag filled with yummy pastries on the curb at Dunkin’ Donuts, they looked too good to be left there
10.25 – Jason enjoying the hell out of a dumpster doughnut
10.30 – I found a chocolate doughnut amid the pile but still did not have the guts to eat it
10.35- When confronted with the jelly doughnut my fear of germs completely disappeared
10.45 – I decided to bring a bunch of croissants back to the dorm and feed it to my unsuspecting roommates.
I’m by no means telling you to go around and pick up food from the garbage, I know for a fact I’ll never do it again, but just know if you’re ever out of money there’s an easy way to get a snack if you’re willing to get your hands dirty.