Freegan is a new word being used to describe dumpster diving environmentalists who have found a way to live in a wasteful society without compromising their values.
According a recent Denver news story:
“Those subscribing to freeganism range from people who don’t believe in buying food at all to people like Meuser, who say they’re simply trying to minimize their impact on the environment by eating homegrown or organically grown food — and by reclaiming food that’s been thrown out.”
More than 25 million tons of food is throw away annually in the U.S. alone. Every farm, orchard, grocer, food distributor and manufacturer routinely discard blemished and unsold food.
In fact, a 2004 study from the University of Arizona, revealed that nearly half the food in the United States goes to waste.
In a world where eight million people die each year from hunger-related causes, Freeganism makes a lot of sense. Next time I go to the market, I’m going to take a look inside their dumpster!
