So there was this vegan at my old place of work, I knew that he was vegan but forgot and offered him some chocolate treats that I had with me. Surprisingly he took one and started munching on it in all its dairy goodness. I remembered then that he was vegan and said something along the lines of, ‘wait a minute, aren’t you vegan??’ and he said, ‘yes, but I’m a freegan.’ and I was like umm..what??? what’s a freegan? and he said that a freegan is ‘a vegan who will eat something non-vegan if it is free because this doesn’t exploit the animal since it was going to go to waste anyway/was given freely’ which I found a little strange but interesting, so I had a look on wikipedia, and they define freegan like this:
Freeganism is a lifestyle based around the belief that almost all work and monetary exchanges within a capitalist economy contribute to myriad forms of exploitation – worker abuse, animal exploitation, hunger, ecological destruction, mass incarceration, war, inequitable distribution of resources, commodification of women – almost all issues addressed by social, ecological, and animal rights advocacy groups.
Freegan”, a portmanteau of “free” and “vegan”, is derived from the observation that even a vegan lifestyle is not free of exploitation.
Many freegans get free food by pulling it out of the trash, a practice commonly nicknamed dumpster diving in North America or skipping in the UK. Freegans find food in the garbage of restaurants, grocery stores, and other food-related industries, and this allows them to avoid spending money on products that exploit the world’s resources, contribute to urban sprawl, treat workers unfairly, or disregard animal rights. By foraging, they prevent edible food from adding to landfills and sometimes feed people and animals who might otherwise go hungry. Many freegans claim that they are able to eat very well, and even avoid paying for food altogether, due to this practice. Many vegan dumpster divers come to embrace freeganism in order to utilize more of the thrown-out food they find, which would otherwise be wasted.
hmm that is just a little excerpt from wikipedia’s definition. I was thinking about freeganism the other day when it for some reason came up in conversation, and I wish I still knew that guy so I could ask him a bunch of questions! I would really like to learn more about freeganism and think I will do a bit of research. So if there are any freegans out there…feel free to comment because I’d like to know how it all works and why you do it!
xoxo miss v
