An Introduction to Freeganism

Newsweek magazine has allowed one of their writers's to spend the next thirty days investigating one of the new subcultures rising in our society. These anti-consumerists have been making waves, adopting life practices that compel them to dig through dumpsters and scour city parks looking for leafy greens to eat. Freegans are their name but their game has eluded full understanding as their message and methods change from one part of the nation to the other. What is unilateral is their disdain for the American lifestyle of excess and glutton, not just in eating habits but in life habits. And it is these habits that they seek to bring the most attention to.

The genesis of Freegans is not as clear as other cultural change agents. But born out of the Food Not Bombs prevailing culture where passionate citizens are stirred to action based on their belief that our focus on war politics skews our focus from things that matter most like making sure everyone has something to eat, every day. The Food Not Bombs initiative, serves vegan or vegetarian food to others. Their message is clear. We are a nation with plenty but waste a large portion of it on initiatives that fail to address critical needs in our culture.

The Freegan website gives a detailed description of what it is to be a Freegan. At a base level, Freegans have a distinctive apathy about their inability to consume without supporting something they despise. This contentious battle stirred a group to action and that is where the Freegans began. The central goal of Freegans is to reconcile economics and ethics, where our pursuit of capital is never compromised by our moral, ethical, and social responsibilities. In pursuit of their goal, Freegans have instituted several practical life strategies.

Waste Reclamation