Freeganism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Freeganism is commonly understood as the practice of abstaining from any
consumer goods except in those cases where the goods are obtained for
free and have been divorced from the harm done by their production. The
word "freegan" is a portmanteau of the words free and vegan.

Basic concepts

Popular mostly among North American anti-capitalists, freeganism is a
practice that seeks to lessen rampant overconsumption, environmental
destruction, waste, and exploitation in the developed world. Freegans
and strict vegans both consider the practice of confining and killing
animals for human consumption both environmentally unsound and
unnecessarily cruel.

Freeganism differs from veganism primarily in its priorities: followers
of both ideologies refuse to support organizations which profit from
animal torture, death, or exploitation; however, as a matter of
principle, vegans refuse to consume animal products even when they
obtain them for free. Some freegans, on the other hand, consider it not
only justifiable but beneficial to consume edible animal products after
they have been discarded, as such food is still a viable source of
nourishment which would otherwise go to waste. Freegans do not all have
qualms with eating meat, dairy, and so on - so long as they are not
giving money to the corporations that sell them; unlike vegans, freegans
see nothing morally superior in refusing free food. One freegan slogan
goes: "We'll eat your scrap, but we won't buy your crap."

There is some disagreement about the definition of freeganism. Some
freegans consume meat, as long as they don't pay for it; others still
abstain from meat even when they find it for free. Some freegans,
represented by the freegan.info website claim that "freeganism is a
broad-based lifestyle ethic encompassing food, housing, transportation,
clothing, and all other necessities of daily life"; however, the
addition of many non-food-related items to the definition of freegan
does not reflect the most common historical usage of the term.

Freeganism in practice

Many freegans get free food by pulling it out of the trash, a practice
commonly nicknamed dumpster-diving. Freegans claim to find ample amounts
of clean, edible 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
dumpster-diving, they prevent edible food from contributing to landfills
and sometimes feed people and animals who might otherwise go hungry.
Many freegans (and strict vegan "dumpster divers") 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 needlessly wasted.

Food Not Bombs is an organization based widely on freegan principles.