Sunday 24 August 2008
Recent feature on Freeganism
In The Cure for Consumania, a recent feature from REAP: Respect for the Earth and All People, Craig Copeland comments on recent coverage of dumpster diving by freegans for food...
"None of the reports, however, delved beyond wasted food in their attempt to explain freegan behaviour. As a result, they failed to give freeganism credit for being a deeply compelling movement. What the TV reporters overlooked is essential to understanding these peaceful subversives:
- The term “freegan” is a marriage of “free” and “vegan.”...
- Instead of boycotting one bad company only to support another, Freegans try to purchase nothing at all...
- Born of the antiglobalization and environmentalist movements, freeganism blossomed in the mid 1990s...
- Freegans argue that land and commodities are now valued only according to their capacity to generate profit...
- Dumpster diving, also called “urban foraging,” is freegans’ trademark tactic...
- When freegans cannot meet their needs by foraging, they buy second-hand goods...
- Most freegans do not own cars...
- Just as freegans are outraged that people starve while food is trashed, they’re incensed that people endure homelessness while available housing remains vacant because the owners cannot profitably rent it out...
- Freegans view unused land, particularly vacant lots within cities, much the way they do food in garbage bins: a wasted resource capable of supplying vital nutritional needs...
- Freegans make a conscious decision: “I will not sacrifice my life to buy more stuff and pay more bills.”...
- The essence of freegansim is the belief that the social, political and ecological ills of our world are not due to a few harmful products or evil corporations but rather the entire system...
"None of the reports, however, delved beyond wasted food in their attempt to explain freegan behaviour. As a result, they failed to give freeganism credit for being a deeply compelling movement. What the TV reporters overlooked is essential to understanding these peaceful subversives:
- The term “freegan” is a marriage of “free” and “vegan.”...
- Instead of boycotting one bad company only to support another, Freegans try to purchase nothing at all...
- Born of the antiglobalization and environmentalist movements, freeganism blossomed in the mid 1990s...
- Freegans argue that land and commodities are now valued only according to their capacity to generate profit...
- Dumpster diving, also called “urban foraging,” is freegans’ trademark tactic...
- When freegans cannot meet their needs by foraging, they buy second-hand goods...
- Most freegans do not own cars...
- Just as freegans are outraged that people starve while food is trashed, they’re incensed that people endure homelessness while available housing remains vacant because the owners cannot profitably rent it out...
- Freegans view unused land, particularly vacant lots within cities, much the way they do food in garbage bins: a wasted resource capable of supplying vital nutritional needs...
- Freegans make a conscious decision: “I will not sacrifice my life to buy more stuff and pay more bills.”...
- The essence of freegansim is the belief that the social, political and ecological ills of our world are not due to a few harmful products or evil corporations but rather the entire system...
Labels: Freeganism
# posted by W. Greg Taylor @ 10:25 pm 
