Freegans: Urban revolutionaries or legendary cheapskates?

Freeganism is a hard concept to understand.  Derived from the words  ‘free’ and ‘vegan’, a freegan is a person who eats food that has been discarded - but is not necessarily vegan.

Freeganism is part of a broader anti-consumerist movement with the core belief being that the need to buy new things to eat is diminished by the waste already in our society.  It is a concept that is thought to have grown out of the anti-globalisation and environmental movements of the early nineties but is believed to have been articulated and popularized in a manifesto that was released in 2000. 

Freegan practices traditionally include, but are not limited, to dumpster diving, urban foraging, gardening and barter, as alternatives to paying for food. 

Since 2000, Freeganism has developed, in some communities, to include more than an anti-consumerist ethic about eating and into a broader strategy for living that embraces a complete boycott of the economic system.  In this sense, it additionally incorporates  practices such as community bike sharing, waste minimization through recycling, swapping  and repair of  goods where possible,  squatting and working less.   In some cases, it includes the highly dubious practices of shoplifting, employee theft and returns (the practice of returning stolen goods for money or store credit).  All of these practices are outlined in what is considered to be the original freegan manifesto. 

Upon reading the freegan manifesto it’s hard to believe that the author wrote it with any serious intent and perhaps even harder to believe that it spawned a social movement that has spread world-wide.

SJ