Pork Products+ Am I more: Angry/Disgusted/Guilty?

I'm an occasional Freegan. I've been dumpster diving since I was a kid. Then it was junky toys or something to sled with. Later it was clothes and potted plants. In Grad School there was a Cargo Cult at OU Athens, where the hoi-poli sent their kids thinking that it was so far off the beaten path that they would never find any way to get into trouble.

There, the well to do would pack up their late model sports cars and what ever wouldn't fit - stereo equipment, guitars, designer clothes, pot bellied pigs, would simply be dumped in the trash. The woefully under-employed locals would gather at dusk every day of the last week of school to scavenge things that, even used, were better than anything they would ever be able to buy for themselves or their families. I clothed both myself and my tall lanky spouse for quite a while on those jaunts.

Recently I figured out that a discount-y chain was throwing away multiple sacks of sweet potatoes. On average 1 out of every 6 or 7 sweet potatoes would be half dissolved. The rest, perfectly fine. I mix them with the dogs food, we eat the ones that are "perfect". The point is, they don't go to waste.

So I've been stopping by on occasion to see what's in the bin. Today, on another errand, I needed to pick up some printer paper and get copies made. This trip was right next door to the "Store". I usually only visit after hours, but since I was there, I decided to pop over.

Today must have been get rid of your pork products day, because I kid you not, there were about 10 still very cold, perfectly packaged, spiral sliced hams in the dumpster. Expiration: May 1. In addition an 11.00 tenderloin and 3 packs of individual ribs. Then, there were the 5 packs of ready to serve party trays with Swedish Meatballs and BBQ cocktail weenies.

What did I do? you ask.

I've got 2 dogs and am fostering one who only weighs 20 lbs less than I do. What the hell do think I did? I backed my car up and loaded everything my grabby little hands could carry. I only stopped when the manager stepped out the back door to see what the banging around was about.

"I need boxes" I lied.

"From here?" she asked.

"Oh, I take boxes from anywhere. I transplant a lot of seedlings and I need them to cart the plants around." Best lie I could think of on short notice....odd enough that you wouldn't just make it up..... I hope.

"Oh, okay." and she went back inside. Probably to call the police.

Yes, I'm angry and yes, I'm disgusted. I literally filled a wheel barrow with discarded food that was still within it's expiration date. There are laws that prevent stores from being sued for donating food to charity if somebody gets sick.

And hence my guilt. A human being could be eating this food. Not that it won't help me and my husband, it will cut down on our dog food bills. And since I'll mix it with other things, it will last a very, very long time. It will offset the cost of getting the foster dog neutered, so we can find him a good home. But people are going hungry. And my dogs are eating better than they are.

Glad you "rescued" it. The waste in this country (not just food either) is obscene.

included tuna steak, pulled out of the dumpster still frozen.

But it's been averaging in the low 70's and I'm not too keen on food poisoning.

Well, at least, they would have if you hadn't retrieved the meat.

And it's a damn shame they can't find something better to do with all that food than toss it in the garbage.

Glad you and your family (dogs included!) made out so well.

we work short-coded merch for all we can. We mark it down and blow it out rather than trash it; every penny counts, literally.

My brother manages one of the bigs just outside of Boston. I hear ALL the gory details about the industry.

There was a rendering truck behind the store Sunday afternoon (spotted it on the way to Target) and it didn't dawn on me till just now that they were probably picking up all of the 'expired' meats that Acme was throwing out because of closing the store.


What a shame when you think about it....