The first of UV's videos on food waste and the second half of this one can probably be termed moving towards zero waste not freeganism, but it's all good listening. An introduction as to how it relates to veganism and use of the term. Freeganism started out as anti-consumerist ethic sees stealing as hurting the bottom line of all companies, creating irregular demand and no profit, as well as taking free animal products from strangers as some kind of gift economy that is commendable, so it is something we have to fight for the definition over, or use freegan-vegan instead.
Still be useful as I said in the beginning to get an educational video out there on how these networks of self-supporting freegans can reduce the need to consume on things like cat food, can organize to efficiently feed people on the cheap in the street and advocate for change in industry practices and the law through documenting, media and petitioning industry, councils and politicians.
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Food Waste & Freeganism (Part 2: What is a freegan and why does it matter?)
https://youtu.be/ZzH6UEOz2Bs
Published on Sep 1, 2016
As I and others have said, vegan is not the moral baseline. There’s always more that we can do (or stop doing) to make the world a better place. I've talked about agricultural efficiency a bit in the past, but another major issue in our food supply (and one that we can do a lot about) is waste.
Part 1 on food waste:
https://youtu.be/PEP0A93pYIk
Freeganism in a nutshell -
https://youtu.be/ZzH6UEOz2Bs?t=23s
Fake freegans -
https://youtu.be/ZzH6UEOz2Bs?t=3m1s
An intermediate to freeganism -
https://youtu.be/ZzH6UEOz2Bs?t=4m5s
Conclusion: 4 tips for avoiding waste -
https://youtu.be/ZzH6UEOz2Bs?t=5m27s
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Hey guys, this is part two of my 2 part series talking about food waste and now freeganism. So if you want to see the one on food waste you can check that out right here [1] and then come back and watch this one or don't.
Freeganism in a nutshell
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https://youtu.be/ZzH6UEOz2Bs?t=23s
Freegans are rescuers of sorts, only instead of rescuing people or animals they rescue food from being wasted, they get it from dumpsters, dumpster diving, often dumpsters behind grocery stores or bakeries, frequently still in the package and they eat that instead of buying food.
Given the harmfulness of food waste in terms of the environment that I talked about in the last video, this rather strange lifestyle freeganism is really commendable, it may even be morally superior to veganism in terms of immediate consequences on the world that we live in. As long as freegans aren't like cutting locks and vandalizing private property.
There's also no denying that such a lifestyle, freeganism, is less socially sustainable, obviously not everyone can live on waste so we do need vegan food products made for the market and people willing to buy them.
Freeganism is not an example that we can all follow, but it is something that some of the more adventurous of us can try, it also may be a good recommendation for people who are not quite ready to give up meat, obviously assuming they are willing to dig through garbage to get their fix which I'm willing to bet they're not.
*If dumpster diving, please be safe. Never choose rotten food and always wash and cook anything you do choose thoroughly before eating.
Speaking of meat, some freegans specifically ‘Meagans,’ those Freegans who are willing to eat freegan meat, they get a lot of hate in the vegan community, they're called fake vegans because they're eating meat, but again given the impact of waste on the environment, again check out part one, is this at all merited?
Again freegans are not buying the meat, they are not contributing in any way to demand, they are not stealing it off the shelves or buying it off the shelves, they are getting it from the dumpster, saving it from landfills, the grocery store is not going to replace this by buying more.
More animals are not being bred to suffer and die for the Meagan's meat:
“. . .some people will not give up eating meat. If freegans tell them there is a way that they can continue consuming animal products without economically supporting factory farming, they just might go for it.
Of course, it’s a good idea to keep educating on the benefits of healthy and ethical eating, because we don’t want a situation where, when less meat is available from the dumpsters, people go back to buying it from stores.
And many people won’t go freegan, but WILL go vegan. Through a combination of freegan and vegan outreach strategies, animal rights and social justice activists can hit the industry from several directions at once.”
Fake freegans
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https://youtu.be/ZzH6UEOz2Bs?t=3m1s
Unfortunately not all freegans do it right, there are freegans who steal food, which the store does replace, there are also freegans who get their friends and families to buy food for them, that is not freeganism.
The concept is not rocket science, but it seems that people really don't understand the difference between food that had to be replaced because you stole it or food that someone else would have eaten, so food you know like at a food bank or at a party or something and food that was legitimately going to be wasted, so food off of a vacated table at like a mall food court or again straight from a dumpster or trash can.
I think it's human bias and a very deep desire to eat things, certain things, certain animal products and whatnot that keeps people from thinking clearly and it makes it more difficult for people new to freeganism to figure out actually how to do it correctly.
So if you are going to go freegan, or meagan or whatever, again that's great, just please be mindful that you are doing it correctly.
An intermediate to freeganism
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https://youtu.be/ZzH6UEOz2Bs?t=4m5s
There is something between freeganism at the one end and buying only the freshest products at the other, something that it's fairly easy to do that will reduce waste, that doesn't require you to dumpster dive or creepily hang around food courts waiting for people to leave something even slightly edible behind on their table, I don't know, is that how freeganism works, I'm not a freegan, but that's the image that I get in my head, it doesn't sound very pleasant, anyway the tip is, don't buy the freshest produce.
Obviously I'm not suggesting to buy rotten or mouldy food, please do not do that, but you know pick things that are slightly bruised or maybe a little bit old or just ugly, things that people are very likely not going to buy, this will keep the store from throwing them out, you may even be able to get a discount on these items, be sure to talk to your produce manager to see.
Some stores like Kroger, they even have a little section where they have the less pretty, little bit older stuff for sale and that's really cool it's a practice that we should really try to reward, the same goes for packaged products as well.
Bread is a really good example, instead of doing what most of us to which is sifting through the bread trying to find the one with the latest sale by date, go for the one with the soonest sale by date, the one that most people are not going to buy.
Conclusion: 4 tips for avoiding waste
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https://youtu.be/ZzH6UEOz2Bs?t=5m27s
And now to summarize all of the tips from the last video and this one:
To avoid waste:
#1: Focus on staple foods (dry beans, nuts, whole grains, etc.)
So number one, eat mainly efficient, non-perishable staples like dry beans and whole grain products that you can prepare and eat within a couple of days. This virtually eliminates retail waste and waste during long-term storage in your kitchen number.
#2: For perishables, plan ahead and store correctly.
Number two, for prepared dishes and perishables like produce, buy or make only what you can eat before it goes bad, store carefully and keep of them eating leftovers and surveying your produce regularly and eating things before they go bad.
#3: For perishables, buy reduced for quick sale items.
Number three, when you do shop for produce and other perishables, try to buy the reduced for quick sell stuff and eat or prepare them quickly and remember that thorough cooking it usually sterilizes the food and resets the clock so to speak for spoilage, this can also be useful if you want to keep something longer.
#4: Seek out ugly, bruised produce that people are less willing to buy and packaged food closer to its sell-by date.
Number four, if you cannot find quick sell items and are planning to prepare and eat the food soon, try to overcome the compulsion for freshness and buy something a little older, bruised or closer to its sell-by date, rather than as far away as possible. This helps reduce waste in the store, since many other consumers will avoid these products and they might have gone to waste. This is not freeganism obviously, but it is a middle ground and every little bit can help.
So that's it, thank you so much, I really hope you enjoyed this video if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below, if you are freegan I would love to hear from you, that would be really cool, so please leave your comments below, any kind of experiences you have or maybe something that I got wrong, that'd be cool and if you want to subscribe, subscribe and thanks again, I will have a new video [shrugs].
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*References*
Part 1 on food waste:
https://youtu.be/PEP0A93pYIk
Meaganism and the End of Animal Agriculture:
https://freegan.info/what-is-a-freegan/freegan-philosophy/freeganism-and-animal-rights/meaganism-as-a-strategy-for-dismantling-animal-agriculture/