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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsCollege Student Runs Dumpster Diving Cafe with ‘Recycled’ Food
Tufts University student Maximus Thaler has taken frugality to a whole new level by opening up a freegan cafe in his apartment that operates on donations and exchanged services rather than price tags. The twist? All food served in the cafe is pulled directly from the trash.
Thaler and other members of The Gleaners Kitchen (a Tufts cooperative living house) make nighttime trips to garbage cans and dumpsters throughout the Boston area in search of discarded (but still edible) food to serve in their home-based cafe. Thaler acknowledges that the entire enterprise exists in a grey area of legality but insists that he is providing a necessary service to his community, I eat better out of a dumpster than [...] most Tufts students will ever be able to afford.
Well be honest: If you can get past the ick factor of dumpster diving, thats a lot of good-looking free food. And we are all about free food. Props to Thaler for replacing the typical college student cheap dinner of ramen noodles with something environmentally sustainable and delicious. Oh, yum!
http://foodbeast.com/content/2013/03/31/college-student-creates-dumpster-diving-cafe/
dkf
(37,305 posts)Alenne
(1,931 posts)That is so extremely wasteful.
B2G
(9,766 posts)Initech
(99,915 posts)Even if I was that desperate - just the mere thought of touching food from a dumpster...
uppityperson
(115,674 posts)if it is packaged, then no problem. If the dumpster is clean, cleaned daily, and the food is not rotting but merely day old, then again no problem. We found a bakery that puts their unsold day olds in a decent container outside for people to take but I'd not sort through trash for my food.
Good for them, I hope it works out.
wundermaus
(1,673 posts)There are many millions of people around the world who would (by not starving to death) be grateful to eat all the edible food we throw away just in this country.
We as an decadent society fail humanity as we continue to waste and squander our resources with boundless greed and selfishness.
We should not be appalled by students dumpster diving to get decent nutrition, we should be outraged by a calloused society that starves millions of people around the world to death.
http://www.npr.org/2012/11/23/165774988/npr-the-ugly-truth-about-food-waste-in-america
Liberal_in_LA
(44,397 posts)Liberal_in_LA
(44,397 posts)Them on top of the trash. I understand that the food is still good but wouldn't eat at a restaurant getting its produce from the trash
OneGrassRoot
(22,917 posts)The Straight Story
(48,121 posts)supernova
(39,345 posts)but honestly the biggest problem I see here is you don't know *why* the food was thrown out. Being a certified professional cook and working in a commercial kitchen for the past year. I've learned a few things about public food handling. It's all with an aim to diminish food poisoning.
1) You're only allowed to keep/reuse something for seven days. If you didn't use it, freeze it within those seven days or pitch it.
2) You don't know how long it was sitting out on the counter even before you got to the dumpster. Raw meats, fish and poultry collect bugs like W collects wars. Eggs are prime offenders of mass illness at large gatherings. Or some dairy products, is it expired? No, well, the rule still applies, you don't know if it was sitting out too long. Granted some cheeses can be used. Mold on the outside of a dense block can be cut off, and the cheese can be used in cooking. I wouldn't put it fresh on a cheese tray, IOW.
3) Veggies and fruit have to be washed all over again. If they are slimy, the are out of here.
I think a better, safer solution would be to go get the day's finished product leftovers and redistribute that. There might also be some room for places to donate unused product before that seven day deadline, if they prefer. I'm just thinking what would help and also be safe.
The Straight Story
(48,121 posts)Pretty much the only food I ever worked around was when I managed a pizza shop - and the only two people working there my wife and I (and she did deliveries).
One of the thing I like about some of the cooking shows is seeing behind the scenes, would be nice if they included more information like you have.
Jamastiene
(38,187 posts)For a homeless person, that food taken out of dumpsters would have been their "maybe" one meal for the day. If they will serve the homeless free of charge, along with paying customers who have the money to pay, then fine. But, if they are taking food that the homeless actually need to survive, and trust me, homeless people DO need that food to survive (been there, done that, yes), then it is a no go with me.
If you are homeless and that hungry, and I have been there, you will eat that food out of a dumpster, no questions asked. The "ick" factor many people feel comes from never having been in that situation. With hunger, there is that point where "you takes your chances" with whatever food you can find.