Andre Hartslief
Applying the Dubious Art Of Dumpster Diving!”The real socially needy are usually found lodged in between the cracks of a failing bureaucracy.” ~ TranquilpenIt is so sad when throughout the whole world, there is so much waste and at the same, there are tens of millions of people who are dying of thirst and hunger.
In olden days, at least when I was young, there were those UNICEF photographs of little pot-bellied, hollow-cheeked, fly-infested Black starving toddlers from central Africa. Now, those pictures of Black kids have been replaced by starving children, from all race groups, even as you read this post. Yes dear friends, even in America.
In spite of giant strides having been taken into poverty alleviation, there are those of whom I speak in my opening quote, the ones, who are either not poor “enough” or who are living just on the outer fringe of state-aid, they are the individuals firmly lodged in between the cracks of organized Government benevolence, the ones like Chris and Hollie, who have to daily, pit their survival skills to the max, in the dubious art of Dumpster Diving for food and discarded basic resources.
These individuals are growing exponentially, in numbers. Since I have been following the few who have become quite adept at dumpster diving, I thought, I might toss in my few cents worth of help. While many of these so called “Thrift shops” will flat out refuse expired food in fear of reprisal or prosecution, at the time of writing this post, it is still possible to supply Food Banks and Food Pantries with expired food. That’s if families in the neighborhood don’t want it.
Which is just what Chris and Hollie did. Anyway not only do food banks take non perishable food that’s expired or past it’s best buy date, they are also the places that many grocery stores, bakeries, do nut shops, etc. actually donate or take their outdated bread and other goods as well.Often, the food is not so good when there is a donor shortage, so, so, if you do supply them, you would be helping them a lot, because, most of the food banks and pantries will take it, very few wont. You guys did the right thing by helping your neighbors out. I was watching the little kids getting some treats they had smiles on their faces. It was priceless! You guys have paid it forward.
I hope your efforts are carried on further through your neighbors. Chris & Hollie are so awesome. I love you guys thank you for sharing your life experience and your family with me.A final thought, no matter where you are in the world, when next you are about to discard good, clean food, just remember to treat it with respect by packing it in a clean inner container before disposing of it in your trash can. I say this, because, you don’t know, for certain, that you or your family would be the last ones to have to eat what’s left of that meal.
We already do this and my wife has even been thanked one Saturday morning, by a homeless trashcan sifter for caring.
If you or yours, have a need for upgrading an old, but working appliance, tool or item of clothing, etc., just treat it with respect for its reliable past service and spare a thought for someone who might have to now re-purpose or sell it.
As any super sleuth will tell you:”You can know a person pretty intimately, by the contents of their trash, as it speaks volumes about your character.” If you enjoyed this post and would like to read more articles by him, please CLICK HERE
I can’t imagine what my house would look like if I went to find more.
Several of those stores do that and some are so malicious, they rip open sealed “clean” food as in (inside an outer box plus its own box and foil wrapper) and totally destroy the actual edible contents. There is something not right about that. If they fear civil claims from dumpster divers, attaching a simple message about the risk and hazards to the bin itself should take care of it.
I have watched a documentary about this and the places were in US and Canada. Oh my, if I can get as much food as that, I will also do the same.
but after they were monitored, these big supermarkets, put their trash in a locked space. another one literally locked the bin.
Thank you Hamza, I was not sure how this article would be received because so many of us tend to go through life with our heads up our behinds and will rather change the subject by making “white noise” in the background, noises like “it’s their own fault”, “why can’t he just get a job?” or, “I work for my money” etc. “ad nauseum.” What ever happened to human compassion?
Hmm. Nice Post Thnx.;..
I think people have to do whatever they have to do to survive. And sometimes just because they can and so much food is being wasted by so many.
Hello Carol, thank you for commenting, I was not sure how this post would be received but at least you and Hamza commented. So many don’t have any compassion whatsoever. When I ran a tiny, self funded soup kitchen in Durban, South Africa, many years ago, there were way more negative sentiments than there were positive ones… People don’t want to hear that while they are living in the proverbial lap of luxury, there are kids, whose last meal was 24 hours ago… “There go I by the grace of God.”