free bin

I have been dipping into the free bin at work quite a bit lately, mostly out of habit. I have also been going through the trash can and the compost buckets as well. In the past, I relied on the free bin and dumpster diving for my weekly meal planning. I am in a different position now, no longer doing much diving, but I still seek out free food just because I think it is necessary to maintain those survival skills.

The truth is, I don’t really need anything, but I still pick through the free box looking for something useful, basically something to rely on during the lean times. Most times the items are “slightly expired”, damaged in some way or labeled in a way such that we can’t sell it. In my own eating habits, I take into consideration that expiration dates are pretty arbitrary, and I have never had a problem with slightly dented cans.

The food – be it gluten-free pretzel samples, a dented coconut milk can or a jar of mayonnaise without its label – goes in my bike basket for the trip home, saved from filling a cranny in the landfill. At the store, staff are encouraged not to waste all this food that took so much energy to bring in, in a damaged state, yet takes virtually no energy to throw away, basically erasing all those calories. Just tossing the stuff in the dumpsters takes seconds and requires no thought on its final destination.

My friend and former collective-mate Will used to work for one of those big southern grocery stores, the kind of place where employees are forbidden by corporate rules from taking home any expired or damaged goods. Everything had to be thrown in the dumpster. Having no problem foraging in and eating out of that dumpster, we frequently brought home cases of various goods, many with no damage except for a splatter from a broken jar or burst can. So it was that we came into a lifetime supply of Texas Pete hot sauce, gallons of vegetable oil and more Hamburger Helper than has ever helped anyone. We were only after the noodles, but still…

Many other large grocery stores no longer have dumpsters. All their trash goes into a compactor and is one hundred percent wasted. Perfectly good food smashed to bits, never to fill bellies or even go into a compost pile. Hundreds of these stores compacting tons of edibles every year. With what we throw away every year, we could create some of the richest soil amendments we have ever seen and still fill plate after plate with decent calories. Yes, these stores donate to food pantries and other charities, but the waste they generate is still at a sickening level.

Maybe I have seen too much of the waste first hand, pulled too many bags full of still warm bagels out of the trash and into the night air, discovered too many pints of still frozen ice cream or cases of potato chips “expiring” the next business day. How can this practice be sustainable for the store or for the people working in it? Surely most of the items going into the trash could be simply diverted to staff on a daily basis. Hundreds of employees, many making minimum wage, would deeply appreciate a dip in the free bin. I know that I do.