Freeganism is an anti-consumerist lifestyle whereby people employ alternative living strategies based on "limited participation in the conventional economy and minimal consumption of resources. Anti-consumerism refers to the socio-political movement against Consumerism. Social movements are a type of group action. They are large informal groupings of Individuals and/or Organizations focused on specific Anarchism is a Political philosophy encompassing theories and attitudes which support the elimination of all compulsory Government, i " Anti-globalization " is a term that encompasses a number of related ideas Childfree is a term used to describe individuals who neither have nor desire to have Children An alternative term is childless by choice. Environmentalism is a broad philosophy and Social movement centered on a concern for the conservation and improvement of the environment. The Situationist International ( SI) was a small group of international political and artistic Agitators with roots in Marxism, Lettrism and the Postmodernism literally means 'after the modernist movement' While " Modern " itself refers to something "related to the present" the movement of modernism Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating state or collective ownership and administration of the Means of production and distribution The Society of the Spectacle ( La Société du spectacle) is a work of philosophy and critical theory by Situationist and Marxist theorist A precise definition of culture jamming is elusive It has been called a Resistance movement to Cultural hegemony, whereas some say the defining theme of culture jamming In Criminology, corporate crime refers to crimes committed either by a Corporation (i Productivism is the belief that measurable economic productivity and growth is the purpose of human organization (e Media bias in the United States Buy Nothing Day is an informal day of Protest against Consumerism observed by Social activists. Alternative culture is a type of Culture that exists outside or on the fringes of mainstream or Popular culture, usually under the domain of one or more Affluenza is a term used by critics of Consumerism, a Portmanteau of affluence and Influenza. Simple living (or voluntary simplicity) is a lifestyle individuals choose to minimize the 'more-is-better' pursuit of Wealth and consumption. Cultural Creatives is a term coined by Sociologist Paul H Ray and Psychologist Sherry Ruth Anderson to describe a large segment in Western society that In Marxist theory Commodity Fetishism is a state of social relations said to arise in capitalist market based societies in which social relationships Cultural hegemony is a Concept coined by Marxist Philosopher Antonio Gramsci. Conspicuous consumption is a term used to describe the lavish spending on goods and services acquired mainly for the purpose of displaying Income or Wealth. Ethical consumerism is buying products and services that are made ethically. The theory of Post-materialism assumes an ongoing transformation of individuals and society which liberates them gradually from the stress of basic acquisitive or materialistic needs No Logo Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies is a book by Canadian journalist Naomi Klein. The Corporation is a 2003 Canadian Documentary film critical of the modern-day Corporation, considering it as a class of Person and The Theory of the Leisure Class is a book first published in 1899 by the American Economist Thorstein Veblen while he was a professor at the Surplus Terrorized Into Being Consumers is a 2003 Swedish Documentary film on Consumerism and Globalization, created by director Adbusters Media Foundation (called Adbusters or the Media Foundation is a Not-for-profit, anti-consumerist organization founded in 1989 by Kalle Lasn Ralph Nader (born February 27 1934 is an American Attorney, Author, Lecturer, political activist, and independent candidate for President A Green party' or ecologist party is a formally organized Political party based on the principles of Green politics. John Zerzan (born 1943) is an American anarchist and primitivist Philosopher and author Avram Noam Chomsky (noʊm ˈtʃɑmski born December 7 1928 is an American linguist, Philosopher, cognitive scientist, Political Ron English is a contemporary Pop artist who explores popular Brand imagery and Advertising. Naomi Klein (b 8 May 1970, Montreal Quebec) is a Canadian Journalist, Author and activist well known for her Thorstein Bunde Veblen (born Tosten Bunde Veblen July 30, 1857 &ndash August 3, 1929) was a Norwegian-American sociologist Guy Ernest Debord ( December 28, 1931 - November 30, 1994) was a Marxist theorist French writer Filmmaker, hypergraphist Michael Francis Moore (born April 23 1954 is an Academy Award -winning American filmmaker author and liberal Political commentator. Michel Foucault ( (15 October 1926 – 25 June 1984 was a French philosopher, Historian, Intellectual, Critic and Sociologist. RTMark is an activist collective that subverts the "Corporate Shield" protecting US corporations The Yes Men are a group of Culture jamming activists who practice what they call "identity correction" by pretending to be powerful people and spokespersons for prominent The Church of Stop Shopping is an activist performance group based in New York City, led by Reverend Billy, the stage name of Bill Talen The CounterCorp International Anti-Corporate Film Festival is a three-day series of anti-corporate films panel discussions and related events held every year since 2006 in Advertising is a form of Communication that typically attempts to persuade potential Customers to Purchase or to consume more of a particular Brand Capitalism is the Economic system in which the Means of production are owned by private Persons and operated for Profit and where A sweatshop is a working environment with very difficult or dangerous conditions usually where the workers have few rights or ways to address their situation An Anti-consumerist is one who opposes Consumerism. The following is a list of notable anti-consumerists see Anti-consumerism for the main page This is a partial list of Social movements. Abahlali baseMjondolo - South African shack dwellers' movement Abolitionism Anti-consumerism refers to the socio-political movement against Consumerism. Freegans embrace community, generosity, social concern, freedom, cooperation, and sharing in opposition to a society based on materialism, moral apathy, competition, conformity, and greed. "[1] The lifestyle involves salvaging discarded, unspoiled food from supermarket dumpsters that have passed, or in some cases haven't even passed, their sell by date, but are still edible and nutritious. They salvage the food not because they are poor or homeless, but as a political statement. [2][3]
The word "freegan" is a blend of "free" and "vegan". In Linguistics, a blend is a word formed from parts of two other words [4] Freeganism started in the mid 1990s, out of the antiglobalization and environmentalist movements. " Anti-globalization " is a term that encompasses a number of related ideas Environmentalism is a broad philosophy and Social movement centered on a concern for the conservation and improvement of the environment. Groups such as Food Not Bombs served free vegetarian and vegan food that was salvaged from food market trash by dumpster diving. Food Not Bombs is a loose-knit group of independent collectives serving free Vegan and Vegetarian food to others Dumpster diving is the practice of sifting through commercial or residential trash to find items that have been discarded by their owners but which may be useful to the The movement also has elements of Diggers, an anarchist street theater group based in Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco in the 1960s, that gave away rescued food. The Diggers were a radical community-action group of Improv actors operating from 1966-68 based in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco. Anarchism is a Political philosophy encompassing theories and attitudes which support the elimination of all compulsory Government, i Street theatre is a form of theatrical Performance and presentation in outdoor Public spaces without a specific paying Audience. Haight-Ashbury is a district of San Francisco, California, US, named for the intersection of Haight and Ashbury Streets The City and County of San Francisco is the fourth most populous city [4]
Contents |
Practices
"Why Freegan" pamphlet
Even the manifesto pamphlet "Why Freegan" (written by Against Me! drummer Warren Oakes in 1999) is unclear in its definition of what constitutes freeganism. Against Me! is a Punk rock band formed in 1997 in Naples Florida. At one point, it defines freeganism as "an anti-consumeristic ethic about eating" but goes on to describe practices including dumpster diving, plate scraping, wild foraging, gardening, shoplifting, employee scams, and barter as alternatives to paying for food. Dumpster diving is the practice of sifting through commercial or residential trash to find items that have been discarded by their owners but which may be useful to the Foraging theory is a branch of Behavioral ecology that studies the foraging behavior of animals in response to the environment in which the animal lives Gardening is the practice of growing Plants for their attractive flowers or foliage and Vegetables or Fruits for consumption Shoplifting (also known as retail theft, or shrinkage within the retail industry is Theft of goods from a Retail establishment by an ostensible Barter is a type of Trade in which goods or services are directly exchanged Food is any substance usually composed primarily of Carbohydrates Fats water and/or Proteins that can be eaten or drunk by an Motivations are varied and numerous; some adhere to freeganism for environmental reasons, some for religious reasons and others embrace the philosophy as a form of political consciousness. The politics of consciousness Consciousness typically refers to the idea of a being who is self-aware A short documentary film, Bin Appetit, gives reasons why people become freegans. Documentary film is a broad category of visual expression that is based on the attempt in one fashion or another to " Document " reality
The pamphlet does include a lengthy section on non-food related practices, including solar energy, conserving water, carelessness, precycling and reusing goods. Solar energy is the Light and radiant heat from the Sun that powers Earth 's Climate and Weather and sustains Life Water conservation refers to reducing the use of water The goals of water conservation efforts include Sustainability - To ensure availability for Some freegans consider these non-food practices to be components of freeganism itself; others simply consider them to be complementary practices.
Foraging
Many freegans get free food by pulling it out of the trash, a practice commonly nicknamed dumpster diving in North America and skipping or bin diving in the UK, as well as bin raiding. Dumpster diving is the practice of sifting through commercial or residential trash to find items that have been discarded by their owners but which may be useful to the right|200px|thumb|A full skip A skip (occasionally rubbish skip and in American English classed as a type of dumpster) is a large open-topped container designed Dumpster diving is the practice of sifting through commercial or residential trash to find items that have been discarded by their owners but which may be useful to the right|200px|thumb|A full skip A skip (occasionally rubbish skip and in American English classed as a type of dumpster) is a large open-topped container designed 'Wastebin' redirects here For the temporary deletion of a computer file see Recycle bin (computing. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Freegans find food in the garbage of restaurants, grocery stores, and other food related industries, and this allows them to avoid spending money on products that they claim exploit the world's resources, contribute to urban sprawl, treat workers unfairly, or disregard animal rights. WASTE is a Peer-to-peer and Friend-to-friend protocol and software application developed by Justin Frankel at Nullsoft in 2003 that features A grocery store is a store established primarily for the Retailing of Food. The labour movement or labor movement is a broad term for the development of a collective organization of working people, to campaign in their own interest for better "Animal liberation" redirects here for other uses see Animal liberation (disambiguation. By foraging, they are preventing edible food from adding to landfills and can feed people and animals who might otherwise go hungry. For other uses see Water treatment and Land reclamation. A landfill, also known as a dump (and historically as [2]
Wild foraging and urban gardens
Instead of buying industrially grown foods, wild foragers[5] find and harvest food and medicinal plants growing in their own communities. Some freegans participate in "Guerrilla" or "Community" Gardens, with the stated aim of rebuilding community and reclaiming the capacity to grow one's own food. In order to fertilise those guerilla gardens, food obtained from dumpster diving [6] is sometimes also reused. Dumpster diving is the practice of sifting through commercial or residential trash to find items that have been discarded by their owners but which may be useful to the In many urban guerilla gardens, vermiculture is used instead of ordinary composting techniques in order to keep the required infrastructure/room small. Vermicompost (also called worm Compost, vermicast worm castings worm humus or worm manure is the end-product of the breakdown of Organic matter by some Composting is the Aerobic decomposition of Biodegradable Organic matter, producing Compost. [7] [8]. Guerilla gardeners claim to seek an alternative to dependence and participation in what they perceive as an exploitative and ecologically destructive system of global, industrialized corporate food production.
Sharing
Sharing is also a common freegan practice. Food Not Bombs recovers food that would otherwise go to waste to serve warm meals on the street to anyone who wants them. Food Not Bombs is a loose-knit group of independent collectives serving free Vegan and Vegetarian food to others The group promotes an ethic of sharing and community, while working to show what they consider to be the injustice of a society in which they claim fighting wars is considered a higher priority than feeding the hungry.
Really, Really Free Markets are free social events in which freegans can share goods instead of discarding them, share skills, give presents and eat food. The Really Really Free Market ( RRFM) movement is a non- hierarchical collective of individuals who form a temporary Market based on an alternative A free store is a temporary market where people exchange goods and services outside of a money-based economy. Give-away shops, freeshops, or free stores are second-hand stores where all goods are free
Freegans also advocate sharing travel resources. Internet-based ridesharing reduces but does not eliminate use of cars and all the related resources needed to maintain and operate them.
Community Bike Programs and Bike Collectives facilitate community sharing of bicycles, restore found and broken bikes, and teach people how to do their own bike repairs. Community bicycle programs (also known as Yellow bicycle programs White bicycle programs bike sharing public bike or free bike are one element of an international movement to build The bicycle, cycle, or bike is a pedal-driven, human-powered vehicle with two wheels attached to a frame, one behind In the process they build a culture of skill and resource sharing, reuse wasted bikes and bike parts, and create greater access to environmentally friendly transportation. Green transport is a category of Sustainable transport which uses human power animal power and Renewable energy.
Relationship to veganism
Freegans believe that even if a product is vegan, it does not guarantee that:
- Workers were not exploited in the product's production;
- Pesticides were not used in its growing;
- Non-renewable and radioactive resources (such as petroleum, coal, and nuclear power) were not used in production, energy use and shipping;
- Rainforest was not cleared to generate plantation land;
- Wildlife was not harmed in production;
- Wasteful packaging was not used. The term " exploitation " may carry two distinct meanings The act of utilizing something for any purpose A pesticide is a substance or mixture of substances used to kill a pest. Petroleum ( L petroleum, from Greek πετρέλαιον, lit Nuclear power is any Nuclear technology designed to extract usable Energy from atomic nuclei via controlled Nuclear reactions Rainforests are Forests characterized by high Rainfall with definitions setting minimum normal annual rainfall between 1750–2000 mm (68-78 inches Wildlife includes all non-domesticated plants animals and other organisms Packaging is the science art and technology of enclosing or protecting products for distribution storage sale and use
Freegans claim that people sincerely committed to living the "cruelty-free" lifestyle espoused by vegans must strive to abstain not only from eating, wearing, and using animal skins, secretions (e. g. milk and its by-products), flesh, and animal-tested products, but must attempt to remove themselves from participation in the capitalist economy altogether as workers and consumers.
Some freegans, sometimes called "meagans"[9], consume meat and other animal products only as long as they would otherwise be wasted. In modern English usage meat most often refers to Animal tissue used as food mostly Skeletal muscle and associated Fat, but it may also refer
Footnotes
- ^ What is a freegan?. Freegan. info. Retrieved on 2007-06-19. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1179 - The Norwegian Battle of Kalvskinnet outside Nidaros.
- ^ a b Carlson, Tucker. Tucker Swanson McNear Carlson (born May 16, 1969) is an American political news correspondent and commentator who formerly co-hosted CNN 's "'Freegans' choose to eat garbage", MSNBC, February 3, 2006. MSNBC is a 24-hour cable television news channel based in the United States and available in Canada. Events 1112 - Ramon Berenguer III of Barcelona and Douce I of Provence marry uniting the fortunes of those two states Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Retrieved on 2007-06-21. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 524 - Godomar, King of the Burgundians defeats the Franks at the Battle of Vézeronce. "These people don‘t eat out of dumpsters because they‘re poor and desperate. They do it to prove a political point. You wouldn‘t expect someone to choose a lifestyle that involved eating out of dumpsters. Kind of seems like something you do as a desperate last resort. But there‘s an entire society of people who willingly get their meals out of the garbage. They‘re called freegans, and they say they have a reason for doing it. "
- ^ "Free Lunch. Freegans prove there is such a thing as they dumpster-dive for food for themselves and the homeless.", Houston Press. The Houston Press is an Alternative weekly Newspaper published in Houston Texas. Retrieved on 2007-06-21. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 524 - Godomar, King of the Burgundians defeats the Franks at the Battle of Vézeronce. "Patrick Lyons stands in the middle of a dumpster, staring at a can of meat. "I don't know who eats this stuff," he says. He chucks the can aside and keeps on digging. His ball cap is slung low over his face; it connects to his long, thick, brown sideburns. "
- ^ a b "Not Buying It", New York Times, June 21, 2007. Events 524 - Godomar, King of the Burgundians defeats the Franks at the Battle of Vézeronce. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Retrieved on 2007-06-21. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 524 - Godomar, King of the Burgundians defeats the Franks at the Battle of Vézeronce. "A few of those present had stumbled onto the scene by chance (including a janitor from a nearby homeless center, who made off with a working iPod and a tube of body cream), but most were there by design, in response to a posting on the Web site freegan. info. The site, which provides information and listings for the small but growing subculture of anticonsumerists who call themselves freegans — the term derives from vegans, the vegetarians who forsake all animal products, as many freegans also do — is the closest thing their movement has to an official voice. "
- ^ Institute for the Study of Edible Wild Plants and Other Foragables. Wild Foraging Definition
- ^ [Instructables dumpster diving combined with guerilla gardening
- ^ Journeytoforever small-scale (city) composting information (trough vermiculture)
- ^ Vermiculture combination with city farms in the developing world for the poor
- ^ Why Freegan?. Freegan. info. Retrieved on 2007-08-04. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 70 - The Destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans.
References
- Anthony J. Nocella II; Best, Steven (2006). Igniting a Revolution: Voices in Defense of the Earth. AK Press. AK Press is a collectively owned and operated independent Publisher and book distributor that specialises in ISBN 1-904859-56-9.
See also
- Simple living
- Guerilla gardening
- Dumpster diving
- Vermiculture
- Tax resistance
- List of subsistence techniques
- Regiving
- Homeless
External links
Simple living (or voluntary simplicity) is a lifestyle individuals choose to minimize the 'more-is-better' pursuit of Wealth and consumption. Guerrilla gardening is political Gardening, a form of Nonviolent direct action, primarily practiced by environmentalists. Dumpster diving is the practice of sifting through commercial or residential trash to find items that have been discarded by their owners but which may be useful to the Vermicompost (also called worm Compost, vermicast worm castings worm humus or worm manure is the end-product of the breakdown of Organic matter by some A tax resister resists or refuses payment of a Tax because of opposition to the institution collecting the tax or to some of that institution’s policies Subsistence is the food necessary to sustain life The following is a list of subsistence techniques: Hunting and Gathering Regiving is the practice of giving away one's goods to others Homelessness is the condition and social category of people who lack housing because they cannot afford or are otherwise unable to maintain regular safe and adequate shelterDapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic