If you want send me a dm.
I am needing some ideas on how to scavenge for free food to help my friend to kick off a first event and get more volunteers to engage with their collective...
What I notice is that supermarket chains are a pain in the ass to ask for donations or even dumpster diving there (chains and padlocks protecting their valued trash, some other toss bleach all over the food to render it unsalvageable)..
Anyways, ideas on how to score free food in a big city
Thx
I don't remember your post, I will search for it. Maybe I will have other ideas there.
Personally I think dumpster diving is the way to go, but I never did it here (I onve took a baguette from a dumpster, but just bc I got the munchies going back home). For what I can see they put all the difficulties to retrieve the food from the garbage.
But bc they are short on volunteers I may enter the collective to help organize the stuff
I don't remember your post, I will search for it. Maybe I will have other ideas there?
I don't think I ever made a post on my post left free food distribution program. Otherwise I'm not sure what post you are referring to. I didn't intend to reference a post I have made on raddle.
For what I can see they put all the difficulties to retrieve the food from the garbage
in the US it really depends. I have dumpstered at CVS and Panera and a grocery store with literally nothing stopping me legally of physically. Then most of the other groceries were accessible but not legal to dumpster. It really depends on your location. If you are in a big city I bet most dumpsters will be locked. Tho through I know friends of friends who succeed in dumpstering a lot in STL.
nah I didn't do that on purpose lol.
I don't like food not bombs for various reasons do I formulated my own post left inspired free food distribution program. So I can help in some regards..
I am really interested in knowing your opinions about FNB. That sounds interesting.
its mostly good and has done more than I ever have. I do have issues
main sourcing of goods is often charity of brutal capitalists
advocates working with shitty charities until you really start getting your supply lines up.
hardline veganism (I'm vegan but common you are literally ok with wasting donated or thrown away meat products to stay morally pure)
just a general relying on sucky current systems rather than creating cool anarchist systems from the ground up.
I want my anarchist action to feel like I have massive agency and starting a FNB using their tactics made me feel like I was just doing more groveling to people I don't like.
FNB isn't based around anti work so working at a FNB isn't designed to be fun.
Very interesting, thanks. Are you already planning on creating an alternative?
I started a prototype a while ago that I gave up on to work on other projects. The one I'm working on know if more a real long time so it will be awhile before I get to distributing food since I'm working on manufacturing atm.
padlocks
toothpicks are great....
some other toss bleach all over the food to render it unsalvageable
these type of stores should be burnt to ashes!!!!!!!!!
Thx
I will pass this idea, let's see how them will receive it, is a useful skill to have by the way
A sXe hardcore guy told us that many years ago a vegan meat factory used to dump the tofu, seitan and all the stuff that didn't passed quality check but was edible and they would drive there and collect it, but after a while they used this disgusting practice of pouring bleach/ammoniacal using the excuse of "ohh the cockroaches and rats can't be attracted to this pile of good food" -
I do pickups for FNB from farmers markets around the area where i live. They're usually way more generous than grocery stores. Maybe even contact local farms directly - but make sure you have a clear plan for what you're going to do with the food.
You can also buy bulk bags of beans and rice for pretty cheap straight from distributors if you're able to get any funds at all and then it's just a matter of kitchen space.
Thx
I know at least 2 farmers markets around, but I think they are more directed to upper class consumers, organic and stuff. It's worth a visit.
It seems that there's no cook in the collective right now, so this will be more dyi punk kids doing stuff kinda thing. The space will not be a problem. To get rice, pasta, dry legumes or more staple foods can be a problem bc the idea is not to pay for anything, just score for free, making a political statement that food is not a merchandise etc.. and these kind of non perishable food is not usually discarded, so maybe we will need to get creative here..
Right now I think if we could manage the first event things will get more easy. I am trying not giving myself too much this time bc I find activism draining, and knowing myself If I got to engaged I will burn out at some point. Even right now, I got super anxious after I presented the event proposal in a okupa that I am pressuring myself to hold our organization of the collective even if the mailing list have 13 ppl
hmm ya totally feel that. In my experience any farmers markets (in the U.S.) have a definitely bougie feel, but a lot of the workers are regular folks who understand the importance of avoiding food waste and supporting community members. Not sure you're aesthetic, but dressing similar to whoever you're trying to talk to (overalls or work pants for most of the farm hands) and asking nicely can get you a long way and a lot of free shit.
lettuceLeafer wrote
I don't like food not bombs for various reasons do I formulated my own post left inspired free food distribution program. So I can help in some regards..
I didn't want to beg to corpos for food so I relied exclusively on dumpster diving. Plus I was able to do it legally at many stores which was a plus. Now I have a different tactic of growing food and then running a temp really really free market farmers market stand.
It's recommended to drive to other yuppie areas to dumpster dive. If it's a town willed with a bunch of middle class rich white people with a low homeless poor population dumpsters are unlocked.
Read sucky lib dumpster diving guides as they do it only legally so they have good guides to find dumpsters that are easy pickings..