(photo from wheresmatthew.com)
While I don't know that I actually have the guts to become a dumpster diver, I love the idea. I love the idea of recycling the food that gets thrown out that is still good. I love the idea of eating food that other people don't see as "good enough", and I especially love the idea of preserving what we have and not wasting it. These are all things I saw as I read about the punks in Seattle. I wish that cafe was still around. While I might not physically fit in there, I certainly agree with what they were doing.
I am becoming much more aware of just how much food is wasted by all of us. I think back and think about how much food I end up throwing away because I let it spoil, or I am just not hungry enough and I don't think I will eat it as leftovers. What also strikes me about food is how exquisite we (as "civilized" people) need our food to be. The fact that the punks were, and probably still are, so against the way "normal" people eat makes sense to me. We have become spoiled and pretentious when it comes to our food. We can't have always been like that! In fact, the whole world is NOT like that. Those who struggle for food appreciate what they get.
I honestly wish we could get back to experiencing that appreciation, that gratitude, that thankfulness just to be alive. It seems to me that this is the same appreciation that the punks were looking for at their cafe. They didn't expect, nor did they want, red carpet treatment. They just wanted the experience of sharing time with their friends, eating what was available, and not wasting what they didn't need to.
Pollan refers to this in a number of ways in his book as well. Not only did he forage for one of his meals, but you can hear the reticence in his work as he talks about the billions of pounds of food that get wasted. His image of all of the corn splayed in and on the dirt- how all of the corn could have gone to feed someone was very powerful.
My husband and I sponsor a number of children in poorer countries. Now that we do that, every time I sit down to eat I think of them and what they would be getting if we were not helping them out a bit. Because of this, I try to serve smaller portions to me and my husband so that we will not waste what we cannot eat. I don't always succeed, but I do try.
If I were brave enough and had someone experienced to guide me, I would like to try food foraging or dumpster diving someday. Who knows- maybe it will happen and I will end up getting a good percentage of my food from that practice!! I will just have to talk my husband into it.
