urban foraging

I saw this on a news show Friday night... It became my column for this week, as printed in the DCN.

Are we wasteful?

Freegan: n. Somebody who abstains from contributing to the economy and salvages society's wasted food and resources rather than purchase more themselves. Often pertains to a 'vegan' (somebody who doesn't eat or wear animal products) who only makes exceptions when dealing with otherwise wasted items.
They have nice jobs, live in a nice home and drive a nice car. And yet just before supper time, they head out to the alleys and back lots of grocery stores, bakeries and markets for a little "urban foraging."
Good old dumpster diving at its best.
They call themselves freegans and refuse to purchase anything from food to toiletries to electronics. Instead they go searching through the garbage for an apple in the roughage, retaliating our society's wasteful nature.
My stomach churned with the images of people picking through dumpsters, pulling out vegetables, bread and other perishable items. The thought of pulling lettuce from a dumpster containing only God knows what else, was deplorable.
While the major grocery and retail stores of our country may be throwing away perfectly good merchandise, the reason is another of society's short comings. This society is not only wasteful, but very quick to spark legal litigation. The only way to protect themselves from a lawsuit is to toss anything that has even the slightest chance of having been damaged or sitting on the shelf too long.
When I was about 12 years old, my dad brought home a case of corn flakes that had been damaged at the warehouse. Because one or two boxes had been perforated with the palate jack, the entire case had to be destroyed.
Dad brought it all home, and corn flakes were a part of every meal for nearly six months. Indeed, all 25 boxes of corn flakes were destroyed, and I refuse to eat corn flakes to this day.
It is a wasteful shame, but what can these companies do when the lawsuit fairy is threatening to wave her magic wand over their business?
I know our society probably throws away more than we actually use, but I prefer health and safety to making a political statement. The news segment said of the freegans they spoke to, none said they had ever gotten sick from their "urban foraging" techniques, although they say it was still very risky.
I've had food poisoning once thanks to a wedding reception meal gone bad - I don't think I'll take that chance.
Happy dumpster diving!

Just a little something to chew on. Tee hee... okay that was bad. My intention is to post my columns each week.