I enjoy some Oprah every now and again so it wasn't tough to get me to watch it. Seriously - I love Dr. Oz. Does anyone else? He's such a fun guy. I wish he was my physician.
Anywho - the first half of the show was about this new movement called Freeganism.
Freeganism is an anti-consumerism lifestyle whereby people employ alternative living strategies based on "limited participation in the conventional economy and minimal consumption of resources. 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 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
Lisa Ling (I love her) did a story on some folks that practiced this lifestyle and followed them on "trash tours". It was INSANE. These people get food from dumpsters. It sounds awful but it was actually really fascinating. They pulled out a lot of perfectly good, unopened food. They were hitting up dumpsters outside of grocery stores, bakeries and restaurants. When I commented on this, The Mr turned to me and shouted, "NO!" (because I get easily swept up in this sort of thing... I hate waste!).
One of the people interviewed noted that the U.S. makes up about 5% of the world's population but consumes 30% of its resources. That's kind of crazy.
I'm not trying to get all political here (but seriously - I want to see what this trash tour is all about. Does anyone know anything about this that they wish to elaborate on?) - but the thing I found the funniest during this whole segment was that while these people were discussing how consumerism rules people's lives and blah blah blah, all I could think about was how much I loved Lisa's sweater, tunic and necklace combo (Where did she get these things? I want them!):
This was the only picture I could find. Purple and red are very cute together. Seriously - I want this outfit.
The whole "freegan" thing was totally lost on me because I am totally driven by consumerism. I like stuff. I like to buy stuff. I like owning stuff.
You can read a recap of the show here.
Would you do this?
4 comments:
Hell NO!!
I'm a consumer all the way
I think it's hilarious that the Mr turned to you and said "No!"
never. Getting and having stuff is way too much fun.
I watched the same episode and I have to admit the whole "trash tour" really grossed me out! I do believe it's a shame that we (the consumers) waste a lot of money throwing things into the trash.
I'm sorry, I could never be a freegan -- I like my stuff too much!
~*the idea is great, but i get grossed out even taking my *trash out to the dumpster~. but to see the amount of un-damaged food that came out of the trash was disturbing. i got caught up in the moment too...and my hubby said the same thing that your mr. said to you! hahaha...
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