Vegan to eat meat from dumpster diving?

[Mikkel]

We have a discussion now on a Norwegian page, if it's ok for a vegan to eat meat from dumpster diving and still can call him or herself as a vegan. Since the meat is thrown away.

What do you think? Is it vegan to eat animal products from dumpster diving as a vegan?

 

[Moll Flanders]

No.

They are called Freegans and I think they would use anything so it doesn't end up in landfill. Freeganism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I have heard this argument before but no, I wouldn't eat meat unless I was in some type of a survival situation. I might consider using leftover meat for my companion animals but I would worry about contamination issues.

 

[Mischief]

It's not vegan (or vegetarian), but IMO, it's ethical.

I think the most ethical choice is always to use what would otherwise go to waste, since any "new" product, including vegan food, has a cost in terms of animal lives.

 

[Amy SF]

Technically, someone who eats meat can't be called vegetarian or vegan, regardless of where the meat came from.

 

[Blobbenstein]

Technically, someone who eats meat can't be called vegetarian or vegan, regardless of where the meat came from.

except in a survival situation....

quote-"
Veganism is a way of living which seeks to exclude, as far as is possible and practicable, all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose."

So if all you had to eat was meat in order to survive then it isn't really practicable or possible to not eat it, if one is prepared to eat it.

Where as a vegetarian just doesn't eat meat, so I suppose you can be a vegan that eats meat,but not a vegetarian...I started a thread about this ages ago.

 

[Amy SF]

But should digging through a dumpster in the middle of a city where there are other options available, and eating the meat found inside that dumpster be considered a survival situation?

 

[Blobbenstein]

But should digging through a dumpster in the middle of a city where there are other options available, and eating the meat found inside that dumpster be considered a survival situation?

not necessarily. Depends what other options there are. Just doing it to avoid waste wouldn't be a survival reason.

 

[Andy_T]

I guess once you are lost on that deserted island with no fruit trees at all (that's what keeps happening to vegans according to FB), you will worry more about what to eat to survive than what to call yourself )

I actually heard a good comment regarding the "Freegan" philosophy of "not letting anything go to waste" ... somebody mentioned that when his grandfather died, they also buried him instead of eating the remains. They were not concerned about it "going to waste", so that person said he was not concerned about meat going to waste because he would not eat it, either.

I would only find it gross to consider the idea to eat carrion in order not to let it waste.

 

[Blobbenstein]

I once saw a candid camera type thing where they hid chocolate cake in a nappy and dumped it in a bin, and then got someone dressed as a trap and he came along and started eating the cake, and people where saying 'wtf are you doing???'

But it does show the dangers of eating out of bins....you never know what has been put in them.

 

[Mikkel]

I find it very, very strange to call it vegan, as in my head, vegans don't eat animal products. I think about where the line should be drawn then. Just when you pick it out of the trash? What if it's free samples of something? A free meal? A meal at a restaurant when it get dairy in it by a mistake, and you know it will put in the trash if it's sent back?

If it's survival, people have no choice. But I guess those people that starves, aren't that concerned about it's vegan or not. I wouldn't be either if I was starving.

For me, it's also a bit strange to eat from the trash, as you don't know why the food are put there. I do not trust the companies to destruct all food proper (or put them in locked trash cans or something) if they contain glas, bacterias or other things that is harming for humans (and animals). I don't know the law about that problem here, but I really don't trust them to not put the food in trash cans people can access either.

 

[Amy SF]

Reputable restaurants may toss food if it was sneezed or coughed on or dropped on the floor. They also can't re-serve food that's been already been served for health reasons. Nobody wants bread originally served to a customer with a cold. And who wants food that spoils when it's not refrigerated? There are a ton of reasons why I think eating food from dumpsters is dangerous. Dumpster diving is fine with me if it's an old lamp or a book without its cover or something else nonedible that can be safely reused, but food? Gross!

 

[Pirate]

Most food places now tip stuff over food to stop dumpster diving. Like Amy said you have no idea why it's being dumped either, so its risky. It might look in date but the shop could've had freezer issues, for example.

Anyway unless you are dumped on planet meatulon and the only food you ever find in a dumpster is meat because meatulon doesn't have vegetables growing on it, it's not going to be vegan. It's still perpetuating the idea that its OK to kill animals for food, and to me sounds like an excuse to eat meat.

 

[SuicideBlonde]

All I can think of is the nasty food born illness that could come from this practice. There are some that could get a person very sick or even kill them.

 

[Andy_T]

I find the amount of good food that is thrown away for optical reasons horrible, doubly so for animal products

There have been occasions in Germany where people who went dumpster diving were charged with theft by supermarkets.
My mother volunteers with a local organization that asks supermarkets to donate their expiring products to them, so they can hand it out to homeless / poor people. But unfortunately, not all supermarkets are supporting them.

 

[KLS52]

Places here don't like to donate leftover food because of a liability issue with people getting sick.

 

[Moll Flanders]

I've heard that some stores pour bleach over the food to stop people from taking it, or they lock the bins at night. I suppose if I really was desperate I would take a chance on vegan food from bins if the packaging looked strong enough to not let any contamination through. Fresh fruit and veg could always be washed and then eaten. I can't imagine ever being in that situation...

I was watching a programme this year about different levels of wealth in the UK which was presented by Anne Robinson. She met some freegan people who lived in tents in a wood. She was caught by a security guard when she was with them when they were trying to take stuff out of the bins at Waitrose.

Anne Robinson steals food out of a posh supermarket BIN as she turns Freegan - Mirror Online

 

[Amy SF]

In the US, once something is in the garbage bin, it's considered abandoned and becomes public property, and it's legal for anyone to take it. (That's why it's important to know what you're throwing out.) Restaurants and supermarkets dumping bleach and otherwise preventing people from taking discarded food , well, they're horrible.

 

[ledboots]

One supermarket here donates the baked goods and breads (still good, just a little stale) to food banks.

 

[shyvas]

Our local Lidl's throw away the food in the dustbins. There are people driving around regularly that pick up the food.

 

[Andy_T]

Places here don't like to donate leftover food because of a liability issue with people getting sick.

Sorry, but that sounds a bit like a convenient excuse to me.....

That would be like claiming that their normal food, that they sell to their patrons, is healthy and great at 13:00, but a health hazard by 17:00 hours. Yeah, right.