Freeganism? You what?

Most of you know what vegetarians eat – or maybe I should phrase this using a negative: Most of you know what vegetarians do not eat: meat. It sounds a bit simplistic to say this, and it is true that there are different types of vegetarian diets. But let's try to keep this simple, right?

Vegans on the other hand avoid all animal by-products, which means they do not eat meat, cheese, butter and eggs or drink milk. We all know it's almost impossible to find foods that do not contain such ingredients. Being a vegan means you hardly eat any chocolate, candy, yoghurt, ice cream, you name it. Look at Moby and you'll know what a vegan looks like (and ask Eminem what he thinks of it...)

Well, if you thought veganism was tough, well try FREEGANISM! The term itself is what linguists would call a portmanteau word, one that consists of a combination of other words or parts of words (think about smog = smoke + fog). Freeganism is thus a combination of FREE and VEGANISM. So basically, your diet is that of a vegan, but on top of that you refrain from buying anything... you only consume what you can get for free! I use « refrain » on purpose, because buying and consuming has become mechanical nowadays, or as the Pringles commercial said « Once you pop, you can't stop ».

Easy enough, innit? Well, freegans are willing to put in a lot of energy to reach their goal, and if getting things for free means going for the occasional « dumpster diving », or « train hopping » to their next holiday destination, so be it. I'm sorry if I sound sarcastic – because I know I do – but this is the kind of attitude that would make my late grandmother say something like « I fart in your general direction ». I'm all up for eco-friendly living, but we must try to remain as down to earth as possible. I for one know quite a few people who recover foods and other « usables » from supermarket dumpsters, but they don't do it because they think it's more respectful of the environment. They do it because they have no other option. The goods you « forage » for were also produced by overworked, underpaid people somewhere in a far-far-away country. It's like saying: hey, look at my new pair of Nike trainers, of course they're made in China, everything is nowadays, but mind you I got them for free!