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NYC Artist Gio Andollo a so called Freegan spends only $10 a week on groceries


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Here an intresting story i found from AOL News/Huffington Post blog of a man living in NYC that is a so called "Freegan." The guy in following story/blog claims to spend only around $10 a week on Groceries/Food living in NYC.

Feel free to reply.

 

 

 

Food Informants: A Week In The Life Of Gio Andollo,

NYC Artist & Freegan

Huffington Post/AOL News

July 28, 2011

 

"Freeganism is a lifestyle in which one employs "alternative strategies for living based on limited participation in the conventional economy and minimal consumption of resources." Gio Andollo is a writer, artist, musician and freegan. Andollo became a freegan when he realized that artists don't get paid much, but he didn't like the idea of working a "crappy, part-time job" to pay the

bills. So he found another way. Andollo performs on the subway for about 20 hours a week, typically in two-hour intervals. He makes $10 to $50 per shift and has a love/hate relationship with busking. Andollo will buy food, but very rarely. The majority of his food comes from trash touring, or dumpster diving. To learn more about Gio, visit his personal blog and portfolio here, his living-on-a-shoestring-in-New-York blog here and his blog about washing dishes here.

 

Read Gio Andollo's diary below to learn about how he finds and makes his meals, and how he gets by without a steady job. Editor's note: Assume that all meals are not purchased unless otherwise mentioned."

 

For rest of the blog:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/28/food-informants-freegan_n_908542.html?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmaing8%7Cdl3%7Csec1_lnk3%7C81936

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Freegan my left nut...

 

the guy's nothin more than a frugal ass, lazy ass hipster....

 

 

I agree bro (B35). It one thing to spend wisely and eat less in this crappy economy. It's another to be so damn cheap like Mr. Andollo to eat from trash cans 'leftover food.'

 

Reason why i said this was an 'intresting article' in tounge and cheek: LOL is how some readers may also follow the lead of this hipster.:eek:

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whats stopping this guy from getting a job and actually buying proper food? Dont gimme that oh jobs are hard to find, he coulda easily gotten in some retail place or a mcdonalds or something, and that woulda been a huge improvement over his 'panhandling salary'.

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I know one of the heads of the Freegan movement here in New York. While it may be that some of the people who engage in this lifestyle are "lazy," as well as in the general population, most Freegans are not. One would realize this if he or she had a proper understanding of Freeganism.

 

Let me first point out that your reactions are not unusual for those who have never heard of these "dumpster divers," and could probably be worse. One of the major misconceptions about Freegans is that they consume "leftovers" such as those uneaten pizza crusts and soy sauce packages. This is incorrect. Freegans eat many of the same foods as you are I, but for an insider's price: $0. Did you know that many supermarkets will throw out products that have just or soon will past their expiration dates? As some of you may remember, foods used to not carry sell-by dates--that was determined by our five scents. Such is the tool of the Freegan.

 

Stores and delis will throw out bagels at night to prepare a new batch in the morning. Do these bagels suddenly decay into an unsightly sludge? They taste identical to the bagels in the shop sold five minutes prior. No Freegans have yet died from the practice.

 

Admittedly I was a bit queasy on my first Freegan tour, seeing others open slippery garbage bags with such causal efficiency. I also had to pray nobody I knew walked past our group. On the plus side, news crews from all over the world accompany many of the Freegan tours, to display back home to viewers with equal disbelief as yourselves. Freegan tours introduce new members to the philosophy, and typically collect enough food by a few blocks. After a night of "shopping," one can only wonder how much food is wasted on a daily basis on every other by-passed street, city, or nation. Then wonder how many people go hungry on a daily basis. It is both astounding and sad.

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whats stopping this guy from getting a job and actually buying proper food? Dont gimme that oh jobs are hard to find, he coulda easily gotten in some retail place or a mcdonalds or something, and that woulda been a huge improvement over his 'panhandling salary'.

 

Walmart will take anybody but other places... You need to really prove your worth... As I've come to find out, I'm only one of a million other guys/gals wanting the same job...

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I know one of the heads of the Freegan movement here in New York. While it may be that some of the people who engage in this lifestyle are "lazy," as well as in the general population, most Freegans are not. One would realize this if he or she had a proper understanding of Freeganism.

 

Let me first point out that your reactions are not unusual for those who have never heard of these "dumpster divers," and could probably be worse. One of the major misconceptions about Freegans is that they consume "leftovers" such as those uneaten pizza crusts and soy sauce packages. This is incorrect. Freegans eat many of the same foods as you are I, but for an insider's price: $0. Did you know that many supermarkets will throw out products that have just or soon will past their expiration dates? As some of you may remember, foods used to not carry sell-by dates--that was determined by our five scents. Such is the tool of the Freegan.

 

Stores and delis will throw out bagels at night to prepare a new batch in the morning. Do these bagels suddenly decay into an unsightly sludge? They taste identical to the bagels in the shop sold five minutes prior. No Freegans have yet died from the practice.

 

Admittedly I was a bit queasy on my first Freegan tour, seeing others open slippery garbage bags with such causal efficiency. I also had to pray nobody I knew walked past our group. On the plus side, news crews from all over the world accompany many of the Freegan tours, to display back home to viewers with equal disbelief as yourselves. Freegan tours introduce new members to the philosophy, and typically collect enough food by a few blocks. After a night of "shopping," one can only wonder how much food is wasted on a daily basis on every other by-passed street, city, or nation. Then wonder how many people go hungry on a daily basis. It is both astounding and sad.

 

Oh please.... That is so unnecessary and ridiculous... :P There are plenty of companies that will simply donate their left over food from the day. Places that serve natural and organic foods like Pret A Manger certainly do this. Any sandwiches that they don't sell by the end of the day are donated to shelters around the city, so there is no need to go digging in garbage cans for left over food. You want free food??? There's something called a food pantry for that or just beg for food at the places that give away their leftovers. I'm sure Trader Joes or Whole Foods has something similar in place.

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One thing I remember from working in a big box store is anything with an expiration date that winds up at returns (even unopened food stuffs) gets thrown out regardless... Well, that was according to this Target Guest Services employee one night... My friend (who I was with returning things) definitely wasn't too happy about that answer

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This isn't about BUYING food for $10 a week, it's about SEARCHING THROUGH GARBAGE BAGS FOR FOOD and BEGGING ON THE SUBWAY.

 

So NO, you CANNOT buy groceries for only $10 a week.

 

My ears....they're going deaf....

 

Stop YELLING...you can get your point across without screaming at us!

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One thing I remember from working in a big box store is anything with an expiration date that winds up at returns (even unopened food stuffs) gets thrown out regardless... Well, that was according to this Target Guest Services employee one night... My friend (who I was with returning things) definitely wasn't too happy about that answer

 

Believe me, I certainly don't believe in waste either and try to buy just enough food from Whole Foods or the other specialty stores that I go to so that I eat everything before it goes bad. Last night I threw out some natural grapes from Whole Foods, and I have another package of natural grapes sitting in the fridge, but that is not the norm for me, so I will probably eat them for breakfast tomorrow or something, so as not to waste them.

 

Those big box stores are a joke. They should be seeing how they can give those items to folks that can use them. They know that those things can in most cases still be used a few days after the expiration date, as they don't immediately go bad. That's why I prefer shopping at places where the stores are responsible with their products, although Whole Foods does waste quite a bit too. They know their customers are picky (I'm included ;)), but I mean hey, if I'm going to pay $4.99 for organic blueberries, then they'd better be damn good and very fresh. :mad: If the product is less than perfect they will get rid of it and since they only sell natural and organic goods, they have to constantly check to make sure that things aren't sitting on the shelves for too long and have to keep restocking things.

 

For a while they were having issues keeping their natural milk fresh and I had to call Amex and have them refund me money back for spoiled goods there, but that is not the norm at all at Whole Foods. The quality there is very good and I like that they give food away to needy folks and such and donate a lot of fresh natural products as well. :cool:

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I know one of the heads of the Freegan movement here in New York. While it may be that some of the people who engage in this lifestyle are "lazy," as well as in the general population, most Freegans are not. One would realize this if he or she had a proper understanding of Freeganism.

 

Let me first point out that your reactions are not unusual for those who have never heard of these "dumpster divers," and could probably be worse. One of the major misconceptions about Freegans is that they consume "leftovers" such as those uneaten pizza crusts and soy sauce packages. This is incorrect. Freegans eat many of the same foods as you are I, but for an insider's price: $0. Did you know that many supermarkets will throw out products that have just or soon will past their expiration dates? As some of you may remember, foods used to not carry sell-by dates--that was determined by our five scents. Such is the tool of the Freegan.

 

Stores and delis will throw out bagels at night to prepare a new batch in the morning. Do these bagels suddenly decay into an unsightly sludge? They taste identical to the bagels in the shop sold five minutes prior. No Freegans have yet died from the practice.

 

Admittedly I was a bit queasy on my first Freegan tour, seeing others open slippery garbage bags with such causal efficiency. I also had to pray nobody I knew walked past our group. On the plus side, news crews from all over the world accompany many of the Freegan tours, to display back home to viewers with equal disbelief as yourselves. Freegan tours introduce new members to the philosophy, and typically collect enough food by a few blocks. After a night of "shopping," one can only wonder how much food is wasted on a daily basis on every other by-passed street, city, or nation. Then wonder how many people go hungry on a daily basis. It is both astounding and sad.

I don't need to have a "proper understanding" for a group of lazy, frugal SOB's....

 

- Ever thought of couponing? Oh wait, that requires too much work....

- Ever thought of a job.... wait, that requires FAR too much work

- Ever thought of a pantry, or even a homeless shelter... wait, you don't wanna be seen as, and thrown in that disgusting category..... so you ppl. dub yourselves as "freegans" as to have no ties whatsoever to the homeless - even though the both of you got digging in the trash for food (and a number of other practices) in common....

 

You got queasy, and you had to pray no one you knew saw you & your peers, because you were embarrassed.... but I guess that's a unusual reaction too.... lol....

 

No one has had to die from eating food out the dumpster; that's not the point.... But the way you're conveying this practice to us, as if it's some sort of justified lifestyle to partake in, GTFOH with that....

 

There is ZERO need for having to go dumpster diving in a city of 8 million+ people....there are many different avenues you can go down in your quest for free food - and I aint talkin about wherever you'll find that blue or green dumpster along some supermarket or bodega either....

 

people wanna harp on the unemployed, you folks are just as bad when it comes to being lazy.... and wanna wonder why transplants are given a hard time in this city...

 

A lot of you hipster transplants give artists a bad name too, but that's a whole 'nother discussion in & of itself.....

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