
Ben Nelms / Reuters
Anna-Rae Douglass (left) and Robin Pickell climb into a dumpster behind an organic grocery store in Coquitlam, British Columbia.

Ben Nelms / Reuters
Anna-Rae Douglass sorts through a dumpster for edible food.

Ben Nelms / Reuters
May Wollf a practicing 'freegan', holds a sandwich that is made entirely out of found or donated food.
A “Freegan” is someone who gathers edible food from the dumpster bins of grocery stores or food stands that would otherwise have been thrown away. This is usually due to being past an expiration date or being damaged. Bread, fruit and vegetables, canned goods and even ice-cream is found and given a second chance.
I first met Robin through another story I was working on at a young women’s shelter in downtown Vancouver. Robin, who works there part-time, mentioned that she had quite different food habits than the normal 23-year-old city girl in Vancouver. I asked if I could photograph her on one of her “grocery shopping” outings and the rest fell together from that moment on.
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Ben Nelms / Reuters
May Wollf (center) and Robin Pickell (right) sort through food they plucked out of a dumpster behind an organic grocery store in Coquitlam, British Columbia on Thursday night.

Ben Nelms / Reuters
Anna-Rae Douglass looks through her fridge of scavenged food at her house.


I remember that on Food Network a special appeared called The Big Waste, the chefs did exactly this and turned the food to amazing and tasty dishes. Of course they also got meats and seafood in this way too from markets. This just astounding how much food we waste.
If you have a choice and you eat garbage, you are garbage. Get a job.
Thanks for your unproductive comment and the attempt to demean an ideology that runs counter to your own. Having a job does not negate my feeling of responsibility toward this planet and its inhabitants (both current and future). As such, an act of reclaiming the valuable resources this society so carelessly regards as garbage is a most noble act and deserves to be commended. At the very least, please keep you snide and judgmental comments to yourself please, unless you have some valuable criticism to offer.
Probably far more healthy than the crap passed through drive through windows.
A LOT OF PEOPLE IN THE WORLD , even you have a job or money & power when the time is come the world will be suffer of HUNGER , all animal in the world will be die remember that. this will be fulfill by the people in the world soon. it is written it should be done according to the PLAN of my FATHER GOD king of the universe in heaven to the world. If you open your all eyes & mind observe what is happen to the world at this time , most people in the world are fulfill the message of my FATER GOD king of the universe in heaven. all of this are "FREE" from the FATHER GOD . FREE MEANS "FLOOD or FIRE - REVELATION - ECONOMIC CRISIS - EARTHQUAKE " but all of this message of my FATHER GOD send to the world , people they never understand . the people in the world are so very "SINNER" all my FATHER GOD LAW was violated always. that is the reason my FATHER GOD king of the universe in heaven we will distroy the world thru "WATER" soon , BE HOLD & PREPARE . god bless your all SPIRIT when the day is come soon.