Dive!

That movie in class today was really interesting! I've always been very conscious of using my personal resources and groceries and not worried to much about the printed expiration dates. I've thought about excess waste from restaurants, too. But I had never even considered how much food is thrown away at grocery stores every day!

One thought I had before the movie got too far underway was that if the dumpster divers were collecting more food than they knew what to do with, why weren't they providing for the poor and homeless? Why weren't they providing for people who really needed food? They could easily make a lifestyle out of sharing the food they dive for. They don't have to go through a food bank with all of their legal trappings. Like a classmate said, they should be covered by the Good Samaritan Act.

Another thing I shortly began to wonder is if it is better for a person to go hungry or to eat food that is spoiled or is in some other way expired? Is it better to suffer from malnutrition and starve or to get calories and become ill? The benefit to eating this dumpster food is that the likelihood that it will actually cause some sickness doesn't seem to be very high if you choose wisely and prepare foods properly. But by not eating, there is not even a possible benefit. Therefore, I would think that eating dumpster food is a good risk to take.

Dumpster diving could quickly become a hobby for lots of people. What if there was a "dumpster-diving movement"? People would stop paying for groceries. More food would "spoil" on the shelves. More food would have to be thrown out. Food could ultimately become a trade-based commodity. I wonder if dumpster-diving is a way to fix all of the problems this country has because of the disaster that is the food industry? Food for thought...