Dive! The Film

I came across the trailer for this movie in one of my sustainability RSS feeds. Having just watched it, I'm at a lost for words.

I'm sure there are some people who look down on people like those in this film because the Dive in dumpsters for food. They see them as too granola. And that fact that they can be arrested is sad.

We waste so much food!

To digress a little bit I remember a commercial years ago about dieting and they said something like, "Leave a little of your food on your plate at each meal"...because if you did that every time it would add up to you eating less and less. What that means is that left over food goes into the trash! Why not just put less food on your plate in the first place.

Anyways. I know a little bit about food being thrown out when its still viable. My company when hosting an event that's catered sometimes tosses the food out at the end of the day. Why? Because we don't have a place to store it. Because we can't give it to the homeless because of liability issues. When I am able to, I take as much food with me to rehearsals and performances for the actors and crew to eat. Sometimes I've taken fruit and made cookies and pies with them and brought them back to work.

Still. So much food is wasted. But what can you do when you can't donate it to a worthy cause. At least, don't arrest the people who have the balls to dive for you food.

Why can't all restaurants and such offer the day old food that's still viable at discounted prices. I know some places that do that.

Somehow I believe part of this is due to money. Profit. Capitalism and consumerism. Its like when instead of sharing the food with the underprivileged in the past, farmers would burn the food instead. It's crazy.

I have faced my own challenges with living alone when it comes to preparing food and not wasting it.

• A lot of my food used to go bad by the time I got around to using it
• I've tried shopping as needed versus doing monthly shopping. Sometimes though I don't have the time for that
• I've also tried cooking multiple recipes that require the same ingredients, thus lessening my chances of wasting raw ingredients

• A lot of my food used to go bad because I didn't want left overs three and four days later
• I've learned to invite friends over so they can eat my food too. Makes it disappear faster
• I've learned to alter a lot of my recipes so that I'm not making as much

Do you waste a lot of food in your home? Do you compost? Would you ever dive in a dumpster for food?

Honestly, I'm not sure that I would ever dive in a dumpster because all the other germs and trash freaks me out. But I don't judge the people who did it. I think they are pretty cool. And I'd eat the burger at their party too.