I’ve recently been fascinated by the concept of “freeganism.” Since I have essentially no gripes with capitalism, I’ve decided to adapt this concept to my own personal selfish lifestyle. In other words, I choose to conserve resources I typically use on food in order to waste additional resources on material possessions. I have a long list of expensive things I would like to own in the near future¹. Some of them are accidentally eco-friendly, so maybe the spirit of freeganism will still live on through my manipulation of its precepts.

Let’s embark on this journey together…

Day 1
Today I discovered that working in an office building is incredibly conducive to freeganism. There’s always a ton of food in the break room. Here’s what I found today.

Someone sent out an email about leftovers. I barely made it in time. The only trouble I’ve encountered thus far is the whole “survival of the fittest” thing. Some people in my office were apparently born vultures.

Day 2
For some reason my bank account is almost entirely empty. This has added a whole new depth to my new lifestyle. No longer is my concern solely based in a taste for luxury. I am now genuinely in need, at least until next Friday. I walked into the accounting office complaining of my hunger and one of the clerks offered me her 6 inch sub.

This was not as delicious as my previous work meal. Her tastes differ greatly from mine and I had to remove a bunch of stuff I hate (pictured above left). I couldn’t completely get rid of the black olive/pickle taste. This actually proved to be beneficial; I don’t feel like I want to eat again for a really long time. Hopefully that will help hold me over during the impending doom of the weekend. Without the office, foraging will doubtless increase in difficulty.

Day 3
I found these rolls in the break room today . I’m not real interested in the whole “enriched” scene, but I figured I could use them as a last resort this weekend.

Day 4

Last night proved to be very advantageous. I sang on a friend’s record and the engineer bought me a sweet dinner from Mojo’s. It was delicious and free. I really wanted to take a picture, but I felt too embarrassed. Just imagine a big plate of rice and chicken and queso.

Today also consisted of victory. My roommate made pancakes.

My boyfriend’s mom came in town and bought me a major Mexi lunch. Again, I felt it was inappropriate to take a picture. Then this evening I went to this birthday party and enjoyed this

This was a little harder to stomach than you might think. Maybe it was the Manwich.

I finally topped it all off at a friend’s house.

Day 5

Sunday. Successful overall. I really only got to eat one meal. Jesse Wayne came through for me and made a pizza (not pictured because I forgot). Hopefully I’ll strike gold tomorrow at the office.

Day 6

Ask and ye shall receive.
The first rule of freeganism is to tell everyone. I was over on the other side of the office today talking about my escapades and someone gave me these.

Right when I thought I was going to die of hunger too. This is the life.

Okay, so I just encountered my first real snag. I want a cookie. I suddenly realize that with freeganism, there is no room for cravings. You take what you can get. I’m pretty sure I have some left over candy from Christmas though.

Day 7
Last night before the book club I host, Jesse Wayne brought me some Waldorf Astoria Stew. It was great. I saved half of it for lunch today.

It’s real hearty, I think it should last me for the rest of the night. A coworker stopped by my desk and left me this…

Icing on the incredibly free and encouraging cake.

So far the worst part of freeganism is trying to explain that I’m not actually eco friendly, but actually interested in furthering my plummet into consumerism. That and everyone asking me if I’m freegan because of Oprah. As if.

Stay tuned. I’ll post an update next Wednesday…
1. Vespa, Macbook Pro, Roadbike, Widescreen plasma HDTV, etc.

Last 5 posts by Aimee Shiree

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