Photo by Mark Leffingwell

Mo Cassidy checks out produce destined for the trash bin behind Wild Oats in Boulder

We've interviewed a few people in our day, yet the only person we've found as paranoid about the press as the Freegans was a libertarian entrepreneur doing business in the failed state of Somalia to show what kind of utopia could form without a government.

And that's saying something.

Simply put, Freegans choose to live off what others throw away. Some prefer the term "Dumpster divers," in much the same way "Trekkers" try to avoid the baggage that comes with the term "Trekkie."

Because we freelancer writers tend to live as Freegans anyway, we began with some affinity for the lifestyle.

Plus, finding ourselves in the position of having to raise a nephew who was lived with Dumpster divers, I had an in-house resource.

His advice?

"Always go in feet first, never head first."

Good to know.

Underground

But hard times have fallen on Dumpsterville: Mocked by the media, treated as trespassers (at least one local Freegan has gotten a flank full of buckshot on a dive) and rewarded, they claim, with a spot on FBI's terrorist watch list, Freegans have gone underground.

At first blush, Freegans hardly seem able to make it to class in the morning, let alone orchestrate a terrorist attack.

A call to the number on the Web site for Food Not Bombs, an organization that roots through Dumpsters for trash to feed the homeless, reached the private residence of a frustrated Boulderite who has been trying to get the group to correct the site for more than two years.

The group's blog has zero entries since going live six months ago.

A contact e-mail finally got us in touch with a longtime practitioner who distrusted the press after a newspaper quoted a friend saying something about him. He forgave the friend but not our profession.

Plus, stores tend to padlock the Dumpsters every time they make the papers.

"I'm a little upset with the way we view people who need things, treat our ill, our homeless people, with disrespect," he said, asking that his name not be used so his co-workers don't find him weird.

"It's not financial. I'm not making a political statement. It's more a remembrance that other people don't have what I have and want to keep myself humble."

Wary of attention

Daniel Galansky, a University of Colorado student and member of Foods Not Bombs, was similarly wary.

"I, for one, find your paper highly sensationalistic, avoiding real issues to cater to the apolitical tastes of CU students," he wrote, inviting me to e-mail back to discuss why the Colorado Daily is "DESTROYING the profession of journalism."

So we did.

"The less that Dumpster diving is brought to businesses' attention, the less they try to destroy, leaving a plethora of food for the taking . . . Its underground nature is the ONLY way it exists as a viable option," Galansky wrote, adding, "the Colorado Daily is one of the trashiest papers I have ever read," because we fail to challenge our readers.

Working for it

In these tough times, even freeloaders work for their meals, and have gotten more sophisticated in their garbage collection.

"What we have done is go in and talk with the produce people and sometimes they'll let you go in and sort through bruised produce that's damaged," said Aaron Smith, who went through a Freeganism phase, but has mellowed out some.

Grocery stores have clamped down since the mergers, though, and Whole Foods started using trash compactors to render its garbage inedible.

Store managers usually cite a fear of lawsuits, but Smith said they could easily post a disclaimer. Freegans feel that grocery stores see them as a threat to the capitalist, cash-for-food system.

"Stores see their goods, even wasted produce, as potential profit," Smith said, echoing others. "The point is, we shouldn't be wasting in our cult of overconsumption and need to find alternative ways to redistribute food."

In response to our inquiry, Whole Foods released the following statement: "Food items are disposed of because they are inedible or not otherwise safe to donate. Whole Foods Market reduces its waste by contributing still-edible foods such as unsold breads and produce to food agencies in the communities that we serve, which help feed those in need.

"Additionally, we compost much of our food waste that is determined to be inedible. Some stores choose to compact the trash in order to save space and resources with trash collection."

Food Not Bombs encourages redistribution, but some are skeptical that edible food isn't wasted. Smith said he once witnessed a shopping cart of bruised bananas heading to the compactor.