November Bounty - Sharing is Caring

I haven't put up a "bounty" post in a while because...well...I pretty much stopped dumpstering for a while after I moved. I couldn't find dumpsters I liked, I got food stamps after leaving my job, and the amount of effort it took to dumpster food on even a bi-weekly basis began to overwhelm me. Since Thanksgiving just occurred, I got inspired to start dumpstering again and buy groceries with my leftover food stamp money to give to a homeless shelter or food bank. Yes, I know this is probably unethical, but it doesn't seem like there are any rules against it in the food stamps rules book. As in, I'm pretty sure I'm not doing anything illegal. Anyway, I made up for lost time by going to a plethora of old dumpsters, checking out new spots I'd heard or speculated about, and bringing a new dumpster buddy, Door. Door's household dumpsters pretty regularly, but he's been tight-lipped about his amazing dumpster locations. I understand why - one of the best, untapped dumpster spots I used a few years ago will now have 3 or 4 cars of people driving up on a given night. Many of these people have poor dumpster etiquette, and I end up leaving with very little food. A good dumpster is often treated like a diamond: something precious and not to be shared. So, I needed to find these secret spots Door and his roommates were privy to. The only way that was going to happen in this secret dumpster economy was by trading information about spots. Luckily for me, the spots I went to near my old house were closer to Door than the over-picked dumpsters. So, we went out on an adventure and toured all the spots near my old house with great results. Ollie's Bargain Outlet - Body pillow - Mixing bowls - Dishwasher detergent Mom's Organic Market - Nothing TJ's - 4 mini ciabatta loafs - 1 loaf healthy nut bread - 1 bag potatoes - 1 bag snow peas - 1 pkg heirloom tomatoes - 4 roma tomatoes - 1 pkg bratwurst sausages - 1 pkg sliced dry toasted almonds - MY FAVORITE TO USE WITH BREAKFAST AND HOME-MADE GRANOLA!!! - 2 bags pre-cut sweet potatoes - 1 eggplant - 3 bananas - 1 apple - 11 eggs - one broken in a carton of 12 - Crispy crunch oatmeal raisin cookies - 1 can cuban-style black beans or corn chowder...surprise? Odwalla - Found the dumpster, but it was empty - need to figure out the schedule again Food Lion - 1 coconut Door also got a bunch of pork loin that I passed on since I had so many Thanksgiving leftovers and knew I couldn't make it in time before it spoiled. Door's theories on dumpstering meat vs. produce are very interesting. They differ from mine. He used to work in a grocery store, and his theory is that meat or dairy gets thrown out at the sellby date, meaning it's still good for a week or so. This is true, and especially in the winter, food borne illness is less of an issue to worry about since the dumpster is basically a refrigerator. The crazy part was this - Door will almost categorically not dumpster produce! His logic was that produce gets thrown out when it's bad at most places. He basically won't eat dumpstered produce, with the exception of Trader Joe's, which will pack items in bulk and throw out a package of 4 or 5 tomatoes when only one is bad, or a whole bag of apples when one is bruised. This is a different outlook from most, but a valid point. I've never gotten ill from dumpstered food. Period. Regardless, it's important to educate yourself about what food looks and smells like when it goes bad. Sometimes, this means holding onto something longer than you want. Sometimes, it means erring on the side of caution...and sometimes, it means taking a risk. Try not to do this one, guys. I'm not going to say I haven't cooked some suspect food, but I usually try to prepare it in such a way that will make it safer to eat by applying heat/etc. Generally, the risk is higher with fish and meat because the type of sick you can get from it is worse than eating bad dairy or produce, which is why I'm a bigger fan of dumpstering produce than meat. E. Coli and salmonella are way worse and more potentially fatal than bruised fruit. Still, Door held a very valid point. To each his own. Hopefully there will be a post in the near future about the dumpster Door introduces me to...and hopefully I'll have a dumpster closer to home that's reliable soon and will be able to post more in the near future.