When I first heard about dumpster diving for food, it seemed a bit gross and thought of getting food from dumpsters is not the most sanitary idea. So I wondered, “is all the food in the dumpster rotten or expired?”. Many individuals believe the food in the dumpster is not edible. I also was one of them but I changed my mind after I visited Trader Joe’s trash bins. Despite the good information online, I realized that dumpster diving is still a hidden activity in Orange County. It was very hard to meet individuals who were dumpster diving for food because they were afraid of what others might think. Fortunately, I was able to interview a person who was familiar with dumpster diving. From my interview, I was able to gain deeper knowledge about …show more content…
As a result, I decided to dumpster dive myself. My first experience dumpster diving became fueled by the mysterious online network of meals dumpster divers, who particularly prefer dumpster diving at the food market Trader Joe’s. Searching “Trader Joe’s dumpster diving” on Youtube will spark off over 1,500 motion videos associated with tips and secrets from dumpster divers. Every day at 6 p.m, employees at Trader Joe’s grocery store begin to pull food from the shelves: Prepackaged meat, dairy products, frozen food and flowers which they throw into the bins or bags the next day. My husband and I went to Trader Joe’s in Irvine at nighttime and we were able to meet one couple. They smiled at us and asked, “Is it your first time?” and I nodded my head. They already found several packages of food and carried them back to their car. The couple seemed to have dumpster dived several times before. They mostly chose bread such as bagels and baguettes. They also picked up frozen products. I walked to the bins but it smelled just like an ordinary trash bin, so I stepped backward. The couple encouraged me to look inside the bin, and said, “You will find bags of good quality food!”. I slung one of my legs over the bin, looked inside and found bags of still good bell peppers, tomatoes, bananas, and some corns. At least 60% of the food
He starts by giving a lot of personal examples (Pizza shop example), then talks about other people who try it (The stages of beginning to dumpster dive), and explains how dumpster diving is a lot better than the more accepted picking up of cans (comparison to a wino). He then delves into the ethics behind dumpster diving (looking at prescription bottles and such), and then if one, presumably the reader, wanted to try it how they would do so (pole with hook on it). He ends with some deep insights into dumpster diving and his way of life. I think that the way he organizes his essay, and his overall tone, are to convince the reader that dumpster diving is not as bad as everyone things, and to make people actually interested in trying it. He first
Eighner writes, “Long before I began Dumpster diving I was impressed with Dumpsters, enough so that I wrote the Merriam research service to discover what I could about the world “Dumpster”. I learned from them that “Dumpster” is a proprietary word belonging to the Dempsey Dumpster company.” He was so fascinated with Dumpsters, that he learned the definition, which is a fact. A definition can be adjusted; however, it is not completely revised. Definitions are definite. Eighner states, “Eating from the Dumpsters involves three principles: using the senses and common sense to evaluate the condition of the found materials, knowing the Dumpsters of a given area and checking them regularly, and seeking always to answer the question, ‘Why was this discarded?’” He uses his senses to analyze the condition of the things he finds logically. Dumpster diving requires the ability to critically think about what can and can not be eaten. Eighner writes, “Although very rare with modern canning methods, botulism is a possibility. But botulism is almost certainly fatal and often the first symptom is death.” He uses knowledge to understand what the expectations of some foods, especially canned foods, should be. While Eighner uses all three persuasive appeals in his writing, ethos is the most
Although Eighner reveals that his chosen lifestyle was to live on another's refuge, he kept in accordance with his acts of superiority and snobbishness by excluding himself from the term "Dumpster Diving." Instead, he preferred to be called a "scavenger because of its frankness in the term." (Eighner, 1993). Furthermore, Eighner, explains that there are rules to abide by when successfully "scavenging" through dumpsters, "using the senses…knowing the dumpsters of a given area…. [and] Why was this discarded?" It is the explanation of the three guidelines Eighner asserts to be superior to 'can scroungers' (Homeless people who rummage through the dumpsters for money). The author further elaborates his snobbishness by revealing that he has tried the heinous lifestyle of "can scroungers," and deduced that only a few dollars could be obtained. Moreover, Eighner states, "one can extract the necessities of life from the dumpsters directly with far less effort than would be required to accumulate the equivalent of cans." (Eighner, 1993). The author stereoty...
As depicted by Mayberry (2009) Lars Eighner began dumpster diving for food a year before he became homeless the first time in 1988 and again in 1995 but prefers the term scavenger, which he feels is a “sound and honorable niche” (p.351). It is not clear from this excerpt why he started scavenging for food long before he became homeless nor what led to him become homeless either time, however one could surmise that it was from lack of resources to purchase food to eat and living expenses. Pearce (2013) continued to state on a phenomenon that “one may in fact still have housing but may not be able to afford much more than the monthly payment”, consequently if one continues to pay for the housing, he or she may have less available in terms of food and end up relying on other sources of food as Lars Eighner did by scavenging dumpsters (para. 12). Eighner went on to state how he was able to discern edible foods from non-edible such as eating yogurt past the expiration date if it was still sealed, however with all the precautions he took still got dysentery at least once a
The reader learned about what exactly one would eat or wouldn’t eat while taking a dive in a dumpster. “Raw fruits and vegetables with intact skins seem perfectly safe to me” and “For myself, I avoid the game, poultry, pork and egg-based foods, whether I find them raw or cooked.” are examples that prove his experience with dumpster diving. He explains how negligent college students are when he inspects their garbage. “A typical discard is half a jar of peanut butter. In fact, non-organic peanut butter does not require refrigeration and is unlikely to spoil in any reasonable time.” (Eighner 676) Since college students live on “Daddy’s money” they throw away what could be valuable to another, the peanut
The author, Lars Eighner explains in his informative narrative, “On Dumpster Diving” the lifestyle of living out of a dumpster. Eighner describes the necessary steps to effectively scavenge through dumpsters based on his own anecdotes as he began dumpster diving a year before he became homeless. The lessons he learned from being a dumpster diver was in being complacent to only grab what he needs and not what he wants, because in the end all those things will go to waste. Eighner shares his ideas mainly towards two direct audiences. One of them is directed to people who are dumpster divers themselves, and the other, to individuals who are unaware of how much trash we throw away and waste. However, the author does more than direct how much trash
Didion and Eighner have different styles of writing, but they both created writings with an instructional component. In both pieces of literature, they guide the audience like a mother to child, guiding us step by step in order to perfect the outcome. Joan Didion’s “On Keeping a Notebook” teaches the reader on how to keep note of the past through a notebook. “On Dumpster Diving” written by Lars Eighner, teaches the reader how to successfully dumpster dive and survive. However, Eighner’s piece included many details, whereas Didion’s ideas used examples by flowing from one top to another. It could also be said that Lars Eighner’s piece creates a more thorough analysis on how to dumpster dive. In spite of the fact that the pieces of literature
Homelessness is increasing every year and effecting Americans of different age, ethnicity and religion. In Lars Eighner “On Dumpster Diving” he explains what he went through while being homeless. He describes how and what foods someone should be looking for and to always be conscious of what one is eating because there is always a reason why something has been thrown out. He continues to go into detail about other items that can be found in the dumpster like sheets to sleep on and pieces of paper to write on. Things that can keep him busy through the day. Eighner carefully explains to his readers how being a dumpster diver has become a life style for the homeless and this is how they survive. It’s a way of living and they are comfortable doing it. “I began dumpster diving about a year before I became homeless” (Eighner 713). He tries to bring us into the world of being homeless. It is hard to imagine what it would be like in that situation, and how could surviving as a dumpster diver be a way of survival? As a dumpster diver, Eighner is able to tell us what is ok to eat and have and what is not ok for your health. His essay starts by uttering some guidelines of what is and is not safe to eat. “Eating safely from the dumpsters involves three principles: using common sense for evaluating the food, knowing the dumpsters of the given areas and always ask, “Why was this discarded?” (Eighner 714).
Eighner writes, “Long before I began Dumpster diving I was impressed with Dumpsters, enough so that I wrote the Merriam research service to discover what I could about the world “Dumpster”. I learned from them that “Dumpster” is a proprietary word belonging to the Dempsey Dumpster company.” He was so fascinated with Dumpsters, that he learned the definition, which is a fact. A definition can be adjusted; however, it is not completely revised. Definitions are definite. Eighner states, “Eating from the Dumpsters involves three principles: using the senses and common sense to evaluate the condition of the found materials, knowing the Dumpsters of a given area and checking them regularly, and seeking always to answer the question, ‘Why was this discarded?’” He uses his senses to analyze the condition of the things he finds logically. Dumpster diving requires the ability to critically think about what can and can not be
A) Lars Eighner, in “On Dumpster Diving”, portrays the waste that is accumulated due to modern consumerism and materialism. He also demonstrates the issue of the wage gap. Consumers of the modern age spend too much and therefore waste too much. In the essay, Eighner describes life as an scavenger and demonstrates how people are able to live by the minimal resources. “Scavengers” are able to survive on the waste of the consumer. Eighner presents this scenario as a contrast to the life of a modern consumer, in order to portray it’s unnecessary wastefulness. Mainly, food seems to be taken lightly by society, as Eighner as a scavenger finds “a half jar of peanut butter”,
This essay's structure is based on the quote "beginning with the practical art of Dumpster diving and presiding to the abstract" (379). Eighner begins with an informative tone to explain the foods to eat and avoid, the stages Dumpster divers go through, and label the places where divers are most successful. The "abstract" part of the quote talks about the ideas and thoughts he gathered from his experiences as a homeless person. This satire on people's wastefulness transitions into a more critical tone when he critiques society for their obsession for materialistic objects and their wasteful nature.
Jeremy Seifert’s documentary, Dive!, goes behind the scenes to show that there are billions of pounds of food waste a year in our country when 1 billion people a day are starving worldwide. Seifert originally began his dumpster diving to show that his family of three could not only salvage good food to eat from the trash, but they would also save more
Step 3: 1. Eighner introduces his arguments through the use of narrative stories and his own personal experiences. He uses this technique to let the reader see firsthand how some people are able to survive off what is carelessly thrown away by others who take what they own for granted. Eighner illustrates this point on page 1, “The necessities of daily life I began to extract from Dumpsters. Yes, we ate from Dumpsters. Except for jeans, all my clothes can from Dumpsters. Boom boxes, candles, bedding, toilet paper, medicine, books, a typewriter… I acquired many things from the Dumpsters.”
According to Roni Neff, Marie Spiker, and Patricia Truant, up to 40% of all food produced in America is thrown away (Neff, Spiker, & Truant, 2015, p.2). This wasted food is worth hundreds of billions of dollars that is lost each year in the United States alone, and creates many threats to our country. Food waste is an important and widespread issue in the United States because most of the food thrown away is perfectly fine, it could be used to feed the hungry, and the waste hurts the environment.
Food waste is defined by food that is lost, wasted, or discarded and is caused through a few different processes. Food is wasted through many different ways at farms, grocery stores, and in homes. Over 40% of the food in the United States, specifically, goes to waste and 97% percent of this waste goes straight to landfills. The main issue with food waste is that the majority of food is being wasted unnecessarily. In stores, food is often thrown out because it does not meet specific standards that dictate what may be desirable to consumers. This issue of food picking is important as foods are not always being thrown away because they have gone bad, but because they have appearances that do not seem attractive. If we hope to lessen the environmental impact we have as a result of the mass