Quote:
Originally Posted by Random Violin Guy
Over the summer, I think I was spending about $50-100 a month on food... but that's only because I was kind of hooked on cashew butter (my raw and financial sin), and because I can't seem to find stuff like organic olive oil or organic spices for free too often. When I need it to, my food bill drops down pretty close to $0. I dumpster what I can, so long as it's raw and organic. I also got free produce directly from some of the farms around Minneapolis as well as the overabundance from community gardens, and the unsellable produce from some of the co-ops in the area. There's so much food that goes to waste in this city, that paying $300/month just doesn't make much sense for me; even after saving all that money on food, I still was cutting it pretty close on all the bills.
It kinda sucks right now, because I've been buying my food from the co-ops this winter... so expensive! And not nearly as fun as dumpstering! I can't wait for the weather to warm up a bit.
Oh, and I've been raw vegan for 3 years now.
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Wow! I'm impressed. By the money you're able to save, and 3yrs raw vegan. I'm intrigued by dumpstering, but I guess I have this image of being chased away by rabid security guards. Or photographed in the paper to the horror of my Mom (honey, why didn't you just tell me you needed food)! Maybe you can post a video with tips for all us diver wannabes. (I'll bet there are others besides me lurking about here). Questions though. How do you know the food in the dumpster is organic? Surely all produce doesn't land in dumpster with stickers on, does it? Did you actually go to the area farms and trade labor for produce, or just ask if they had any to give away? Do you have a lot of freezer space somewhere for gathered food on its way out? And last, in a given week in the summer, about how much time would you say you spend scavenging? OK, enough eh? If others are interested, maybe we can form a Raw Freedom dumpster diver group!
As for that cashew butter, there are worse sins than that brother. Just your mention made me rush to the fridge for a spoonful of homemade nut butter I have in there (combo almond, cashew and a little mac nut - some wonderful person on this forum suggested it and I can't remember who, but thanks). Anyway, it's not cigarettes and vodka
I'm looking to move from where I am in Baton Rouge about an hour away to New Orleans. In response to food shortages after Katrina, there has been a huge grassroots development of community gardens and multiple farmer's markets, and they just opened a brand new food coop (none here in BR). If you're curious, go to the website for New Orleans Food and Farm Network and be inspired. Violin guy, the growing season down here is year round, and New Orleans still has a large community of musicians and other artists. Maybe you should move! Oh, and the second annual NOLA veg fest will occur in April! There will be at least one Raw speaker. It's like a miracle if you know about the food culture in New Orleans (decidedly not veg!) Come expand the community!
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