by Tyler Voth
Most people wait until summer to work on their diving skills, but not Scott. The University of Winnipeg student recently joined a local dumpster diving initiative that harvests food from the dumpsters of mid-level supermarkets.
The group – which, due to the controversial nature of its activities, will remain anonymous – focuses on a social understanding of dumpster diving, saying on its Facebook page that “it can be intimidating or hard to motivate one’s self to go on your own, so why not get together with other divers in this group?”
People post pictures of their findings, and set up outings that anyone can join. Through their efforts to “divert waste,” members of the group band together to resist the conventional economic system and make use of wasted products.
According to Statistics Canada, the average Canadian spent 15 per cent of their annual income on food in 2005. Some veteran dumpster divers boast a $0.00 grocery bill, living entirely off of what they find.
Dumpster divers are drawn in by the prospect of free groceries and the excitement of trying something completely ‘fresh’ in a society where convention can blind you from seeing a rewarding opportunity.
On a cool night, I join Scott on a dive. After the 45-minute bike ride to Winnipeg’s North End, we wait for the supermarket to close. Divers have a bad reputation at this location due to an inexperienced diver throwing garbage outside the dumpster.
Once the lights in the supermarket go off, we make our way to the bin and cannot believe the amount of food inside. We cautiously scale its walls, stepping on boxes and food items, trying our best not to damage anything.
“This is more than we can carry,” Scott says with a smile as he begins filling a box with pre-cooked frozen dinners.
“Diving is definitely a team sport,” he adds. “People get hooked on diving when they find something they love – something they can’t believe would be thrown away.”
As we continue packing food, a man pops his head over the side of the dumpster and begins to chastise us for “making a mess.”
After explaining ourselves, we quickly find out that the man, whose name we learn is Uriah, has been reprimanded for diving at this location because another diver had been throwing trash outside the dumpster, rather than into the dumpster right beside the one we are in.
Uriah’s large build makes him intimidating.
But as we talk, he shares that he is on “disability” and that he dives to “save a few bucks.” He explains he’s been treated poorly in the past, which explains his initial anger at our presence. He also talks about his injured leg, which prevents him from getting in and out of the dumpster.
In response, Scott offers to load some boxes for Uriah.
Uriah gets a shopping cart, and we fill it with 24 frozen dinners, a few containers of ice cream, yogurt, orange juice, canned peaches, and rice pudding.
As we pass Uriah the food, he informs us of other diving locations.
“We need to stick together,” he says.
Once the dumpster is empty, he asks for a still-packaged baby bottle to give to his roommate “as a joke.”
As Scott and I bike back to his apartment with full backpacks, we reflect on Uriah’s needs versus our own.
“He probably has a lot more problems than we do,” Scott says.
It is 11:30 PM by the time we get to Scott’s apartment, where we wash the “dumpster dirt” off the packages and lay out the food for a picture to post on the group’s Facebook page.
Some of the food is expired, but Scott’s philosophy of best-by dates is that “you should just trust your senses.” Having worked with Scott at a grocery store in Steinbach, I agree, and distinctly recall the obligation to throw out merchandise that is perfectly edible.
Dumpster diving is a lucrative, rewarding activity that changes your perception of the food industry. You’ll find yourself both upset and thankful someone threw out your favourite dish, and you’ll be reminded that each dumpster contains only a fraction of the food wasted throughout the city.
But most of all, you will be shown the importance of a strong community to feed those who can’t feed themselves due to circumstances beyond their control.
Tyler Voth is a student at CMU. This article was written as part of his coursework.