I've heard food banks and some eastern religion temples like Buddhist and Sikh temples will serve free food for the needy.
this post was submitted on 06 May 2024
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Unfortunately I have neither anywhere near me, and no car to travel, but good to know. I was reliant on my food bank for a while but the COL crisis means they limit the amount of aid each person can claim which sucks
In the UK there is the "Too good to go" app.
I save a lot of money on groceries this way and provide others as well. You pay a third of the original price.
Probably even better for OP if they have no money is the Olio app, where people give away free food (and non-food). It depends on activity in your local area, but in many areas there are people who regularly collect food from supermarkets at the end of the day to give away. I've given away portions of meals before when I've cooked too much to freeze it all.
This app is also in the us
If you have a little Caesars near you that does hot n readies, they generally throw out a lot of expired ones. They sit in the warmer for like 30 minutes and then would be moved to the top of the oven until someone brought them out to the dumpster. It was my job at one time, but if anyone asked me for any of the pizzas on the way, I'd give them the full stack if they wanted that much. YMMV. I wasn't supposed to according to the owner but fuck him, he wasn't even in the same town 98% of the time and the closing managers didn't care (one of them even had me bring it out to someone's trunk that they wanted to help out).
I hated that food waste.
If you don't have any luck dumpster diving it might be worth checking if any of your local supermarkets (or even bakeries) are using Too Good to Go. They decide how much to put in the package, but a generous place will give you a bunch of food for very little money.
I hate to refer you back there, but there's a dumpster diving subreddit.
And I don't know what the schedule in the UK is, but here in the States, people are moving out of their dorms for the summer. If the schedule is the same and you can get over to your local university or college or whatever, you may be able to score not just food, but other things that people just don't have the energy/ability to drag home.
A friend of mine used to offer end-of-termers $10 for their mini-fridges, clean them up in his shed over the summer, then sell them to next year's freshers for $40-50. Even if you don't have a car, you might find some small stuff you can clean up and resell.
Here is a free book about it: https://archive.org/details/the-art-and-science-of-dumpster-diving-paladin-press
Many excellent tips and tricks.
Best wishes.
Jesus. Nobody should ever go hungry. Have you tried asking the manager/owner of the local grocery if you can have food destined for the dumpster? Talk to some of the employees too. While I'm not hard up for food, i got friendly with the folks running the deli section. If I show up when they close the deli, they'll give me everything left in the hot deli case for the price of one serving, because otherwise they're going to throw it away.
I'll second this. I've never tried dumpster diving, but I have been an employee that helped out before.
If there is no store policy against it, it's not much trouble to sort the still-decent stuff into a particular bag, and leave that one bag outside the dumpster instead of throwing it in.
Just go in when its slow, buy something preferably, and while you're there ask an employee if it's okay with the store if you do some diving and that you won't make a mess. If they seem friendly, you can ask when/how would be the best time to do it. Probably works better with a smaller, locally-owned place than a big corporate chain. I'd recommend a small coffeeshop or bakery.
https://archive.org/details/TheArtScienceOfDumpsterDiving
This is the definitive text on the subject.
Some good tips here already (look for another food bank/pantry/church in your area that could help, follow dumpster diving youtube channels for advice), you could also try some of these, or look for similar sites (I've only skimmed these, not vouching for the content):
https://www.thebrokebackpacker.com/dumster-diving-for-dummies
https://wheeliebinsolutions.co.uk/blogs/advice/a-guide-to-bin-diving
https://www.woodfordrecycling.co.uk/news/skip-diving-junk-hunting-and-freeganism-the-need-to-know/
But more importantly, please have a look at/chat to turn2us, you are almost certainly entitled to some benefits, they will help you figure out which you are entitled to, and there are then benefits advisers in almost every town who can help you through the process if you find it too daunting and/or difficult.
Solidarity.
Just to add, give Approved Food a look, they sell food that is past it's best by date, but still good to eat, at much lower prices.
There are also places, I can't think of what they're called right now, but it's basically a communal grocery shop where you take what you need, and pay what you can. Maybe ask your local foodbank if they know of anything like that?
Lastly, when I was looking for an example of that last one, I found this page that might be helpful:
https://www.scope.org.uk/advice-and-support/food-no-money-food-banks/
Check local churches which will sometimes run food pantries
fallingfruit.org used to list a few dumpsters that reliably held good food; bakeries especially toss a lot of product at the end of the day
as for tips, check for rat poison first
A lot of restaurants end up throwing out food that would otherwise be perfectly edible.
If you're a polite and patient individual, you might be able to build up some rapport with the owner or the workers. When my friend was in college, he could barely afford to feed himself most of the time. He was friendly with the cashier at a local fast food place and asked if they could set aside any orders that get sent back (due to being wrong) and give them to him instead of tossing them in the garbage. Not everybody will do this for you, but it's worth asking. I think generally store employees and managers are sympathetic enough to not care about what happens to product that was destined for the garbage anyway so they typically agree.
I'm sure there are some managers that would do this but in my experience that would be the exception rather than the norm. From what I've seen, managers tend to be bootlickers who support the status quo and believe in pulling yourself up by your bootstraps, and think handouts make people weak and dependant (newsflash: barely any human is truly self sufficient).
Workers usually don't give a single shit, though. Unless you get super unlucky and get one of those "by the rules" type.
There's definitely some variance out there. Some managers care about their employees and have a conscience, which would make them more likely to sympathize with a hungry dude who can't pay. Others are the typical Scrooge McDuck caricature and go out of their way to be cruel to others.
I think generally in my experience chain restaurant managers tend to get promoted from within the company and start at the lowest position, so they have more perspective on what it's like to be at the bottom rung of society and have a bit more empathy for those who have unfortunately sunk even lower than that. Private business managers on the other hand, it depends. Some are guided by their own morality, while others have a chip on their shoulder about how they made it without help and so can everyone else (which is total nonsense, in order for there to be winners in capitalism, there must also necessarily be losers, so not everybody is going to make a success of themselves in that way no matter how much effort they expend).
In the States the 211 service should be able to give you info on your local options as well as food stamps/EBT. The more destitute and challenging your current situation, the more benefits you'll be eligible for, IIRC.
That said, the wealthier areas may very well have unlocked/unguarded dumpsters, but getting there without being harassed by the local pigs is the obstacle there. I mean, that's one of their main jobs: keep whitey happy.
the wealthier areas may very well have unlocked/unguarded dumpsters
The fuck kind of world do we live in where we need to guard dumpsters?
If it was a tech company that absolutely needed to ensure data was destroyed and absolutely couldn't take a risk even with regular office trash, sure. Spend the cash to guard the dumpster.
Locking up and guarding food "waste" that is a day beyond a fake-ass sell by date? Really?
(Obviously, I am not ranting at you. The quoted sentence triggered me a bit, it seems.)
The fuck kind of world do we live in where we need to guard dumpsters?
In most urban places, an unlocked dumpster is asking for all sorts of things that normally cost extra to get dumped. Downtown Minneapolis, an open construction dumpster can go about a day without a mattress showing up (biohazard. Massive. Biohazard.) or shitloads of furniture.
In any case illegal dumping drives up the costs for people who do own the dumpster so most times, they’re locked at the very least.
But yeah, why the don’t donate food they’re not gonna sell , I dunno. That becomes a nice write off and a “we donate xyz fellgoods!”
I work in the grocery industry. For us it's a liability thing. If you get sick and sue, it winds up costing us even if we win. Given the razor thin margins we operate on, we would have to increase prices to cover the extra cost.
The result is most grocery stores toss anything that doesn't sell and lock the dumpster.
Some is donated, to be sure, but most is just tossed out.
then there is that, to be sure. lawyers have ruined a lot of things.
in any case, I suspect there's also logistics involved- getting the donated food to the shelter.
The logistics issue is not that big of one. We’re a warehouse that runs our own trucks. We could get it there with only a bit of extra fuel burn. HOS might cause issues though. Additionally, the need is great enough that many food banks and shelters would be willing to come pick it up if we weren’t all (Grocery industry and food banks) afraid of getting sued to death by some person that got sick after eating something that was a day after it’s arbitrarily set use by date.
We at the warehouse salve our consciences some by donating fresh products directly to some food banks local to our warehouse, and a few of our stores order a little extra to donate locally, but it’s nowhere near the amount that gets tossed by the stores.
Most places do donate what they can't sell, unless it's compromised somehow. Not because of the tax write-off, because that's kind limited and they basically hit the cap really early in the year. They do it because they don't have to pay to dump it if food banks are taking it. Having the dumpster emptied out isn't cheap. The less they need to do it, the less they have to spend on it.
For the business I worked at we locked them because if it was open people would fill them up in a single night meaning we had to pay extra for a early pick up.
There’s a couple of YouTube channels of Dumpster Diving in the Uk
I’ve rarely done it myself but my roommate did often and she got lots of things. Fancier grocery stores are usually the best. Depending on the neighborhood they can be locked though. Wealthier areas will have fewer people scrounging so more likely to be unlocked.
If you are a novice, start with non-perishable goods. Perishable goods can sometimes be fine too but requires more judgement.
That said, I have to believe that there must be more services available to you somewhere. Is there some office in your local government that can provide advice?
I had a friend that was very good at it.
Get in and get out. Dont hang around. Don't hesitate.
He said he thought it was like fishing in that you just didn't know what you were going to get.
Never done it myself, but wouldn't dive anywhere that serves cooked food, it can go off real quick (and they're probably trashing the stuff that has already gone off) and could contaminate other stuff or get you sick. If you're looking for help fuck managers; get to know the lowest rung, we're usually spiteful to whatever hellhole we're working at and will gladly give you stuff if we know how to get away with it.
I used to find good stuff behind all kinds of stores. Anywhere that sells food and doesnt have a trash compactor. Gas stations etc for expired packaged food. (USA)
Unfortunately, all the edible food at grocery stores gets taken to the food bank.
Large grocers have Garbage's that are not accessible from the outside, but the only food they throw in there is from the hot bars.
Your best bet is trying at a local health food store, if they have a hot bar or deli counter. Their dump times are between 2-3 and around 7:30-8 (food must be dumped after sitting in hot plates for four hours, assume the hot bar opens at 10 and closes at 7).
Search for a "Food not Bombs" group in your area. They can help you out with meals and tips for sourcing free food.
Talk to a local restaurant if you've got any and ask for help - if they're not an ass they might be able to hook you up with food that's reasonably safe to eat.
Good dumpster diving usually involves getting it before its in a dumpster.
I wouldn't trust food in a dumpster, I think the goal of most dumpster divers is to find something of value and sell it. You can try restaurants and stuff when they're closing if food is all your looking for.
If you're in the US you might want to look into applying for EBT/food stamps at your local social security office if you haven't. It's not a ton of money for food, but it helps in combination with food banks and such. They'll give you a card you can use at grocery stores and such.
As for dumpster diving, back when I was homeless I would dumpster dive sometimes, Aldi was a good source because they do this stupid thing where they package all their produce in cellophane wrap, but they'll do six tomatos to a package or whatever, and when one gets mold or damage they chuck the whole thing. So a lot of times we'd find perfectly good, wrapped produce just hanging out.
Bakeries are also good for day-olds. Though they also often donate their day olds to food banks and soup kitchens and stuff. If so, they might be able to tell you where.
I would just be careful as some store owners will spray bleach or other poisons into their foid dumpster to stop people getting the food. I never saw it myself, and I believe it is illegal, but it was something other homeless folks I ran across talked about.
Sorry that you're struggling to meet your basic needs.