Since this adventure I've spent 1000's of hours working to solve this issue. I've learned that the solutions are already out there and that we CAN end food waste and hunger in the USA. For a deeper look into how to end food waste and hunger watch my TEDx Talk, How to End the Food Waste Fiasco at: robgreenfield.org/foodwastesolutions/
Yes sir Americans waste so much food. They should ship the excess food to poor countries rather than the trash. Also it has been a common theme of some RU-vid channels of making"funny" videos on food wasting.
A lot of it, particularly food waste, is created by our law makers, not a love of money by companies. Many expiration dates are just pulled out of thin air by lawmakers and mandated to those making products. Medications in particular lasts FAR past it's expiration date and could at least be donated to Doctors Without Borders to use on their trips.
My family has been eating very well from one particular dumpster for the past 2 years. My deep freeze if full of meat & we get produce & other staples weekly. Recently they threw away about $300 worth of lunch meats. None of it was expired. The stores have to give the consumers time to use the product before it expires so most times things are tossed before the expiration date. I agree that we could solve the hunger problem if they would donate.
Our fav store throws away so much good cheeses, lunch meat, juices, fish, meat.... that we're currently unable to catch up with supply. I'd say my family is using 3% or less of what they throw away. One time dickhead mgr "called cops on me", as he promised several times before. I waited until offices came and they told me I could go ahead and dumpster dive because I did not break any laws ( just make sure you don't leave a mess...). Mr. dickhead didn't look happy.
As somebody seriously considering traveliving USA by hitchhike and biking, I believe I just found the solution to the issue of food... Would you guys agree?
It's horrible how supermarkets throw away food. I used to work for the food emporium and they threw everything out that would expire that same day, they wouldn't even allow the employees to take the expired food home
Don Juan the Hustler that so cruel, if anybody wants they’d should allow to let them take it, I feel sad after seeing this vedeo, thingking about many people don’t have enough food to eat but America have had enough to throw food 😱 this is not fair in someways 🤦🏼♀️
@@rinpuiitlau2414 they had a policy about the employees getting sick from the expired food. They didn't want to get sued or deal with hospital bills that was the reason they didn't want us to take the food home
ahhhhhh I LOVE THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I work part time for Kroger... They waste GOOD FOOD!!!!!!!!!! I cringe everytime I have to throw food away. I have asked management if it can be donated to the local food bank and they said NO!!!!!! This is not right when families are struggling to feed their kids :( Tiffany
I sympathize with what you're saying I also buy Kroger items and I'm also a person who has been in need married 23years when my husband left us in 2016 I had to play for government assistance because I was having you for the disability and I can work he left her home and I find myself going to churches to get food if I had an opportunity to be able to dumpster dive I want to see what I can get it's a shame how they waste so much food when there's so much people in need
Cant they just throw food out in a nice cleaner trash can so ppl can just take that food instead of going dumpster diving catching some disease. Technically supermarkets are throwing it away but it will just be in a nicer reachable trash can/bin so old ppl can eat too 🙁
I worked at a stop & shop and my understanding was that the items were thrown out because of the risk of disease/spoiling and expired food. But I don’t believe it. First off, the things we had to thrown out were “expired” bottles of water. Second, expirations are often artificially short so that there CAN be such turnaround and the food industrial complex keeps on. I personally think if it IS an issue of health, then stores should donate to places that have those who need the food and CANNOT BE CHOOSY about expirations just sign a waiver where they agree that they are assuming the risk of the food being old enough that it’s not healthy for them. But why don’t they do this? Profit and bottom line as far as I can tell. It really stresses me out
I've always find dumpster diving interesting. But in Sweden it's a little more difficult. Most of our dumpsters from stores and such are either under ground, in their basement, behind a high fence or impossible to get into without a key. I think it's because some years ago some guy accidentally got killed when the dumpster truck came and took the trash. Or it can be just because they don't want people go get their stuff for free. Such a waste :( Wish more people cared about this problem.
Same thing in Canada...alot of the dumpsters are inside, or put in the crushers/incinerators or else the dumpsters are behind really high fences with barbed wire and security. My cousin worked at Walmart and he said he had to go throwaway 5 brand new PS4 justtty because someone had opened the boxes to take a peek..
@@brookekay9824 I agree, they are also under video surveillance and signs say that trespassers to private property will be prosecuted. Also I find that many places that would have stuff in their dumpsters get them emptied almost everyday.
I can't believe all the food is so well preserved and in their packages. In my country, dumpsters issue really bad liquids and all the food is very descomposed
This one time, me and a couple of friends, (With parental supervision XD) went dumpster diving at a dollar store. We didn't find any food, but we did find almost a MONTHS supply of shampoo and conditioner!
Rob sets a great example to us. Dumpster diving is a great temporary solution to a broken system of government and companies wasting food. Keep diving, but also advocate for higher ups to be held accountable and create better practices (donating, composting, etc).
Here in the UK the supermarkets lock dumpsters behind big walls and locked gates, or pour bleach over food so people can't do this...absolutely absurd and goes to show a complete disregard of the waste they produce & the greed of big businesses! Great video, keep up the good work!
Wow, so they would rather pour bleach (which they have to pay for) than see the food feed the hungry? I was at a gas station once, and a well dressed man with an expensive car pumped his gas, and when he went to the window he realized he forgot his wallet. Another person in line chipped in and bought his gas, which I thought was real nice, and I said so. He answered, "I don't mind helping HIM... you can tell he doesn't need the money." That statement stayed with me. He was only willing to give money to someone who he was sure already HAD money- he would not have helped someone if he felt they were truly needy or homeless. Isn't that kinda sad?
This is awesome & I think it is important to look into if these things are thrown out because of RECALLS but I don’t know if that has to do with if the things were thrown away. I’ll get back !
I work for a school in the kitchen, and I'll tell you that so much food gets thrown away, it breaks my heart. We're required to throw so much away. If anyone is hurting for food, go to the dumpsters behind a school, (public school's almost never lock their dumpsters,) around 1pm. Especially high schools because they have so many students and have to make so much. Because of Covid we're required to wrap everything, so you'll probably find perfectly good wrapped, even still warm food in there. Also you won't have to worry about anything too gross getting thrown in there, mostly just the food, lunch trash from the kids, lots of papers and boxes. But you didn't hear that from me.
We're required to prepare enough so that every child has the same options. We do try to cut waste, but a good day at a high school is trashing 30-50 servings of food. A bad day would be a hundred or more.
@@julianmaycare6017 From now on, you guys should discuss this topic and prepare moderate amount of food for the students. Or donate the extra foods to hungry homeless people in your area. So waste will be decreased! 🙃👎🏻
@@heavenly_girl First of all we do discuss how much to make, but it's up to the manager to decide on how much of whatever it is we're making. Again with the high school as an example they have 1000+ students, and usually 6-8 different options. We generally know from experience how much to make. At the elementary I'm not the manager at, I've cut waste a lot, but there will always be days were kids change their minds or get picky. On the note of Donating the food, we legally can't for two reasons. One our company actually has us sign a contract saying none of the food can be taken out of the kitchen, donated, or otherwise. And two by the time the food is 'wasted' it's been 4 hours since it was cooked, ie old food, and by safety standards we legally can't serve it to anyone anymore. (Reason I suggested it, was if you're desperate you can decide for yourself whether you'll risk a tummy ache, or starve.) Our company is always discussing how to lower waste, we even tried asking all the students in my elementary school 550 kids, what they wanted for lunch every day, but as I said kids change their minds so easily. We'd have numbers like 300 pizza and 250 hot dogs, but before we reach the last grade we're already out of pizza and have only hot dogs that now half the kids didn't want. It's a lot more complicated than just making less food.
@@julianmaycare6017 Change terms of contract then! As long as both parties in agreement, it's possible to decrease waste and donate edible foods to those in need! 🙃👎🏻
In Toronto Canada, we have a store called feed it forward, a charity called second harvest, and a grocery store called the grocery outlet. All deal with left over food.
wow thats awful that they don't give away all that food but what great finds! my sis and i have recently dumpster dived in SD and found a ton of potatatos and veggies we've been baking all kinds of foraged creations all week :)
Has anybody here seen "Super Size Me''' by Morgan Spurlock and saw what happened to him from eating at McDonalds for 30 days? Anybody? This dumpster diving food is way healthier than anything from any McDonalds, and because a food item has reached it's expiry date does not render that food inedible, but McD, Burger King, Wendy's, Popeyes Chicken, etc will kill you or at least be the cause of your health declining if that was all you ate. Rob is getting organic food out of dumpster and he doesn't look nearly as bad as Morgan Spurlock did after after eating at McD for 30 days. So, you all may want to rethink the notion that dumpster food is bad, which it would be if it was doused bleach. But lots of people give their children McD's for dinner, now that makes me want to puke...go figure.
Hi Rob good day from Philippines and i love watching your video funny sometimes and its cool ,hope you can also give some homeless to share what you've got on the dumpster.God bless.
We new a person who would go every wknd and collect food from stores like trader Joe's and distribute the goods to neighborhood, friends and family. I had so many frozen german bread in the freezer that would last for weeks. And the rest was enough for the whole week. It was a blessing as a single mom and I was able to save a lot at that time. Unfortunately, he died few years later and no one else was interested of doing it.
It’s surprising how it’s thrown out just how they bought it. It wouldn’t be possible in Japan, where I live because you would have to sort out all the trash before
I can't for the dear life of me understand WHY food stores don't just hand out surplus food !!! To food banks or local people who just collect from the dumpsters anyway. Reduced prices are well and good, but if you're flat broke, they're no help ! 💖
Thanks for the great video. Well, thats another example of the thousands, if not millions, that underline that, the Issues concerning of feeding the world is the Distribution and not the need for increasing the production. As humanity, we have reached already the levels of production that we can feed All people on Earth right here, right now. The problematic and anethical denial of a new "political establishment" that does not hesitate to take decisions of flourishing numbers and not local communities, is the fact. We do not need to increase the food production, we need to distribute it. My deepest of Respect to Rob G.
You are my new hero.... i don't dive for food but we collect so many awesome things.. we made a 12 minute video of all the stuff we found in our first year called Canniversary on our youtube channel Canning with Cathy
In Holland it is the same... so much food got wasted. A lot of shops have their dumpsters behind closed doors, or behind a fence. I don't understand why they don't just give it away
All that food waste! I'm surprised it was so easy to haul all that food! You'd think they'd have the dumpster locked up or behind an enclosure? Mostly they are in the uk,I know folk near cities have more opportunities to dumpster dive,such a waste of food it's disgusting.
Some dumpsters are locked or in locked enclosures. Some places have trash compactors as well that you can't get into. But there is absolutely no shortage of dumpsters that are open in America. Right now I am cycling 1,300 miles eating only food from grocery store dumpsters and I have been well fed every day. The waste is disgusting and that's why I'm bringing attention to it.
come to Woodbridge VA!!! I would love to know where to look here, places Ive been all have compactors. I think what you are doing is awesome! Keep up the good work!
Possible to get the local governor's helps for incorporating F&B retailers to contribute or channel all the nearly or newly expired food to the community or association to avoid unnecessary waste become a drastic trash..and wondering what is the wastage ratio from F&B retail(s) aside from household waste
I think this idea is actually really good. For people who live on a tight budget or someone like him above, it's really helpful. Plus, it's like -5 pounds to the 3 billion pounds right?
Rock on dude, some places aren't allowed to donate. While others, I believe just don't want give (crazy as that may seem). We really should figure it out.
9 лет назад
Rob i agree to almost everything you said in this video but it is arrogant to say America is the greatest country in the World . And exactly this is way many people don't like the U.S. Specially in Central and South America because of this superior thinking .
hey rob... I love your channel and I've subscribed your channel please make more one of your amazing videos that inspires me.. you encourage me to eat trash.. but hey im not gonna tho eats actually delicious
I used to do this when I was 8 years old, memorable finds were an old soviet navy uniform, blow up doll and treasure troves of pornography which at the time was used as a form of currency with other kids in my apartment complex, wasn't looking for food at that age lol
It is incredible what you find dumpster diving! We fed at least 3 cities of house less populations with the food we found dumpster diving during our travels. Yup, there are many solutions out there.
I don't know if I would actually go dumpster diving for food. I am fine with humbling myself before a church congregation to ask for help. There's an official USA website too that will list the areas giving food based on. Your zip code
Food Safe has become out of control in Canada. No church lunches, breakfasts, soup and sandwiches to the poor and homeless? To feed the Income Challenged folks? Really? Why do we think the homeless go hungry? ALL the stories I've heard , about bad food,have been from factories that produce food. Recalls? Mine never has been. I can. Meat, any sort of veggies seafood, and I would gift or eat any of my own. And I understand how to can properly.
In Sweden most shops etc lock these containers so you cannot get anything from them. Even if they are not locked it is a criminal offence in Sweden to take anything from a container. So far I have read of 5 people in various parts of Sweden who were arrested by the police for dumpster-diving. You are allowed to take things from a public trash bin or from your recycling room but not from a private one or from any private property. For example the local misfits set fire to an empty daycare centre. The police cordoned the area off. There was a perfectly good hot-compost there. If anyone took it then it would have been theft. The cordon was not lifted till the whole area was empty. Nevertheless young people are dumpster diving more and more. I find it very bad that food which could be used to feed the poor is thrown away. People here throw away their unopened food about 3 days before expiry date. because they think it must be too old to eat. The trouble is young dumpster-divers leave a mess as they have not been brought up to be responsible. If they made sure to make things tidy after taking what they want dumpster-diving might not be frowned upon. Our recycling room was almost closed due to people rooting around and spreading what they did not want all over the floor. I am all for using things people no longer need. It even reduces the cost of disposal. But I strongly disapprove of divers not thinking that the mess they leave means trouble for the owners of the dumpster or recyclimg room and even that the recycling room will be closed.
with luxuries of all kind ,people are getting sick and socially isolated and rude and shitty ... seriously... its like the food have no value to them..
people do not have $$$.if you could see how some people live,you'd croak. many people don't even have a kitchen, or normal refrigerator, they live on rice and spam. Stores order lot of product, but they don't sell all of it, so it gets dumped. if they cut supply, they run the risk of not having enough. the solution is for Americans to have more purchase power, and design a blueprint for taking near expired foods off the shelves to donate to shelters.
Why were you in the dumpster? I know that you are trying to get some clothes and food, but, you don't have to climb out if the dumpster. Do you take showers?
What you called a distribution problem is actually Government regulation. But many will say Government is the answer. Restaurants and stores use to be able to donate food like that to food banks and churches who would then feed the vulnerable in society, but the Government, and some lawyers, said oh no. See they can't get money from that in the form of taxes.
+maximus78028 They are protected by The Good Samaritan Food Act and not a single store has ever been sued. The government is actually on the side of donation. here's more info ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-EaCpsxk0PQQ.html
Yes, my point/question is why the law was enacted in 1996? I understand that the law is in place now, which is good. But the law was put in place to protect companies and organizations from liability (law suits). Was their actually a person suing donators of food? Additionally Where is the disconnect between a business throwing food out and say a homeless shelter getting that food? You video is good and makes some great point, I am not knocking it.
Is this legal in the US? In the UK it's against the law. A few years back a group of top chefs made a series on tv all about food made from produce thrown away or apples that were narly and eggs that were too small to sell. At the end of it they invited all the CEO's of the tops food stores to dinner and told them after it was made out of food from their bins and asked what could be done about it. It's disgraceful how much is thrown. I live in Canada and regularly look on the reduction shelf for veg, unfortunately most of it died several days before and would be no good to use for anything other than pet food it's so squishy. It makes no sense what so ever.
I didn't think there had actually been any successful convictions? There's no specific law as far as I know, and shops don't generally care unless you break into a locked area.
Second here. 99% of local ordinances in the US contain no mention of DD. I believe it's part of American mentality ( even among lawmakers) to just let everybody mind their own business, as long as their actions do not do any harm to others.
I have been in about 800 dumpsters across America now and have had employees come out maybe 50 times. I always make friends with them, or at the very worst they ask me to leave and I do. The key is to always be courteous and respectful. If you don't want to be found in the dumpster then go at night after the store is closed and the employees have gone home. I go at all times of the day though because I like to talk to the employees and learn their thoughts on the wastefulness.
They probably threw it out because it was in an unsellable condition, I suppose it is possible that it was something that was taking up space and was not selling so they marked it off as loss so they could take a tax write off for it, I don't know. Actually some stuff that is out of date is still good but you should be very careful. I never have dumpster dived for food just aluminum cans and maybe something that could be redone/fixed up and sold.