Interview with a Dumpster Diver

What is a Dumpster Diver?

A Dumpster diver is a person who goes to dumpsters of shops and fishes out products or food in the hope of finding something useful. Many Supermarkets throw away food which is still edible and are not stale. Often they throw it away because they think nobody would buy it or because it reached the expiration date. Generally the food which has reached the expiration date, is still edible.

What are your reasons for dumpster diving?

Main reason: Because I am at odds with the current economic system

Because I am very critical of the overabundance of food in our society and I want to resist this trend.

I want to set my own personal signal by not supporting this consumeristic culture, i.e. by not being part of it.

My reason is not financial profit as one would expect. It's a positive side effect, but it is not my main motivation.

Would you encourage other people to do this? Why?

No, because it doesn't go down well with people.

But if somebody is interested, and asks me for advice, I gladly share my experience. Otherwise I keep it to myself, and do not lecture other people.

But I recommend it warmly to all those who truly understand my reasons of doing this, and who are convinced and who want to do it themselves.

For how long have you been doing this?

Since about 3 years

Is there any particular experience you want to share with us?

• Police are often there, but remain passive and mainly observe us. The police have seen us quite a few times, but they never approached us.However the rumour among Dumpster divers has it, that people were caught by the police recently.

• By-passers often have little understanding and call the police.

• Shops often change their lock, once they know that people go dumpstering at their dumpsters, they install cameras and put up prohibition signs.

• There is quite a big dumpster diver community in Vienna (one always runs into divers;)

Who or what inspired you?

Who: First experience with a friend

What: I want to go off the beaten track. My point of view is marked by social criticism. Set a passive sign against the food industry -> "go off the beaten track".

How did you start? Were you ever afraid to be caught?

At an 'open Dumpster spot', basically without a storage cage, where a person can enter without a key. On top of that, many stories of experienced Dumpster divers have aroused my interest.

Yes. By-passers often observe us for a sometime. Some whip out their cell phone. The police arrive within a few minutes. Because I don't want to risk anything, I am very careful and I am gone before the police arrive.

What do you think of these big supermarkets? What do you think of the waste they produce?

Nowadays supermarkets are expected to have fresh products. If they cannot live up to that, it means a massive loss of prestige for them.

Honestly, in today's west European economic climate supermarkets have only limited possibilities to avoid food waste.

The supermarkets are not to be blamed for the over production of food, but it's the economy, that is chasing after ever higher growth rates. Thus it produces unreasonably excessive amounts of food. This means I am critical of today's affluence.

We have to come to grips with this problem at a meta-level, i.e. at European policy level instead of targeting particular supermarkets that are also victims of the economic system.

What is the quality of the food you collect?

One only takes the products that conform to the personal hygiene standards. The basic rule is to take only packaged food or fruits and vegetables with skin, which have to be rinsed well. The quality of fruits and vegetables like bananas, apples, oranges, potatoes, bread, salad, are often the same as in supermarkets.

But sometimes there is dirt or even mold on the products, such as in carrot packaging, strawberries or raspberries. But the spoiled things can be sorted out thoroughly at home.

Could you estimate how much is thrown away?

Hard to estimate. I once heard, that the bread dumped in Vienna every day could supply a town, such as Graz (second largest city in Austria), on a daily basis.

According to my experience, an average supermarket in Vienna fills around two dumpster with food waste every day.

Do you know what happens with the food that is thrown away?

Not really. But I assume, that it end up in the incinerators as biomass.

Small amounts of food waste are sold in social markets called "SOMA" within Austria. But these amounts are barely worth mentioning.

Do you know foodsharing.de? What do you think of it?

Yes. Good concept. But for me it isn't so interesting, because I'd rather get involved myself. Dumpster diving gives one a satisfactory and good feeling.;)