Free Food
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Free Food
On this topic, we can take a pointer from one of the most incompetent examples of capitalism - the airline industry. In a 2006 pamphlet distributed to its laid-off employees, Northwest Airlines advised its newly impoverished former workers to strongly consider rifling through trash for suitable food. This was only a part of Northwest's effort to get out of bankruptcy by laying off workers, slashing wages and burning benefits. A great example of how corporate America doesn't care a bit about the people of America in its quest for an immensely profitable survival.
But a valuable lesson in perspective. It's always good to know where you stand.
America is the most wasteful nation in the world, in addition to consuming the most per person in the world. We're not only the fattest people around, but we also dispose of the most food. Since we're physically unable to perform the more fair tactic of actually cutting the fat from the bones of the CorpGov rich masters, we can at least benefit from their waste. Restaurants and grocery stores commonly throw out tons of food each day, most of it still edible.
Use your head when choosing food, make a calculation with every piece of food you pick up about its price, nutrient, and energy value ratios. Many American packaged foods lose in all but junk energy. The truly hungry must be careful to get enough calories and basic nutrients every day. Fast food and super-processed food full of preservatives are cheap but also nutritionally disastrous. Unlike any nation that has come before, many of our poor are the most obese.
But the absolute poorest in our nation go hungry. Until you have really experienced several days without food or only a few scraps you can't really understand the what that means. First, you feel faint and weak. If it is winter you feel cold no matter how much clothing or bedding you pile on. As you go longer, you feel an ache below your heart. You fantasize about food and how to get some, where you can steal anything to stop the pain. Hours pass and it feels like your soul is being cut with knives, you walk the streets or sit on a bench seeing fat well dressed people and hate them for the rich tasty food you know they have in their large warm houses. You decide to shoplift some food but your body and mind, both hunger-slowed, react slowly. Employees suspicious of your poor appearance and pained expression have an easy time catching you in the act, chasing, and grinding your face into the pavement after you were too weak to make an escape. The pigs cuff you, take you out back, knock you around, and let you go, not even a night in jail and a warm meal for you.
We may not have a right to food in America, but we have a right to live, and it's important that you keep living in mind before you go hungry so that you're prepared if you do run short.
Other Tips
Free Drinks
Get your hands on a plastic cup from a gas station or fast-food restaurant. Swipe 'em from tables, ask for a cup of water, or surreptitiously peruse the trash bin. This guarantees you free drinks there for as long as you have the cup. If you're worried about germs, when you fill up your stolen cup, "accidentally" drop the cup, and ask for another one. Don't forget to clean up the mess.
Free Meals
Often, organizations (especially religious clubs) at high schools, colleges, and community centers provide free breakfasts and snacks. In some major cities, there are a few Krishna religious groups that often give out a free vegetarian meal if you sit in for a seminar (Fair warning: The food they serve can be VERY spicy!). Another route to consider is finding out if there's a FoodNotBombs group local to your area: they have huge meal servings geared towards the homeless at least once a month. Be advised the food is vegan to accommodate just about everybody, and so the quality can vary wildly: some groups have good resources for ingredients and skilled cooks that can make stuff that tastes great, while others aren't quite as lucky and/or good.
Hotel Grazing
Do not forget the wondrous resource that is your local hotel. Many hotels offer complimentary breakfasts, a fact which you can use to your advantage. You should (of course) make sure that they don't check that you have a reservation (not to worry... most don't.) Once you've established that you may want to use a bit of social engineering to make sure that you can enjoy a hearty breakfast. First, like any good revolutionary, you should have your backpack/messenger bag -- go ahead and stash an extra shirt in it. Walk into the hotel, looking like you're coming in from a long night on the town (hint: it helps if you come in at around 6AM or so) and go towards your "room" (i.e. in the direction of the rooms. Now, find a laundry room, exercise room, or some other place that has both water and privacy. Change into the fresh shirt, and make use of the water to wet your hair/wash your face -- basically, make it look like you went back to your room for a quick shower and change of clothes. Stash the bag somewhere you can retrieve it later (safest option) or take it to breakfast with you (slightly riskier, but you can use it to sneak some food out.) Now wander on down to breakfast and eat your fill. Once you've chowed down, you shouldn't hang around more than a couple minutes... but don't look overly rushed. Note: dressing nicely will make this much easier to pull off.
Free Pizza
Pizza places are heaven for any revolutionary looking for a Friday night treat. Many times, the only effort needed to get your free pizza is check their dumpster. Most of the time there are a few pizzas employees didn't want. Unfortunately most times I've checked it's always a meat lover pizza, but that can be fixed by peeling it off. One way to obtain a fresh, baked pizza the way you like it is to call in about 30 minutes before the place closes (*67) and say you would like to pick up a pizza (make it a large order to ensure you do get a meal) and you swear you could make it there before they close. Then wait till they close, and go back and get your fresh baked pizza out of the dumpster. You may have to dig through a bag to get it (follow your nose), but it's seemingly always in a box still warm. Be sure to check for employees before you go, or you may have to rely on quick legs.
Free Pizza 2
Call your local Pizza Hut, or other giant pizza chain, and tell them that you bought a pizza last night and it was undercooked, overcooked, the wrong kind, whatever. Tell them it was close to closing so you couldn't bring it back in that night, and you were hungry so you ate it anyway, but you are very dissatisfied and would like another one. If they ask questions just become upset and they will give you your free pizza just to get off their case. Little Cesaers is especially easy because they have their pepperoni pizzas ready and they have no way of tracking who they gave what to and when.
Free Pizza 3
An alternative for those who are squeamish about dumpsters - just ask. Often times, employees will give you pizzas that they are about to throw out. Obviously this works best soon before closing.
Free Fast Food
Desperate times call for desperate measures, and sometimes you're going to have to resort to fast food. Most Chinese food places have free fortune cookies, grab a handful. If you bring your food back to the counter and say you got the wrong kind of burger, most places let you keep the burger and give you a new one to boot. Or tell them you got shorted at the drive through. A couple of burgers or some fries mean nothing to them if it means you won't complain to corporate.
Movie Theaters
Wait outside your local movie theater on a Friday night and ask people leaving for their ticket stub. This will get you in. Most movie theaters have free refills on popcorn or soft drinks if only on the largest size. Walk into a theater that is just letting out, or peek into the garbage cans and grab the largest bucket of popcorn and the largest cup. Dump out the contents and proceed to the food vendor. This works particularly well at the new megaplexes.
Free Food For Your Church
Here's a short quick idea that has worked before to get some free food and a good amount of it. Go around to the local food stores and bakeries and pose as a minister of a church asking for donations to your food bank. This might require talking to some managers but if you find one that has a cross on, it just might work, because they're usually the holy roller types that will help. Also it doesn't hurt to have a few business cards printed up to assist you with this stating that you're the minister of such and such church. Also it helps if you're rather clean cut since most ministers are and this lends more credibility to your claims. Also a shirt and tie helps in this undertaking. Also you might consider contacting the Mormons with their local RELIEF SOCIETY groups. These people function as the welfare for Mormons and give their members free food. You could contact them to see where and how in your area they are getting food for their food banks. Then tell them that you also are trying to start a food bank for your church. While they might try to convince you to join them a little bit, they are usually more than helpful because they will see you as someone who is trying to be like them in carrying out charitable work. Just an idea that you might be able to put to good use for some free grub.
Dumpster Diving
One of the best ways to get free food is to take a look into your local phone book or tour the neighborhood on your bike and see what grocery stores, restaurants, and food services are nearby, then just check their dumpsters when there is nobody outside. Some things to watch for are No Trespassing signs, you need to try not to be seen and to leave if asked. A no trespassing sign or a demand by an employee to leave usually means that you do not have permission to dive there, and they might be able to cause trouble with the cops, however if you are never asked to leave you should be fine. It may take a few days at first to learn when the trash pick-up day is and what time fresh food is taken out, keep checking back. Lastly don't ruin a good dumpster for everyone by throwing trash everywhere while rooting around, clean up and the manager will have no reason to lock the dumpster.
Food Not Bombs
You may also want to check and see if you have a local chapter of Food Not Bombs (a free vegetarian public feeding). Food Not Bombs serves vegetarian food in public places to anyone who wants to eat. Anyone who wants to help cook is welcome to do so. Anyone who wants to serve (the food) may serve. Food Not Bombs is a non-hierarchy group.
External Links to Free Food Resources
These are proposed solutions that will work in today's world. A description is listed after each URL.
How To Save On Food -
This site contains tons of tricks for getting free food. Some are best suited to those with access to stoves and kitchens.
Food Bank Locator & Soup Kitchens USA - Find a soup kitchen near you.
[1]-Food Not Bombs Website
[2]-Norfolk & VA Beach Dumpster Diving Group
[3]-Dumpster Diving FAQ
