TRASH OR TREASURE

To combat food waste, out of need or just for fun, some residents of Bellingham, Washington get their food from unexpected places.

Story by Devin Vigor | Photos by Emily Porter

A brief expedition into one of Bellingham, Washington’s dumpsters yields a cornucopia of items — chicken, bacon, havarti cheese, milk, cereal, bell peppers, tomatoes, parsley and more: all unopened and none past the printed expiration date. The initial hesitation of wading through garbage quickly turns to excitement and bewilderment. The dive is like a treasure hunt in which untold riches could be behind every cardboard box and soggy milk carton.

“With dumpsters, it’s like a portal to the universe’s will. Before you open the lid, you have no idea what you’re going to find,” said Bellingham resident and dumpster diving enthusiast Zachary Robertson.

Despite the best efforts of several local organizations, good food is being thrown out every day. The upside is there’s plenty there for the taking — for those who can stomach it. For people that are fed up with the wastefulness that exists in everyday life, the idea of dumpster diving is increasingly appealing. For many divers, scrounging through dumpsters for food is more than just a free meal.

Dumpster divers such as Robertson and Cullen Beckhorn, also known as Futureman, the director of Bellingham’s Alternative Library, view diving as a way to reclaim consumer food products destined for the landfill. In Washington state alone, grocery stores and other commercial organizations threw out almost one metric ton of food in 2016, according to a study by the Washington State Department of Ecology. In the same year, visits to the Bellingham Food Bank rose by 13 percent.

The level of food waste isn’t just a local issue. Robertson said he once biked and hitchhiked through all fifty states, feeding himself almost entirely with meals from dumpsters. Food gets thrown out for a variety of reasons, including food safety regulations, aesthetics and overall demand for the product. The Washington State Retail Food Code, sprawling nearly 140 pages, exists to ensure the food we purchase is safe for consumption. It encourages grocery store employees to err on the side of caution and throw out any food that might be questionable.

Melissa Elkins, the Sustainability Director at the Bellingham Co-Op, said they must throw away a lot of food that isn’t actually bad because they can’t legally sell it. It’s an unfortunate side of the business, she said.

Often, businesses and consumers throw out food when it’s past its expiration date, despite the fact that the date on the label is not determined by law, but rather by the manufacturer.

“Those dates are advisory and not necessarily based on public health,” said Tom Kunesh, Whatcom County Environmental Health Supervisor.

Even though food past the sell-by date is almost always safe for consumption, stores will often throw out food that’s approaching it, according to a 2013 report by the Natural Resource Defense Council, an environmental group.

Combine this with the tendency for stores to throw away food with external imperfections, and you end up with a lot of edible food in the dumpster.

The act of dumpster diving itself is entirely legal in the United States because of California v. Greenwood, a 1988 Supreme Court case. It determined that trash cannot reasonably be considered private property, and is a part of the public domain. Despite this, it isn’t uncommon to experience run-ins with law enforcement. However, when the police see Futureman rifling through the dumpster, they tend to just move on, he said. Grocery store employees are quicker to take issue with the practice.

“Sometimes, grocery store workers see it as a sign of disrespect. I don’t really get that,” Futureman said.

But Elkins said the problem is not with dumpster diving, it’s about liability and safety. A nasty spill could lead to bad publicity or even a lawsuit, so most aren’t likely to welcome divers with open arms.

Potential health issues are also a factor. Kunesh seems amused when asked if there are any risks in eating food found in dumpsters.

“Well… many,” he said.

While it’s true that much of the food that gets tossed is safe to eat, there’s no way for divers to know what’s getting thrown out for legitimate safety reasons, Kunesh explained. Pests and organic waste found in dumpsters can also contaminate food that was safe when it entered. Cases of people in Whatcom County becoming sick directly from eating recovered food are uncommon, Kunesh said. However, such incidents are more likely to impact those who are forced to dumpster dive out of necessity, due to homelessness, rather than divers who have the privilege of seeking out traditional food sources.

“People who don’t have a house often don’t have a way to cook the food,” Robertson said.

Without the ability to cook and kill potentially harmful bacteria, it becomes nearly impossible to ensure safety.

For those who do have access to kitchens, a little food preparation knowledge goes a long way in preventing sickness. In more than a decade of dumpster diving, Robertson said he has avoided foodborne illnesses. For instance, in the wake of a salmonella scare, retailers tossed their stock of walnuts into the trash. After reclaiming them from the dumpster, Robertson simply roasted them to kill off the bacteria and enjoyed them without a problem.

Several programs in Whatcom County focus on preventing food from ever entering the dumpster. Instead, they redistribute it to those in need. The Bellingham Food Bank’s Grocery Rescue partnered with nearly every grocery store in town. Food Bank volunteers make regular visits to pick up whatever food isn’t sold. According to Bellingham Food Bank executive director, Mike Cohen, the program rescues thousands of pounds of food a day, primarily consisting of canned and preserved goods. But, stores aren’t always enthusiastic about the project.

“It’s easier for them to throw it out,” he said. “I think at different levels of management, they may be focused on what’s the most efficient thing they could be doing.”

With more incentive to simply waste the food than go through the process of donating it, stores will continue to do so, even with programs like Grocery Rescue available.

Robertson and other divers are aware of the issues people might take with their practice. Health concerns and a general distaste for collecting food from the garbage keep most far away from the dumpster.

“[People] have certain fears that, rational or not, inform them about food safety and what they’re willing to eat” Robertson said. “I’ve been able to test those fears and find them weightless.”

But, he said, if people were to reexamine their fears and biases they’d find a whole new world available to them.

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