Craigslist – A Way to Get Free Food and Make Friends

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, freeganism isn’t exclusively dumpster diving. There are many ways you can rescue food from going to waste (I strongly encourage checking out these resources). The more you freegan, the more you find systems and consistent sources of food. It’s like anything else: practice makes perfect. The more you freegan, the more you freakin’ get it!!

Craigslist is one of those great sources to find free food. It’s also a great way to meet some cool people. The Craigslist free section has been good to me. A few weeks ago, I saw this post and biked home with this massive haul of food:

The food came from an awesome freegan who is all about making the world a better place.

His name is Josh Victor. He’s a 30-year-old musician and works as a handyman and part-time recreation club manager. To supplement his income, he regularly salvages furniture from alleyways to restore and sell. We got into a long conversation and what he said was pretty powerful:

“Even though I turn a profit, this hobby has really opened my eyes to the thoughtlessness with which people consume and discard. I grew up in Deerfield, a northern suburb of Chicago, and now live in Logan Square. Over the years I have become increasingly aware of my (unearned) privilege and obligation to give back to those less fortunate in my community. My interest in food redistribution came from managing the food donations at my church in the suburbs, which has been both a rewarding and frustrating experience. It has also led me to connect with the freegan community, who share many of my values around food waste and resource management.”

Josh gets so much food from his church that he routinely goes out of his way to donate more food to another community partner. He’ll make additional stops at other homeless communities. Even after that, he still has extra food, which he graciously posts on Craigslist. He hardly ever shops for groceries. It’s downright impressive.

I’ve gotten food from Josh a few times now. Most recently, his trunk was so full of salvaged food, that five clones of me wouldn’t have been able to get through it all. I wanted to take as much as I could to have some nice meals but also because it was insane how much food was still going to go to waste. Josh and I both felt a certain sadness/anxiety about trying to get through all of the food. Sadly, I feel this all the time.

Nevertheless, Josh has hooked me up multiple times. He texts me when he has a big haul because he knows I’ll get it. We talked about how often we’ll have free food and text friends to get some food, but they won’t come, typically because it’s a slight inconvenience. Habits are hard to change. 

The thing is, it’s not much different from grocery shopping. I biked 20 minutes to his place, picked up some food and chatted, and biked 20 minutes home. I view it like this, less than an hour commitment for at least a week’s worth of food – and I didn’t pay anything for it. It was an adventure and I’ve made a new friend. I’d argue it’s quicker and less stressful than grocery shopping too.

It was pretty cool to meet Josh. I haven’t met many people on the same level of freeganism. We connect on a deeper level and are blown away at the scale of the problem, as well as how easy it seems to fix. I admire how much Josh gives back to the community, and his humility is equally impressive. Societally, we admire celebrities that have a lot of money and buying “fancy” things we don’t need. It’s people like Josh we should admire.

So, my fellow freegans, I encourage you to keep your eye on that Craigslist free section, because you’ll probably get some free stuff and meet some cool people.

-Freddy

P.S. Josh wants to start an organization devoted to solving this issue in the future. If you want to get in touch with him you can email him at MovingThatMattersChicago@gmail.com or follow him on Instagram @squish58.

P.S.S. 10 minutes after I got home and put away this food, my friend sent me the Craigslist post. I responded instantly with a picture of the food I had just gotten. She was blown away. For me, it was just another day, another haul.