'Don't Waste the Waste': Dumpster Dinners among Garbage Gourmands
Abstract
On a Wednesday night in May 2012, Janet, a 45-year-old high school Spanish teacher, and Jonathan, a 25-year-old self-described anarchist and full-time activist, are washing and cutting courgettes in the kitchen of a cosy apartment in Queens, New York. As they work, they chat amicably about how best to prepare the vegetable stir fry and debate over whether the meal should be vegan. Around them, ten othen people are helping with the preparation. This scene is reminiscent of the classic American potluck, where each participant brings a dish to share or ingredients to prepare with the others, except for one key difference: the night before, all of the food being prepared has been at the bottom of 50-litre dark plastic trash bags, placed on the pavement and destined for the landfill. This meal started where other meals usually end: disposal. (first paragraph)