Occupy Eugene Run

Checked out several new places last night, but nothing promising. The use of trash compactors with chutes that come from the inside is so pervasive that most places it becomes impossible to get into the dumpsters. But I did do a run to donate to the Occupy Eugene encampment that started Saturday night. There is a lot of infrastructure there, and it is all very well organized, with two general assemblies a day. I need to get the food down there so this is a quick, and probably incomplete list of last night's scavenging:

Lots of bananas
Pounds of apples
Lots of bell peppers (red, green, orange)
A couple of poblano peppers
Several cucumbers
Lots of carrots
Couple of pounds of celery
Half a head of cabbage
Quite a few bunches of green onions
A few yellow onions
A couple of plantains
Potatoes
Kale
Brocolli
Limes
Lemons
Radishes
Something called wheat rings from the Asian food market
A portobello mushroom

There's probably more but I got to deliver the stuff.

Thursday, October 6

P and I did a little extra this week, taking everything we felt we could carry. Both of us made our way up to Occupy Portland over the weekend and were able to donate about 60 or 70 pounds of food on Friday night. We also did our usual donation to Food not Bombs Eugene on Friday, which was about 30-40 pounds. Even though we spent some extra time and energy on Thursday night, we still only spent about an hour and a half out, but did we get us a lot of food. I didn't have time to catalog it all, so I'll see what I can remember and what I can see from the pics.

Lots and Lots of melons (cantaloupe, watermelon, honeydew, some I'm sure I didn't know)
Pre-packaged cantaloupe
Rutabagas
Chard
Beets
Yams
Pounds of potatoes
Romaine Lettuce
Half a head of iceberg lettuce
Broccoli
Lemons
Oranges
Apples
Nectarines
A plum
Bananas
Carrots
Cucumbers
Pomegranates (a first for us)
A can of black beans
A container of Activia Yogurt
Onions
Pounds and Pounds of tomatoes
Ginger
Garlic
An oyster mushroom
One stalk from a king trumpet mushroom
Couple of button mushrooms
Peppers of all shapes and colors
Loaves of bread and dinner rolls (not as much as we had hoped, but it was something)



Here's a photo of what we donated to FnB:

Thursday, September 29

We were only out for about an hour but much like two weeks ago, got a lot of and a large variety food. We were able to get a bag out of a local high end grocery store's dumpster that had quite a few dry goods that are hard to come by most times. Otherwise once again it was a lots of bread, fruits and vegetables. Here's the take:

Lemons
Oranges (about 20 pounds worth)
Mangos
Tomatoes (slicers, cherry and heirloom)
Apples
Nectarines
A peach
A plum
An onion
Cucumbers
Zucchini
Yellow squash
Bananas
Beets
Yams
A potato
Strawberries
Carrots
A butternut squash
Bell Peppers (Green, Red, Yellow and Orange)
Several bunches of Bok Choy
Black Figs
Avocados
Celery
Large box of brocolli
Bag of Penne
Bag of Orzo
Quart of Fat Free Milk
Container of Decaf Coffee
Package of White Bean Hummus
Package of Sweet Potato
Gnocchi
Loaf of Ezekiel Bread
Package of tortillas
Flowers
Baguettes
Loaves of various kinds of bread
Dinner rolls
Crescents


Once again, a large majority of this food goes to Food not Bombs here in Eugene.

Thursday September 15th

Thursdays might just be the day to go. We were out for about 2 hours, a good chunk of which we wasted walking around a big box store. Still, it was the best night we've had up to this point. The produce was all in beautiful shape. We got too much to catalog completely, so here's general rundown of what we got:

Baguettes
Bread loaves
Individual rolls
Crimini, Oyster and button mushrooms
Tomatoes (lots)
Red, Green, Yellow and Orange bell peppers
Poblano Peppers
Bunches of spinach
Italian Parsley
Green Beans
Red Cabbage
Cantaloupe and Canary Melon
Eggplants
Potatoes
Sweet potatoes and Yams
Oranges
Limes
Plums
Grapefruit
Nectarines
Pears
Apples
Rhubarb
Celery
Cilantro
Half box of Rigatoni
Avocado
Bags and Bags of Grapes

Updated with some things I forgot:
Zucchini
Yellow Squash
Carrots
Cucumbers
Broccoli

Almost all of this will go to Food Not Bombs today. If you're in Eugene, they serve every Friday at 2pm, at various locations. Here's their Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/index.php?eu=WjPDEphh6FVVP9j6iJNXEQ#!/groups/46915614262/

Free Popcorn at Regal Cinemas

Lately, whenever we go to Regal cinemas (which isn't very often) we've been able to get free popcorn and sodas. They have a deal where both a large popcorn and a large soda come with free refills. If you look in one of the many trashcans you can almost always find an empty large popcorn and large soda container. Just take it up to the counter, tell them you want a free refill, and they give it to you no questions asked. Last night we went to see My Idiot Brother, got there a few minutes early, looked in all the trashcans in the hall, which were all empty, but then I realized the theater showing Harry Potter was the way to go, which it was. I found an empty popcorn container and what I thought was a large soda cup. It turns out what I thought was a large soda was actually a medium. Still got the free popcorn though. Considering the prices they gouge us with, to pay full price for both would run you about $14.

Sunday, September 4th

Hitting up all the same spots. It's lucrative, but looking for a new challenge. Wondering how to dumpster beer and wine. P and I went out again. It was a decent haul. Lots of packages of raspberries that were mostly moldy, but was able to salvage about four or five pounds worth.

Three packages Sun-dried tomatoes
One loaf of bread
Two watermelons
Six apples
One Orange
One Cantaloupe
Two cucumbers
A partial mango
three onions
Three peaches
One nectarine
Partial mango
four carrots
Green and purple seedless grapes
Cherry tomatoes
Five green bell peppers
Seven potatoes (various varieties)
Blueberries
Raspberries
Head of broccoli
One avocado
Jar of roasted tomato salsa
Four boxes of plain soy milk

September 1, 2011

After having been gone for the most of the last month and a half, it was time to get back to it. P and I went out for about an hour and a half, hitting up the same old spots and trying some new ones. It was a good night, if not a great one.

Six loaves of bread
One bag of dinner rolls
Two bags of crescent rolls
One bunch of bananas
Three red peppers
Bag of kale
One head of broccoli
One head of garlic
Four cucumbers
Five zucchini
Celery
Large bowl's worth of tomatoes
Seven white onions
Two cantaloupe
One grapefruit
One Orange
Two peaches
One pluot
Six apples
One potato
Nine avocados
One Mango

Took a big box of veggies, fruit, bread and sweet treats to Food Not Bombs for their Friday serving.

June 30th

P and I went out at about 10:30, exploring the compost dumpsters that several stores around town use. This tends to be where they throw a fair amount of produce away. We were out for about two hours, and got boxes of goods, as well as about a dozen loaves of bread. I took about 40 pounds of food to Food not Bombs on Friday morning. There was too much to catalog, so I'll just give a general rundown of what we got:

Bell Peppers
Yellow squash
Avocados
Tomatoes
Onions
Broccoli
Honey Dew
Cantaloupe
A Pear
Potatoes
Beets
Parsnips
Rutabagas
Cabbage
Jalapenos
Banana Pepper
Habanero Pepper
Carrots
Green Beans
Rhubarb
Green Grapes
Purple Grapes
Lemon
Strawberries (went bad before we could eat them, damn)
Dinosaur Kale
Nectarines
Apples
Grapefruit
Pear
Several types of bread

Portland, Saturday June 20th

After exiting a movie I was walking by a grocery store and decided to see if their dumpster was easily accessible. To my surprise their compost dumpster was open and easy to get to. I didn't dig around too much but got two cantaloupes. On my way home from there I decided to stop at the Portland branch of my preferred spot in Eugene. Again their compost dumpster was unlocked and easily accessible. I don't know why Portland would be so much more forgiving than Eugene on this but from my one experience it does seem to be the case. Here's what I got:

Two Cantaloupe
One Banana
One Carrot
One Cucumber
A jar of mango butter
Ten brown eggs
One Eggplant
Two Oranges
Seven Apricots
Two big bunches of basil
Two packages of prosciutto (I'd usually leave that since I don't eat meat, but I was staying with a friend who does so I left it with her)
Three bunches of flowers (the orange ones for my baby)

Vegetable Broth and French Onion Soup

Grades were due yesterday, which means the quarter is over (mostly). We had a bunch of marginal vegetables sitting around the kitchen and in the fridge, so I decided to make a couple of batches of vegetable broth. Using potatoes, carrots, yellow bell peppers, rutabagas, broccoli, yellow and purple onions, scallions, (all dumpstered) some rosemary from a neighbors garden, salt and thyme, I ended up with a couple of gallons worth of broth. We also had a few more yellow onions sitting around so I used the broth and the yellow onions to make a vegan french onion soup, topped off by some dumpstered bread. Accompanying a salad made from completely dumpstered produce (red leaf lettuce, carrots, radishes) and toasted ciabatta bread (dumpstered) it was a fantastic meal.

Tuesday, June 14th

E and I went out for about two hours, hitting up seven different places. It seems to be getting significantly more difficult, even in just the last few weeks. More dumpsters are locked, people are working later, which all adds to the stress (and excitement) of it. Even so it wasn't a bad night.

A dozen white onions
7 apples (various varieties)
5 limes
1 bunch of radishes
1 jalapeno
1 tomatilla
1 bunch of kale
4 coconuts
1 ear of corn
7 tomatoes
1 stalk of rhubarb
1 package of pearl onions
8 button mushrooms
1 package of meunster cheese
box full of breads, cookies, buns, danishes

June 7th

They started locking my favorite dumpster, which I learned last night. I watched to see if they would unlock the dumpster prior to Sanipac showing up, but no luck. Time to develop a new plan. Stopped at a couple of new dumpsters but to little avail. Not a great night, but not a complete bust.

five yellow onions
four bunches of carrots
four bunches of green onions
bag full of kale
two zucchini
two yukon gold potatoes
a portobello mushroom
one small group of oyster mushrooms
one apple
three yellow bell peppers
two bunches of cilantro
one head of red leaf lettuce
one poblano pepper
three bunches of bananas
one poppy seed bagel
one avocado
one package of watermelon
one bunch of fennel
two bunches of bok choy

Thursday Jun 2nd

Went out on Tuesday night. Sanipac guy beat me to the best dumpster by 5 minutes. I forgot my light so I ended up feeling around in trash bags full of produce. Only ended up with a dozen or so potatoes and a lemon. On Thursday, after the bar, stopped by one dumpster and got several baguettes and a couple of ciabatta loaves. Then I went out by myself. It wasn't a great night but lots of onions for some reason. I donated another 20 pounds or so of food to Food Not Bombs on Friday.

Here was Thursday's take:

14 red and white onions
Two boxes of orange cherry tomatoes
A package of a green called Mache
Two lemons
One Lime
Three heads of red leaf lettuce
One Carrot
One 8oz Odwalla smoothie
Two packages of vanilla and chocolate cupcakes (which weren't very good)

Food not Bombs

This will make the second week I've donated food we've "urban farmed" to Food not Bombs. This week I'm donating about 20 pounds of food, including potatoes, an onion, rutabagas, beets, zucchini, lettuce, broccoli, three loaves of bread, and sandwich rolls. Here's a documentary about Food not Bombs in Eugene.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jZKjBVXGJI

Sunday, May 22

Two of us went on a late night Sunday run. We hit the jackpot at one place, where as soon as we opened the dumpster, there were two dozen eggs sitting right on top. One egg in each dozen had a small crack. The dumpster was overflowing (literally) with produce. We were asked to leave before we could get through most of the bags. We decided to come back later in the evening, but the Sanipac guy beat us by just a few minutes. Lesson learned: If you think you have bags of good stuff, throw it in the car/truck and sort it out later, rather than losing precious time slowly sorting through bags. Here was the haul:

2 dozen eggs (plus one)
20# bag of russet potatoes
7 rutabagas
7 lemons
1 bag of butter lettuce
apple
8 bunches of beets
1 bag of brocolli
1 bag of granola
10 baguettes
5 sandwich rolls
1 box of campari tomatoes
17 roma tomatoes
8 limes
7 oranges (various)
4 zuchinnis
2 onions
1 carrot
1 bag of green beans
1 head of lettuce
1 red potato
6 heads of broccoli

Tuesday, May 17th

Four of us went out last night. Left the house at 11pm, and was back home by 12:30. Uneventful night, but quite the haul

10 heads of Garlic
2 bunches of radishes
2 cantaloupes
2 yellow bell peppers
1 orange bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
3 ears of corn
1 mango
3 kiwis
1 5# bag of carrots + 2 carrots
1 bunch of asparagus + 1 stalk
1 8oz package of button mushrooms
1 package of cheese tortellini
1 package of fusilli
1 bunch of cilantro
1 bunch of kale
2 zuchinnis
1 cuke
10 bags of brussel sprouts
12 oranges
2 potatoes
5 baguettes
5 croissants
1 blueberry muffin
4 rolls (various)
18 apples
1 tub of cherry tomatoes
1 tub of mixed fruit
1 bag of mandarin oranges
2 packages of strawberrys
5 single serving yogurts
1 64oz tub of Nancy's plain yogurt
1 package of goat cheese
1 tub of spinach/sour cream dip
5 eggs
2 bags of celery
4 bananas
1 8oz pack of Irish butter
1 package of swiss cheese
1 package of french cheese
1 bag of jasmine rice
5 tomatoes

Documentary on Dumpster Diving

Here is a trailer for a film called "Dive" that looks to be well done, getting into the social consequences of and ways to resist living in a society built on waste.

http://www.divethefilm.com/trailer.aspx

Sunday, May 16th

I left the house at 11:15pm, hit two places, was back home with all the produce washed and photographed and climbing into bed by 12:30. I got caught by a store employee who just seemed more exasperated than anything else by my presence. The exchange went something like:

Him: Dude, what are you doing!?
Me: Getting food that you throw away.
Him: You can't be here, this isn't your property.
Me: OK.

I was going to go back to it when he left, but unfortunately he went and turned the trash compacter on. On to the next place then.

Here's what I got:
1 bag of key limes
A ziploc bag full of kale
11 tomatoes
1 yam
1 poblano chile
1 habanero chile
1 zuchinni
1 bunch of upland cress
1 bunch of radishes
14 brussell sprouts
1 cantelope
5 bananas
2 1 3/4 pound bags of honey gold potatoes
1 head of garlic
4 half pineapples
8 apples
2 pears
Large bag of sunflower seeds