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Food Waste Activism in Australia

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Food Resistance Movements

Abstract

Chapter 2 explores the freegan subculture in Australian cities—people who choose to consume food that would otherwise go to waste to protest overconsumption and hunger in the west. Two freegan case studies are discussed: members of Food Not Bombs, an activist community kitchen and free meal programme; and the practice of dumpster diving, where people choose to eat garbage from rubbish bins to protest waste. Through their actions, freegans challenge traditional assumptions of consumption, health, justice and the use of space. The chapter contextualises freegans’ actions in the global food waste movement. It analyses the ethics of alternative consumption through their preferred foraging sites and specific diets. It also discusses associated freegan subcultures and activities, and how freegans construct an oppositional, yet collective, identity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Environment and Sustainability , University of Surrey, Guildford, United Kingdom

    Ferne Edwards

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  1. Ferne Edwards
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Correspondence to Ferne Edwards .

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Edwards, F. (2023). Food Waste Activism in Australia. In: Food Resistance Movements. Alternatives and Futures: Cultures, Practices, Activism and Utopias. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-5795-6_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-5795-6_2

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-19-5794-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-19-5795-6

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

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