Freegan run number one

The Bluestocking-affiliated Practical Ethics group took its first official Freegan run this weekend, with five participants, one who claimed to be "just an observer", although we quickly press-ganged him into use as a bag-passer, vegetable-holder, and dumpster-lid-returner. As lovely little Freegans, we returned everything to a tidy state, lowering dumpster lids, redistributing the cardboard boxes on top, and snacking on scones straight out of the bag. Well, ok, straight out of the bin liner.

Our haul amounted to mostly fresh produce from a Sunday market, pretty much all bruised, starting to go off, or otherwise "damaged goods". We liked them perfectly fine, however, and anything that was too far gone even to be reclaimed by hungry hungry hippies went to a separate box for the chooks.

Although we weren't as green as we would have liked (in that we had a car and drove from site to site), it turned out to be essential for the sheer amount of stuff we had, most of which we sorted into cardboard flats also taken from the dumpster. We had all thoughtfully brought lots of those little fruit and veg bags for putting loose rolls and things in, which turned out nicely when we hit the jackpot of scones, chocolate croissants, and walnut scrolls. Also as individual bread bags for the wholemeal loves we found, baked fresh that day.

So after sorting out the bounty, I took my share home and washed it thoroughly in cold water and soap (I actually used dish detergent, with a thorough rinsing to ensure it was all off every veggie), then patted it dry and put it in the fridge for later use -- it was about 11:15 when I got home, and about ten to midnight when I finished washing vegetables.

Today, this is what I made from it (and ingredients I had around the house):

Vegetarian baked risotto, based on this recipe -- I already had the garlic, onions, oil, rice, broccoli and the extra sprinkling of parmesan I added -- the zucchini and tomatos came from freeganism.

Just a light salad: cherry tomatoes and cucumber from the dumpsters, lemon juice from our backyard tree, a splash of balsamic vinegar and salt to taste.

And a lot of other stuff -- a yellow capsicum, a carrot, and a lot of other odds and ends, including the rest of the stewed tomatoes from the risotto -- went into a pot with some water to simmer away into vegetable stock.

I have also been cultivating my own sourdough starter from wholegrain flour and water, and set that out to rise while I cooked all of this -- it's slowly poufing itself into a little round ball right now.

City Farm Visit

Hey everyone!

This past Saturday, a few of us from Practical Ethics met up at City Farm to check out the local food market and talk sustainable eating habits.

We started in the organic farmers’ market and wandered around checking out vendors selling things from organic produce to organic, natural beauty products. Everyone was happy to talk with us as we passed their booth and seemed very friendly and knowledgeable.

The five of us (Sky, Claire, Jacquelyn, Michelle, and me) then went over to the City Farm Café for breakfast. The food was all gorgeous, with vegetarian items galore and most of the food local and organic including the meat options. The owner stopped by a couple of time to check on the food, talk vegan chefs, and discuss the origin of everything we had in front of us. Sidenote: the lovely owner also leaned a bit too close to the heater and almost set her coat on fire.

While we ate, we talked about sustainable food choices. I myself have been both vegetation and vegan, and reverted straight back to Mostly Carnivore as soon as my hippy community was gone as a results of my move from Austin to Houston (Texas). Sky was happy to represent the vegan perspective, and it turns out four of the five of us are strict vegetarians. We discussed the etiquette of refusing or accepting food (“Thank you but no Greek grandmother, I don’t want vegetables cooked in meat drippings…”), how to manage slip-ups (we abandoned that whole idea of slipping up. Each new meal is a new decision), and our own reasons behind making our food choices (ecological impacts? animal rights? cultural surroundings? ). Eating is a complicated decision-making process, taking into consideration everything from production costs through additives and their health implications. It was nice to chat with a positive group of people all thinking about the topic but still living practical, food-rich lives.

Our next meet-up will be next weekend, when we give Freeganism a try. We’ve all heard about it, read about it, thought about it, but most of us haven’t made the quite gutsy move to a Freegun collection run and subsequent cookup. Well we’re going to give it a try this Sunday, 17 July! If you have questions or want to join us, feel free to contact myself, Sky, or Claire for more details. We also have a Practical Ethics facebook group if you want to check us out there!

Cheers! and happy pictures of chickens!

Nancy

Practical Ethics

Hello all,

I'm new to your group, and I'm excited to get involved! Sky, Claire, and I are organizing monthly get togethers for ethical living. As someone who tries to live ethically, it sometimes gets very depressing to learn more about an issue (green travel? buying fairtrade food?) and discover that I've been Doing It All Wrong.

In order to focus on the positive things we can (and do!) do and the practical side of living ethically, we've created the group Practical Ethics to take field trips around the Perth region and encourage a more sustainable lifestyle for everyone who wants to feel nice about the things they're trying to change.

As the first in our Practical Ethics field trips, we're visiting the urban farm City Farm Saturday, 9 July at 9 am, located right behind the Claisebrook train station. We'll visit their mostly organic farmer's market and have a look at their organic growing practices and free range animals, then enjoy some snacks and discussion after. Please join us! If you are interested in coming, we've got a facebook group or you can get in touch with me, Sky, or Claire for more details!

Thanks!

Nancy