"Best if Used By Freegans" news and stories

Three journalism students at St. Michael's College in Vermont have made a documentary film that examines the nocturnal adventures of "freegans" – people who rummage through dumpsters in search of discarded, but still edible, food items.

Carolyn Smith, one of the filmmakers, said that when she took to the streets with freegans in New York City and Burlington, Vermont, she expected to see garbage bins filled with the likes of half-eaten pizzas.

Instead, she was amazed by "the amount of good stuff" that was pulled from the trash, including fresh fruit and vegetables, intact eggs in cartons, and packaged foods (some of it not yet past the sell-by date), all of it tossed out by various food markets and eateries.