Dud night
I like to walk from school (26th and 8th) to W 4th and 6th, partly because its a nice walk, partly because I like to take only one train, and because I pass 3 prime grocery stores on the way home for me to dumpster (thats right... one month plus now of never spending money on food). Recently, I really needed some stuff, since I was running low in the fresh vegetable department, and damn if I don't need a feed trough of fresh vegetables that I can graze on like a barnyard animal.
I feel like most "freegan" and dumpster diver sorts only share their triumphs. While there have been a number of rather exceptional finds (and the fact that my food bill has been $0.00 this month is cool enough on its own), there are also some nights that my hopes are sky high and all I find is really horrible.
First, the good folks at the Gristedes on 21st and 8th decided to throw A BROKEN LIGHTBULB into what would have been a prime sack of produce. Tons of shiny apples and other goodies that otherwise fell into the "why on earth would they throw this out?" category were covered in fragments of broken glass. I didn't notice the glass until I discovered the filament floating around in the bag and thanked my lucky stars I was thorough enough while sorting to happen upon the deadly object. Yikes!
After that brush with death, I was onto the D'Agostino, which usually yields some fantastic pre-cut vegetables in styrofoam deli containers. Instead of the overpriced pre-cut goodness (seriously, is having your zucchini sliced really worth $5?), I came across another, more tragic, extreme result of modern culinary laziness: The Kraft Bagel-ful. Three hefty bags worth of them, in perfect condition.
Maybe its because I live in New York, grew up around a ton of Jews, and in the carb-happy days of yore before my metabolism caught up with me, I considered myself a connoisseur of bagels, but this is almost as insulting as a broken lightbulb in my produce bag.
I mean, look at it. Its a twinkie made out of a Dominos breadstick and cream cheese. And they have the nerve to call this a bagel? And is spreading cream cheese for yourself really that much of a challenge, even in the AM? And would the cream cheese come out molten-hot, like Hot Pocket filling? These things are almost too scary to ponder. Even funnier, their website tries to market them both as convenience and health food.
"Bagel-fuls also are a good source of calcium and seven other vitamins and minerals. Additionally, this product meets Kraft's Sensible Solution criteria and is a good-for-you option that fits with the growing health and wellness trend."
Cuz when I think "health and wellness" one hyphenated, made up word comes to mind: Bagel-ful. In this month of dumpstering, I'm often left wondering how and why grocery stores are so wasteful, throwing out often pristine packaged foods that are so preservative-laden that they can't possibly be expired. This is one of those rare times that discarded pristine packaged goods on the sidewalk made perfect sense. Try as you might, you cannot sell a Bagel-ful in NYC. You can't even get people to take them out of the trash.
I feel like most "freegan" and dumpster diver sorts only share their triumphs. While there have been a number of rather exceptional finds (and the fact that my food bill has been $0.00 this month is cool enough on its own), there are also some nights that my hopes are sky high and all I find is really horrible.
First, the good folks at the Gristedes on 21st and 8th decided to throw A BROKEN LIGHTBULB into what would have been a prime sack of produce. Tons of shiny apples and other goodies that otherwise fell into the "why on earth would they throw this out?" category were covered in fragments of broken glass. I didn't notice the glass until I discovered the filament floating around in the bag and thanked my lucky stars I was thorough enough while sorting to happen upon the deadly object. Yikes!
After that brush with death, I was onto the D'Agostino, which usually yields some fantastic pre-cut vegetables in styrofoam deli containers. Instead of the overpriced pre-cut goodness (seriously, is having your zucchini sliced really worth $5?), I came across another, more tragic, extreme result of modern culinary laziness: The Kraft Bagel-ful. Three hefty bags worth of them, in perfect condition.
Maybe its because I live in New York, grew up around a ton of Jews, and in the carb-happy days of yore before my metabolism caught up with me, I considered myself a connoisseur of bagels, but this is almost as insulting as a broken lightbulb in my produce bag.
I mean, look at it. Its a twinkie made out of a Dominos breadstick and cream cheese. And they have the nerve to call this a bagel? And is spreading cream cheese for yourself really that much of a challenge, even in the AM? And would the cream cheese come out molten-hot, like Hot Pocket filling? These things are almost too scary to ponder. Even funnier, their website tries to market them both as convenience and health food.
"Bagel-fuls also are a good source of calcium and seven other vitamins and minerals. Additionally, this product meets Kraft's Sensible Solution criteria and is a good-for-you option that fits with the growing health and wellness trend."
Cuz when I think "health and wellness" one hyphenated, made up word comes to mind: Bagel-ful. In this month of dumpstering, I'm often left wondering how and why grocery stores are so wasteful, throwing out often pristine packaged foods that are so preservative-laden that they can't possibly be expired. This is one of those rare times that discarded pristine packaged goods on the sidewalk made perfect sense. Try as you might, you cannot sell a Bagel-ful in NYC. You can't even get people to take them out of the trash.