A Man Named Rob, a Chihuahua Named Peanut, and a Call to Action
You’re going to want to meet this man.
When you first meet Rob Greenfield, shoeless, rumple-shirted, and sandy-haired, what strikes you immediately is his authenticity. Plenty of people have taken on the challenge of living with less, of traveling the world, of attempting to call attention to the less fortunate. The congressman who lives on food stamps for a week, the woman who refuses to buy new clothing for a year. They do these projects for the page views, or for the book deal.
Rob Greenfield does it because that’s who he is.
I first knew Rob was the real thing when I asked him about his recent trip to Mexico, which he launched as the first leg in his “Change the World With Rob Greenfield” series. In my line of work, I interact with a lot of people who want to change the world. And then Rob said something that made me look at him differently:
“You can’t come in and say you’re going to do something. You have to ask the locals what they want and then work to help them achieve that.”
As a former assistant at a think tank, the type of person who would eagerly pass along links to Good Intentions Are Not Enough or derail dinner parties by retelling the This American Life episode where Ira Glass and his team find out, first-hand, just what happens to Americans’ overeager donations to Haiti, hearing Rob say these words was like hearing him whisper the secret code. The one that separates him from the do-gooders who don’t look past the surface. Rob is not the type to interest himself with the surface; he’s the man who will jump in, bare feet first, and ask how he can help.
Now Rob is launching a new project: 21 Gourmet Dumpster Meals. A week of cooking and eating only food from dumpsters in San Diego, creating healthy, balanced, delicious meals both for himself and for a toothless chihuahua named Peanut.
This, in itself, is not particularly new ground — dumpster diving has been part of the freegan ethos for decades, not to mention a standard habit for people who might not otherwise have a next meal. However, Rob once again is doing things a little differently. His project has already gotten significant media attention on Fox News, Yahoo, and other news channels, and that’s because he’s not doing this to bring attention to himself, but to call attention to something much more important.
As Rob told me: “In the grocery stores and restaurants alone, we have enough food to feed two American populations. Taking into account the waste pre-retail and the misuse of grains to fatten up animals we produce enough food to feed the American population four times over. With this project I intend to give the viewers a shocking view of this waste and inform them on how they can take action as individuals and be a part of the solution.”
Here are a few more facts: Americans throw away 96 billion pounds of food per year. One out of every six American families is food insecure, even in the middle of this abundance. The amount of food thrown away each year is worth approximately $165 billion dollars, more money than the $153 billion budget that our country currently spends on education.
This means that the 21 Gourmet Dumpster Meals project is addressing something much more urgent than simply whether Rob and Peanut can eat healthily out of dumpsters for a week. It is, literally, a call to action. As Rob notes:
Anyone in America can be a part of the solution by taking some simple steps.
- Buy from less wasteful sources such as small farmers, the farmers market, and the co-op.
- Don’t waste your own food. This will save you money, time, and is good for everyone involved.
- Volunteer with a rescue program. The SD Food Bank or SD Rescue Mission are a few here.
- Compost waste or feed scraps to domestic animals
Right now Rob is busy preparing juice smoothies, sauteed vegetables, salads, and healthy sandwiches, as well as making sure Peanut gets his daily doggy treats. Ostensibly he is trying to show people that dumpster diving is a safe and healthy way of obtaining food, that Americans throw away an overwhelming amount of otherwise-edible food, that cooking meals at home is more nutritious and healthy than buying them pre-made from a store. But that’s just the surface. Anyone could do that. In fact, Rob’s already an expert dumpster diver, having eaten over 280 pounds of dumpster food during his 2013 trip cycling across America. The goal of this project isn’t to educate people on dumpster diving. Instead, Rob is taking the next step.
First, Rob is working to use his dumpster diving skills to feed people in need. He is sharing with friends and giving food to people on the streets. He is not simply trying to feed himself; he is working to bring food to people who need it more than he does. And, like all of his projects, he is asking his community how he can help.
“Everyone needs food and I’m excited to share what I find with anyone who wants it. To me it just makes sense to put good food to good use. Wasting food also wastes water, energy, fossil fuels, and time as it takes all of those ingredients to make food.”
And then he’s taking it one step further. This Friday, Rob is inviting his entire network of friends, colleagues, acquaintances, and fans to join him and Peanut at Rob’s modest home in San Diego. You too are invited, simply by reading these words. Once you arrive, you’ll see that Rob has prepared appetizers, main courses, and beverages for everyone — all from safe, unspoiled, high-quality food that other people have thrown away.
“We’ll get together over quality dumpster food and I’m guessing a lot of people will walk out the door inspired to be a part of the solution to our flawed food system. Creating positive change can be a lot of fun and spread health and happinessall at the same time.”
After the 21 Gourmet Dumpster Meals project is finished, Rob is likely to take on a new project. Whether he continues his travels, works to improve food security in San Diego, or takes on a new challenge, one thing is clear: he will always be focused on giving back to the community by asking people what they want, and he will always present his work not as a way to draw attention to himself, but as a way to call others to action. This is what Rob Greenfield does; this is who he is.
I hope you, too, get the chance to meet him someday.
This article was commissioned by Rob Greenfield.
