<![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans" - Jezebel Comments]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans" - Jezebel Comments]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> I can't be bothered with people like this woman. Leave the dumpster diving to people who genuinely need it rather than this idiot with her gigantic kitchen.

LadyChatterley

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> First of all, the guest made a conscious choice to go from a 000,000 digit salary, to this lifestyle. She is not picking out of garbage dumbsters b/c she's homeless, it's b/c she's a smart lady(debatable), involved in a movement and wanting exposure for her cause. Yes, it would have been shite if she HAD been homeless and Oprah had stuck her big ole foot with her big ole heel into the bag-lady's garbage bag/suitcase....but that's a wholeeee different show.

goodonpaper

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> @blondegrlz: i think most of it is probably a stab at modesty.

bruitdautrui

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> This whole story is so meh. I live in Portland, OR and I know people from all walks of life who eat out of dumpsters. I prefer cutting out the middleman and befriending people who work in the store so as not to have my produce sullied by the trash.

Hey, Freegan: It's called dumpster diving. Eat what you like, just stop calling it a "lifestyle." Anti-consumerism is great, but don't use it as an excuse for being cheap.

Hey, O: I know that your 5 in heels hurt like the dickens, but either learn to deal or stop wearing them. Watching you abuse such beautiful (and expensive) shoes by CONSTANTLY ROCKING ON THE HEELS sets my teeth on edge. I stand all day for my job, but have learned to suck it up on those days I wear ridiculous shoes rather than sensible flats or clogs.

Hey, Jezzies: She's not murdering teh baby kittehs with one hand and slapping Daniel Craig with the other. She just sadly believes that what she is doing is "Important."

foodandshoes

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> I'm sure that Madeline made sure that her mortgage was paid off before she renounced her 'six figure salary'. Sounds cynical, but I do think that what they're doing is admirable, but, seeing her comfortable surroundings made me feel a bit miffed. What annoys me about Madeline is the feeling that I get from her that she can afford to indulge her conscience. People live out of bins out of necessity every day and don't get airtime on Oprah.

Jazibel

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> Did she get them from Jessica Seinfeld?

24-7

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> I never thought the Jezzies would be so critical of anyone who's honestly trying to do the right thing. And of course, you mostly all fell for the "Sensationalist" part of the show - the dumpster diving - and mostly ignored the gist of the movement - frugality. Lighten up people and play attention to the message, not the frame.

bilsemon

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> @blondegrlz: Word. This was a Village Voice story last year, so I guess Oprah's producers went dumpster diving in the alternative press for the story--freeganism, indeed! But it's her duty to bring this to suburban America, so she can claim that she had to "re-package" the story.

Woman had a profitable career but re-examined her choices and is trying to dial down her consumerism. Why pounce on her? She and others are only partaking of food that couldn't possibly donated to food pantries because of strict guidelines about food "safety" (and we all know that expiration dates are often bullshit, but hey--it keeps us throwing out and buying!).

Lisa Ling as an investigator? Amusing.

thatgirlinnewyork

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> @Archetype: exactly. i know several really worthy organizations who would take those donations from the grocery store and feed people who were actually, you know, needy.

perhaps she should look into buying produce from a local farm or something?

lermanzo

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> Oh whatever, Oprah wears Louboutins all the time. I doubt it was a conscious decision.

Noah D

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> @Her_royal_Highness: I don't know if you live in NYC or not, but over here, we don't have space to grow crops. We don't have back yards, or front yards, or gardens, we have fire escapes...

And seriously, I don't see anything wrong with what they're doing. I'd do it. The food is clean, unspoiled, free, why the fuck not?!

marvel girl

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> @PhillyLass: She's not taking meat out of the garbage. She's most likely vegetarian as well, although they didn't touch on it. And yes, grocery stores will throw away cartons with a single broken egg, they can afford to do it.

RetroVertigo

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> I've never heard of anyone throwing out a whole carton of eggs because one of them is broken. People throw eggs away when they're out of date. I can't even begin to imagine the stomach ailments she's putting herself at risk of getting by relying on cast-off food. Especially meat and dairy. Ick.

PhillyLass

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> @Archetype: You can get Le Creuset "seconds" at TJ Maxx, usually for less than half the regular retail. I have a few peices that I got on TJ Maxx clearance for no more than that stuff costs at Target.

And no hating on Le Creuset owners! That stuff lasts forever, unlike the other cookware that I've ended up having to dispose of after it became unusable.

Jess A.

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> I hate that freegan woman! Who does she think she is…leaving a "six-figure" job to work for free at a non-profit, and then thinking she's better than me.

I hate Oprah! She has so much more money than me and spends it on crazy expensive shoes I can't afford. She thinks she's better than me too.

I can't tell who I hate more…
a rich woman who buys stuff I can't afford or a formerly rich woman who chooses not to.

cupcakery

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> Whatever man, do what you can. Make six figs, trick out your kitchen and continue dumpster diving if it makes you happy.
Seems like the Jez community really got into the haterade this week.

ShoplifterOfTheWorld

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> [freegan.info] I love how they barely even touched on the freegan lifestyle ont he Oprah Show. If you think these people are assholes now, go read the webpage. I was on a 3 day rant about how much it pissed me off after I read that yesterday...
Anyway... yeah... I call them "Freeloaders" it's what they are...


MissJess

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> I used to be really into freeganism and dumpster diving when I was in high school. I volunteered for an organization that cooked vegetarian meals for the homeless using food we had donated by grocery stores or found in the dumpsters. We would also take the leftovers or food we didn't use home and use it. It isn't that bad really, but I never went into extremes.

This is also coming from a woman who lusts after Louboutins and Alexander Wang. Things have changed since high school! But sometimes I do get shocked by how I am so driven by consumerism.

Maria

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> @Lady Skittlehattington: Exactly. We're having a bit of a mouse invasion at the moment, so yesterday, for instance, I disposed of a paper towel full of sprinklings in my garbage with a banana that had turned a little too brown for me. Yummy if some dumpster diver wants that tasty treat!

prairieprincess

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> I don't know if this has been said yet, or if this will be viewed in the depths of Jezzie comments, but... !

For all of you who are saying things like, "doesn't dumpster diving take away from the people who really need it ?"

No. It doesn't. I'm not expecting a lot of you to have experienced dumpster diving, but there really is a ton of food thrown away in this huge dumpsters behind your local grocery store. There's enough to go around, at least here in Southern California.

Honestly, the first time I was introduced to it, I was a bit grossed out, but when you see bags and bags of two day old bakery bread just tossed in the trash, it's not so bad. It's not like you're picking maggots off of your next meal. These things are usually bagged or boxed, which makes it quite convenient !

piank

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> I guess I've been a Freegan-lite for years and didn't know it!! Hmm...poor college student who doesn't buy clothes and lives off of people's gardens. I say we all grow small "victory gardens" and say F-U to Whole Foods!! Hehe.

PoisonPixie

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> @katastic: Right??!!??
I live in western Michigan, middle of nowhere, and I heard about freegans 3-5 years ago. WTF??


Mrs. Lovett

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> Once again I say-- fuck you Oprah! This woman probably is very sincere and not the "I'm a rich white woman making a point for those of you not as enlightened as I am but who is still unwilling to give up my gourmet kitchen" your show sure makes her look like. I can't stand it when she holds people up as objects of her own personal fascination.

Lizawithazee

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> @Archetype: thank you! That is what annoys me about friggin freegans. Some people don't have a choice and have to go dumpster diving.

missbheave (is not convinced)

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> They has a Freegan couple on an episode of Wife Swap UK, it was a great episode. The Freegan's also religious fanatics very like the Jesus Freaks of the 60s and 70s. They lived in a mobile home with their 12 year old son, who was the one really losing out. Of course they swapped with a very rich family to juxtapose in the usual Wife Swap way the failings of both sides.

Consumerists totally won the day as expected. Freegan dad realised that perhaps their son needed more stability and that they would look for an apartment. The living off the state arugments were very interesting as should the Freegans end up in hospital it would be paid by the NHS from actual tax payers pockets. Consumer dad saw this as a cop-out. It's prob on youtube and is totes worth a look.

mepo

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> So enlightening to have this on a show whose host wipes her ass with with 100 dollar bills.

olivia720

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> She made me think, "Maybe I don't need to buy that camera I just picked out on Bestbuy.com." Then I came up with 12 reasons why I do need it.

It was inspiring for a minute.

neeners28

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> I can't hate on someone for not wanting to consume like your average American. But then, I'm not exactly one who can go out and spend gobs of money on frivolous nicknacks without it weighing heavy on my conscience.

At any rate, its her lifestyle. If you'd like to adapt the stance that most anti-vegetarians (For every cow you don't eat, I'll eat three) have, go buy a whole cart of napkin rings at Walmart. Or, you know, complain about her former salary on the interwebs.

cheera

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> There's nothing wrong with being humble.

Freegan also isn't a "cultural fad" either, it's a way of living, eating and recycling. I don't know where people got martyr from, the lady hardly said anything.

Changing lightbulbs and driving a prius isn't enough for some people. Food can cost a lot no matter who you are.

Why do these feminists have problems with people who don't eat beef and potatoes every night. (Oh, I'm sorry, I meant LEAN POULTRY and potatoes)

But whatever, as long as their shoes are cool, right?

RetroVertigo

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> oprah wears that label of shoes every single episode. can always see the red sole... it'd be more shocking if she *didn't* wear them for this interview.

overanalyser

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> @FATAL_BIPOLAR_HOTNESS: don't despair. They have outlet stores (there's one off I-79 in western PA) and the prices can be pretty amazing. Get on their email list and you get coupons for up to half off the outlet price.

brendastarlet

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> I think we should let the "freegans" do what they wanna do. I don't plan on going dumpster diving anytime soon but I think it's fine if these people want to save money and use things that would otherwise end up in a landfill. However I did want to jump through the TV and scream Oprah everytime she was like "The whole point of this is to get people to think about how much they consume." Helloooooo? Your shoe closet is the size of my apartment, lady. Why don't YOU start thinking about your level of consumption?

RosePetalPlace

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> Why is everyone so down on the fact that this woman makes a lot of money? It makes perfect sense to me to save all the money you can no matter what your income bracket is. I guess she was a bit sanctimonious (I thought she was just preaching with the enthusiasm of a new convert), but most people with money are surprisingly frugal. It's how you stay rich.

trikitixa

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> Eh, when I was little, my parents made a decent amount of money, but my Dad and I would still grab expired bags of doritos and dented cans from the Jewel dumpster. It was fun and kinda treasure hunty. If this lady wants to get all her stuff like that, that's fine with me.

ListedMIA

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> @mylittleonetrickpony:
no=non

mylittleonetrickpony

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> @RetroVertigo:
Agreed! It seems like everyone just wants to hate on this woman without having watched the show.
The whole point is that she gave up most of the trappings of her old life, and LEFT HER FANCY JOB TO VOLUNTEER FOR NO-PROFITS. She seemed totally humble and normal to me.

mylittleonetrickpony

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> Bitch got Le Creuset pots? I have been desiring those for years and can't seem to be able to buy it withoput inducing a fucking heart attack! Freegan after she owns a house with a bunch of nice shit!

FATAL_BIPOLAR_HOTNESS

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> @Cam/ron: Right on. It's like a guilt-induced rich person's experiment with the homeless "lifestyle."

BDizzy

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> For being anti-consumerists, it doesn't look like freeganism translate into minimalism. That's a hellva nice kitchen that Madeline has.

Bohoinparadise

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> The only thing I do that is remotely like this is engage in www.freecycle.org We have received lots of great stuff (especially kids clothes) and given away things that we don't need anymore. we love it.

the historian

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> @faire-la-moue: I ADORE "The Gleaners and and Varda's work, but this woman just seems so smug with herself, like she views herself as "above" all of our capitalist crap, yet she lives off of the leftovers. If there wasn't all this capitalist crap, then where would she get her things from? Oh noes, she might have to spend some of that six-figure salary!

Dauphine

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> she was profiled in an nytimes article last june. freegans don't take trash out of any old dumpster. upscale grocery stores throw out perfectly good pastries daily. things that would normally cost $3 or $4 each. there's a very systematic way to collect food, knowing stores closing and delivery schedules and being there at the right time. nyc also has organizations (cityharvest.org) that collect for food banks. there is no shortage of wasted food in new york.

r.norwood

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> While I agree with the irony, Oprah gets sent so much free clothing and shoes from designers she cannot even wear it all!

I thought or maybe I misheard the lady say she walked away from a 6 figure salary. I have heard of the freegan people before, this is nothing new to me. I fully support thriftstore shopping and another person's trash is another's treasure sort of thing, but I can pay for my food and I will continue to pay for it. Most food breaks down pretty easily so I don't understand people's landfill cry, because they are going to put all the boxes and plastics back into the trash when they are done... so I mean there you go. It also has it's truth and not all of it is really makeing "a difference".

ransomlettersorg

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> Good for her! She's drawing attention to the massive amount of waste that our society produces. Supermarkets throw away tons of perfectly good food every day. Although I will never be a freegan, I have eaten delicious dumpstered meals. Yum! I'm sure we all know a few self-righteous vegans, freegans, or what have you, but that doesn't mean that freeganism itself is ridiculous. Actually, this woman seemed perfectly friendly, non-pretentious, and warm.

Roselle

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> Hmmm, I can kinda get the point of what she's doing, and the world needs to be more aware of the waste that comes from big businesses like supermarket chains. But dumpster diving will not change the world. The reason these places can afford to throw out so much food in the first place is that they buy it extremely cheap from the producers & can often bully growers into selling stuff cheap- if you were a farmer you would probably prefer to sell all your produce to a large chain for half of what it's worth than to sell some of it to small business for what it is worth- growers have to feed their family too. I'm sure there's enough food in dumpsters to feed all who live this way- I just think that there could be a better way to use this waste- loads of charities will pick up left over food for the needy and distribute it accordingly. The change needs to come from the top. Try supporting small local business rather than big chains, grow your own stuff if you can. Perhaps this woman could make more of an impact if she collected food for those who really need it- I get the anti-consumerist part but she's still living off consumerism. Ah whatever, it's a free world...... BLAH

vegemitekid

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> consumables and clothes are the few things I wouldn't get fro the trash unless I really had no money.

electronics, furniture, books....hell yeah! I got a nice computer off the street the other week, HDD was busted but everything else works fine. We got two nice lamps that we found by the garbage area of our house. I rescued a little dresser off the street. etc. I'm all for reusing and I love free stuff and also getting away from the whoreporation and saving up your money smartly.
But this woman is taking it a bit too far!

Spaceboy

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> @Algren: You're probably right, but as this Oprah clip shows, the people who are most vocal do color people's impressions of the population as a whole, and in this case and in the case of the freegans I've met, they're not doing whatever larger movement there is any favors.

yidvicious

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> @yidvicious: In a life imitating art moment my DH just came back from walking the dogs with an armful of network cable and huge bag of cable clips. He got them from a skip. He does this all the time.

hannahwilde

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> @RetroVertigo:

Yes! It's obscene how much food most grocery stores throw away (hello, Trader Joe's). And seriously, it's not a question of taking food away from homeless people. The dumpster gods are generous. Most grocery stores have like 50 bags of oranges in their trash at any given moment. I know lots of kids who get by nearly exclusively on dumpster food.

lasaraleen

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> @Algren: Well, that is valid. I just associate her with the other freegans I have met, and all of whom were righteous and judgmental, and very myopic about the continuum of lifestyle choices one can make to reduce one's carbon footprint.

And certainly she didn't come off well in this clip, although I haven't seen the whole show.

AbbyNormal

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> @yidvicious: I think you're making a rash generalization.

Algren

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> I have no problem with dumpster diving, when people call it "dumpster diving." Applying the term "freeganism," however, dials up the stabby factor considerably. It also doesn't help that the people who do this just never shut the hell up about it. And they tend to be the same people who tell you within seconds of meeting them that they don't own a TV. Like I asked.

yidvicious

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> @Algren: Good point.

lola82

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> @lola82: Um, she's not opting for a poor life-style. She's not slumming. She's just not letting things go to waste. I think what's annoying people is that she did not come off well in this clip -- she's not good on camera. But really, I don't think she's doing any harm. And how does ANYONE know if she does or doesn't contribute to charity? For all we know she could have sent most of that 6-figure salary to meals-on-wheels. This clip doesn't discuss much else but her shopping habits. Being poor truly sucks as I know from experience, but I don't think she's posing. Shit, even women who live on the upper east side of Manhattan don't need half the crap they buy. If the rich would stop buying so much crap, the world would be better. Think about it: the poor don't buy anything other than what they need. It's the rich that turn the corporate wheel and she's just choosing to live in an opposing response to that.

Algren

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> @lola82: "are" nonperishables. doh.

lola82

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> Smugness is not an attractive quality either. I don't see how it isn't appropriate to identify the hypocrisy in what she's doing or where she's talking about it. I don't have anything in particular against dumpster diving for stuff or food. One isn't necessarily related to the other.

TheFormerJuneBronson

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> I used to volunteer at a food bank and the Freegan lady is absolutely right about how much food grocery stores waste. We're talking dinged cans, cartons with one cracked egg, weird-looking potatoes--food that is perfectly good, but thrown away because it doesn't look pretty. Except in my area that food gets donated to the food bank and feeds people in homeless and domestic violence shelters, which it apparently doesn't in hers. And it's not like there's a shortage of wasted food in America. If there was just a way to get the food before it went in the dumpster, I don't think there's anything wrong with it. A smell that foul is nature's way of saying Don't Eat This, and what's to keep stray animals from climbing in?

Fun fact: in high school, two of my teachers were Freegans. Apparently they were very popular because they always brought gourmet snacks to teachers' meetings, and then folks found out where the avacados came from.

lina_lamont

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> @RetroVertigo: Actually, in Oakland, there ARE shelters and community food pantries that do round up that food and distribute it. It's often the only fresh fruits and vegetables that they get, since those types of foods aren't non-perishables.

lola82

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> @Archetype: I've done that too. Food out of my garbage.

This lady irritates the shit out of me b/c I feel like she's going all martyr on my ass.

I guess since I spent the first 22 years of my life being ass-broke, eating ketchup packets from McDonald's (cuz they were free then) b/c there wasn't any fucking food...rich people who opt to be poor as a "lifestyle" choice and fucking brag about it are extremely ass backwards.

Why not spend that time helping others in real poverty? Or doing something else worthwhile. Spending all that effort sifting through garbage to stroke your ego is just as lame as stoking it with a giant, ugly LV purse.

lola82

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> why does this woman have a 6 figure job? can i have it instead? i'd totes use that cash.
and is it weird that i think oprah wearing Louboutins to interview freegans is kind of awesome? cause my first thought was 'go oprah!'


Agrado

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> It's not dumpster diving, it's "urban foraging" (per their website). Much hipper an' all. It's weird that the website also focuses on "reclaimed food" rather than the other, clearly more important parts of living the simple life. If they put that kind of energy into just growing a damn garden, duh?? And their mission towards "voluntary Joblessness" seems pretty shallow. I'm green, and I aspire to being more and more green, but this is a little ridiculous. Me calls it a cultural fad.

Onalee

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> Maybe it's because I'm a poor PhD student who also works in the theatre and therefore never has money, but I've designed my life around being able to pack everything I own into two suitcase and six boxes (the boxes are for books only). As a result, I find myself feeling panicked on the rare occasions when I do buy something new. It feels like a burden to me. It's not some sort of zealot philosophy for me -- I do like nice things -- but I hate clutter and I hate owning a lot of crap. It weighs me down and limits my freedom. I've never dumpster-dove though . . . even when I was in my 20s and totally broke. But that's a valid choice for people who consider waste and greed the terrible sins that they are.

Algren

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> @RetroVertigo: THANK YOU for adding a non-reactionary voice here. The snobbery, squeamishness, and ignorance being displayed here are pretty surprising.

PhDork

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> And they aren't going through private household garbage, you don't seem to realize that little detail. Like I said, they go through the dumpsters of local food establishments and grocery stores.

There wouldn't be any freaking diapers, you lunatic. Dont you think that's taken into consideration?

RetroVertigo

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> OK. It's official. EVERYONE has those shoes. Except for the freegan lady.

ForeverBlueGirl

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> @abernie: I couldn't agree more. Oprah makes me sick in the stomach, and the fact that so many women in this country look up to her as some sort of prophet really depresses me. Oprah doesn't stand for anything, really, except the next "make me feel good about myself" fad in spiritualism/consumerism/volunteerism.
Freeganism, on the other hand, is one "ism" I can really get behind. I'm really trying to achieve this sort of independence from the American way of consumption and economic slavery. Once I started looking at my possessions as a bunch of literal crap, it was much easier to start giving things away, and in turn, much harder to go into stores and start blindly purchasing things that I really don't need and won't make me feel any better about myself.

I draw the line at dumpster diving for food, though. Bread, maybe, and packaged goods, but not veggies.

catalina

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> The ignorance here shocks me so much.

Grocery stores throw out pounds and pounds of fruits and vegetables that are perfectly fine because new shipment come in that need to be put on the shelf. It's healthy and clean, and the food doesn't go to waste. Most food establishment throw away a lot of food at the end of the day because homeless shelters aren't allowed to take cetain types of donations.

There is nothing wrong with this lifestyle, just because she makes money, that doesn't define her lifestyle. She's sane and smart. That kind of critical thinking is what gets you ahead in life.

Get real, ladies. Learn the fact before you make thoughtless accusations.

RetroVertigo

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> @Algren: I haven't been there for awhile. When I was living there I mostly shopped at Sainsbury's. And there was this little market near my house that sold "American" food. A box of Lucky Charms was $13. Back then, when the exchange rate was much better.

I had my parents send me a care package with US fashion mags and Cheetos.

Archetype

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> @ae38: I don't think anyone feels that she can't do what she does. But, I mean, she went on Oprah, and she kind of seems lame. That's all. She can do whatever the fuck she wants.

Also, I have been known to dig food out of my garbage. MY garbage, though.

Archetype

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> Nice shoes OP, I don't think Jezebel can go one day without showing someone with the Lou's on.

redvwbug

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> Sometimes I can't help but to laugh at the utter insanity that is the commenting on this website. Whatever happend to free will, people? If rooting around the garbage for food rocks your boat, so be it. I'm not coming over for dinner though...

Also, I can not lie, I saw some of the stuff in the garbage and I was like, not a bad idea at all...if I could get over getting dirty ot get it, which I don't think I could. Though if I ever found myself a single mother with 3 kids, I may choose this before stripping (the other segment on the show).

ae38

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> @Archetype: I love M&S food, but did you know that they're food has more packaging than any other grocery store in the UK? Even worse than Tesco's.

Algren

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> @faire-la-moue: That was a great movie. However, the tone of it seemed a bit different than that of this woman. I'm not sure if I can articulate what that difference was, can you?

Algren

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> why don't the freegans just work at a food co-op? it's basically working for your food while promoting small business owners that generally support local farmers. soooo easy....

or take your six figures and start your own co-op.

dnawaxy

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> Why doesn't this rich, rich lady give this food to homeless people who CAN'T afford it, rather than using it as a boast of her own moral superiority????

I hate rich people. Try eating out of the garbage because you HAVE TO.

oryx

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> @misanthropologist: effluvia . What a fucking beautiful word!

Algren

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> To quote one of my favorite Kids in the Hall sketches: Is it garbage just because you found it in the garbage? Or is it simply food that has fallen from grace?

How do they know that some of this "food" didn't get thrown in the trash with a diaper? Or that someone didn't sprinkle it with rat poison?

Lady Skittlehattington

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> @Cam/ron: That is one of the funniest things I've read all day. I love you for writing that.

Algren

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> @hannahwilde: I miss M&S. I found it so fun that department stores had food halls.

Archetype

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> @BeAgrestic: No we thankfully did not get sick. And "awesome" is not the word I would give to it. There were a LOT of fruits and vegetables around the house that weekend, and we had no idea that we were eating garbage.

yourbffjill

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> @rednrowdy: I am all for hand-me-downs, and dumpster cuisine, if that turns you on.

I think it's just the going on Oprah bit, and the shiny kitchen.

Archetype

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> ...but so was the fact that Oprah was interviewing this anti-consumerist in a pair of Louboutin heels that look like they've never touched pavement...

The Ope has admitted that she puts her luscious shoes on only right before going on stage, because walking in them kinda kills her feet. Therefore, I don't think any of her lovely shoe collection prolly has any scuffs.

The Ope! She's just like us!

PaisleyPajamas

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> @CerealMoms: Or the people who work at the grocery store.

Thank you for this :-) My mom works at a grocery store and most people could give a crap about her!

Seriously, you can find some serious assholes at the grocery store. My mom doesn't talk about them, because she never complains (although she does have a good story about a guy getting pissed because she "manhandled" his donuts). But I do observe when I am shopping.

Archetype

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> @hannahwilde: Povs! I haven't heard that word in so long!

Dogtanian

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> in theory, freeganism is really what most folks did during the great depression, except they didn't have six figure salaries. i don't have a problem with it, regardless of how much money the freegan may make per year. we don't need to buy all the crap that advertising and society at large tells us to buy. hell, aside from the dumpster diving, my entire living room is furnished from castoffs of other people. i'm into freegan furniture. who isn't?

@Fatdogsmells: i did find it fascinating that during this episode - miraculously there weren't any other freegans diving the dumpsters. i wonder how the piece would have turned out if these freegans were fighting with the homeless for the stuff in the dumpsters.

rednrowdy

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> I had to turn off the TV because I could not listen to Oprah say, "what do we really need, people" one more time. I noticed the shoes too. Oprah is the epitome of consumerism . . . the whole show just seemed a little hypocritical.

abernie

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> Sorry that was utterly incoherent - I day dreaming about M&S frozen meals and not paying attention to my typing.

hannahwilde

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> In the bad old days (1980's) there were shops in poor areas of the UK which sold food that was collected from the back of supermarkets which had chucked it out because it was past the sell buy date. We povs ate like kings on M&S frozen meals. Why would live like this if they don't have to boggles my mind. Support your local small business and leave the dumpsters to the poor.

hannahwilde

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> What about the small local farmers trying to make ends meet? How bout the freegans help them out? Or the people who work at the grocery store...they need jobs. I'd get it if it was to save money for more important things or to help the environment but to do it just to stick it to the man seems to ignore the middle to lower class workers who are also making a dime off of what you buy. It's just another case of extremism. Things are not all black and white people!

CerealMoms

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> This self-righteous prig annoys me. And I'm not talking about Oprah.

Bindarra

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> @h_a_l: honestly, considering that 50% of food is thrown out before it makes it to our homes, I think there's enough trash to go around. Both for the people who really need it, and the people who choose to eat that way.

LibidinousSlut

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> @AbbyNormal: Indeed, living like a stray dog off of table scraps ain't liberation, y'all.

Cam/ron

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> @misanthropologist: Exactly. It isn't "opting out" if you live on teh crumbs of said capitalistic system. If I don't have anything to throw away, you die.
@Cam/ron: I know, they are usually really smug and preachy. Garrr. Why isn't this woman organizing meals for the homeless? Why isn't she working to shelter those who didn't choose to dumpster dive? Helping to arrange counseling and rehab for those lost to the scourges of drug/domestic abuse and mental illness?


AbbyNormal

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> @Archetype: I'm cool with folks resisting mindless consumerism, but the extremists (especially when they look down on everybody else as sheep or simpletons) bug the hell out of me.

Cam/ron

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> @Cam/ron: More like a festering pile of steamy smugness.

I seriously dislike this woman. And that's only because I am trying to not use the word hate as much.

Archetype

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> hahhaha - oprah sure was convincing in making me believe that a six figure salary was a lot given that she prob throws that in the trash bin by mistake, maybe i should dive into oprah's dumpster

marimari

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> God how annoying is this! I'm all for freecycle and thrift shops because well, it's good for the environment. But dumpster diving and taking what could be a meal from someone who has No $ when you can afford to buy food is the pits!@yourbffjill: haha and ew about the mushrooms

h_a_l

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> I'd imagine the our Freegan has one helluva stomach to handle all of that expired food. But seriously, there is a strong whiff of smugness when a rich person brags about buying nothing and sleeping in a comfortable bed every night while homeless folks who dream of escaping their lives don't have that luxury.

Cam/ron

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> @Cam/ron:
Shit, I'm friends with a kid like that! He makes his own clothes, but says that ideally he wouldn't wear any. I know I'm a bad person, but what he does, its just soooo stupid. But hilarious. I sort of hate him though, since he has more money then most kids at my school and I guess hes not as hardcore as the kid you talked about, since he still has some, um, consumerist tendencies.


eraserheadpixies (now representing norwegian xanax and JESUS!1!@#!)

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> How ironic. In high school I staged a walk out to protest enforced Channel One watching during homeroom (Channel One being Lisa Ling's former employer). I put up signs of Lisa Ling looking evil and trying to sell us junk food and stuff. I objected to being forced to consume capitalist advertisements for shit when we were supposed to be learning something. (Never mind all of the precious educational time I was losing to cut class and smoke Camel lights) In the end the school compromised by letting me air videos of me making compost and shit with the environmental club afterwards.

J.D.Regent

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> Wow.

You know, there *is* a middle ground...

rose0red

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> Who cares what Oprah wears? She builds schools and homes, which is a little bit more than I do.

JessicaLovejoy: Heart of Dykeness

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> @allora: No way, Le Creuset? Man, I can't even afford that shit.

Maybe if I got all of my food from my neighbor's garbage I could buy some.

Archetype

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> @katastic: @blondegrlz: Well, I didn't know about freegans. But I tend to ignore stupid people.

Archetype

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> @Archetype: I really like Lisa Ling too! I can't explain it, but I think she's underrated.

@yourbffjill: Oh jesus! That is crazy. Did any of you guys get sick? If not, it's kind of awesome that your friend made a meal like that.

BeAgrestic

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> Um, nice Le Creuset set of pots on that stainless stove!
Oh she must've bought those BEFORE she opted out.
What.Ever.

Damn the man, but I like my stuff.



allora

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> @katastic: Oprah's never heard of anything until she does a show on it. Cooking? Babies? Vegetables? Shit? Don't exist until Dr. FamousPants explain them to her.

BlondeGrlz

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> Freegans taste like garbage.

katastic

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> @AnnieGetYourFun: I am the queen of picking up crap by the side of the road, but I draw the line at edibles. Give me an ugly chair or velvet couch anyday.

BlondeGrlz

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> my friend went through a pretty extreme dumpster diving phase. we found this out AFTER eating a dinner which she supplied all of the ingredients for, including produce.

if it's not meant to be frozen and it's not past its expiration date and it's very well sealed, okay fine, I will be polite and eat your dumpster food. but mushrooms? no. how could you even be clear those didn't just grow there?

yourbffjill

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> Agnes Varda made a fantastic documentary a few years back called "The Gleaners and I"--all about people living on society's leftovers. I can't really hate on people who have the balls and resourcefulness to send a big eff you to the man.

faire-la-moue

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> @misanthropologist: I'm sure she voted for Ron Paul.

Archetype

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> Mama O noted, when talking to the freegan lady, the irony of breaking away to commercials, the point of which is to get people to buy more stuff. She did not, however, take note of the irony in her own contribution to the cult of conspicuous consumption (i.e., Louboutins, the frenzy of Oprah's favorite things episodes, etc.)

samiamiamsam

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> The claim that they are "opting out" of capitalism is exactly what kills me. They depend on the effluvia of a market economy (and, frankly, it is better than totally wasting it), and yet they abhor the very system that sustains them.

misanthropologist

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> How has Oprah not heard of freeganism?

katastic

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> Freegan or Freetard?

lola82

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> @OhhYeah: Or, you can buy Louboutins AND help others, like Oprah. Ain't no shame!

Archetype

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> @keldo: Yeah, she's a total asshole.

Archetype

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> This fucking pissed me off so bad. Seriously? You make six figures... buy food! Buying food doesn't make you consumerist; it makes you a human being. If you want to be all anti-consumerist then fine, don't buy Louboutins like mama O and instead help others who dont have a choice BUT to be anti-consumerist... like actual homeless people. I'm glad Oprah wore her Louboutins. Slap. In. The. Face.

OhhYeah

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> Yawn. So tired of freegans. Not that I don't occasionally grab great stuff that my neighbors throw out.

AnnieGetYourFun

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> @Archetype: Sorry - I repeated your sentiments. Call me freegan repelled by this woman.

keldo

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> @ineffable.me: @Archetype: At the beginning of the clip, it says she "opted out" of the 6 fig gig, so my guess is she saved her dough when working, and doesn't work now or does something with much less compensation.

Hamsterpants

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> I think she had a 6 figure income but gave it up and now gets all her food from dumpsters....That takes food away from other dumpster divers who really need to eat and don't have 6 figure income skills...am I overanalyzing?

keldo

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> Classy, all around. I remain fascinated by the addition of "-an" to a given trend, and the spontaneous birth of a movement that people in search of meaning can attach themselves to.

BoredPhDiva

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> Madeline reminds me of my crust-punk HS classmate and fallen Mormon who never showered for a year and ate out of garbage cans at school to prove his capacity for survival after society collapses.

Cam/ron

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> My God...a little extreme no? What happened to growing your own food? Its cheap, anti-consumerist, and its healthy.

Her_royal_Highness

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> For someone who hates consumerism, she sure has a nice kitchen.
I'm sure she found those granite counter tops and stainless steel appliaces in a dumpster too.


BlondeGrlz

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> what does this woman with a 6 figure salary, do for a living?

ineffable.me

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> My first thought was that the skinny girl certainly looked fashion-forward for not having shopped for three years. Then I realized it was Lisa Ling. Shout to the Sac native!

Also, this is stupid. Plant a garden, don't dig through the trash. Anyhow, homeless people who don't make 6 figures need that shit more than you.

Archetype

]]> <![CDATA[Oprah Wears Louboutins To Interview Anti-Consumerist "Freegans"]]> Those red heels are like a personalized "fuck you" from Jessica Seinfeld!

golddigger

]]>