Breakfast: ½ organic peach, Kashi cereal with soy milk, tea with soy milk, 7 potato chips

Lunch: Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich, chickenless noodle soup, wasabi peas, Luna bar

Dinner: Whatever I find at the Greenmarket tonight - husband is out of town so I’m thinking a salad, a baked potato, some of those mini potatoes (boiled) and mixed local berries.

Cravings: Buffalo Wings and ice cream

Mood: Excellent

I went with the Freegans on one of their Dumpster dives last night (they call it a Trash Tour.) Those of you who have seen the video on this blog (that wasn't my tour) will know what I'm talking about. Older and wiser Freegans show the newbies where they can get food and how. So, it was about twenty people walking around, occasionally stopping to poke through refuse; kid don't try this at home. But let me tell you, I think you would eat garbage. Wait, before you accuse me of drinking the Kool-Aid, let me say that I saw unbelievable amounts of seemingly perfect food tossed out all over New York’s East Side. No joke, it was not to be believed. All the fruits and vegetables you’d expect; but also weird stuff like bags of dog food or a ½ dozen cans of whole potatoes, even toilet paper, still in its packaging. It was unreal. In front of a bakery, they found four or five garbage bags full of bagels and bialys and loaves and loaves of bread. When they opened the bags, the air filled with the aroma of freshly baked bread. I am not kidding you. I am clearly prone to exaggeration but the aroma thing really happened. In front of another grocery store, they found 2 big bags of slightly dented cookies. Can you imagine? And it wasn’t the cheap generic stuff - there were name brands in there! And no, the bags weren’t ripped or slimy. From what I can see, it all looked fine. Except for the seven packages of shrink-wrapped artificial crab legs I saw - they didn’t look right. And those bags of pre-washed lettuce? You could raise 432,000 rabbits on all the baby greens that were in that trash. But, in all fairness, I will also admit that no one there could give me a definitive answer as to why this waste was allowed to happen. "The corporations build this waste into the cost of doing business." "Americans have been made to expect the illusion of a never-ending and always perfect food supply." "It’s cheaper to throw it out then paying someone to save it." I don’t know; maybe it’s all true. Maybe, but maybe Americans have grown too litigious and stores are afraid of the inevitable lawsuits when someone get sick from donated food. Maybe this method of insuring fresh inventory in grocery stores is simply a relic. And it, with the advent of ever faster and bigger computers, will simply go extinct. I want to know if this is just New York's problem. Are we throwing out more then we ever have or is this what has always happened in order to meet consumer's constantly fluctuating demands? I don’t know, but I will investigate and get back to you.

All this talk of food reminds me that I might have been a bit vague (people keep asking me about it) about the rules surrounding when I can or cannot purchase edibles. Since I can’t Dumpster dive, I have limited my food buying to two places: New York City’s Greenmarkets or the Park Slope Food Co-op (that I have yet to join.) I’m eating the non-vegan stuff I already have in my house which is why Freegan Girl is currently being fueled by a steady diet of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and salad. Oh, and I’m harvesting from my garden. This year, we’ve got tomatoes, parsley, peppers and lots of hot peppers whose names I can’t remember. An excess of vacations earlier in the summer resulted in a less then happy result for the peas, watermelons, squash and strawberries. And I’m also sad to report that the lemon tree appears to be barren. But, the apples look really good this year and there are loads of them. Ha! You didn’t see that garden thing coming, did you? That’s my carbon neutral plan. Seriously, I have a garden, which is not all uncommon in Brooklyn and it’s not all dead. I’m an eco-princess.

Last thing: I want to share with you some of the expressions of love and support from my friends and family:

From my friend Michael; "Dearest Rainey, now that I’ve lost one of my top operatives to the Greenside, you leave me no other recourse than to double my efforts. Please expect I’ll amp up my air-conditioning to the "SNOW" setting - even when I’m not home! I’ll turn off my a/c when you hippies turn off the sun." (Sweet, right? And no, you may not call me Rainey.)

From my Mom; "If you don't stop the smoking, I am going to break your neck. I didn't bring you into this world to be a victim of the evil smoking industry. Never mind polluting the world; you are polluting your body." (It’s possible she was under the mistaken impression that I had already quit smoking.)

Good News: iPod appears to be feeling better. My extreme hunger appears to have been caused by a form of mild hysteria. I’m fine now. I don’t miss buying anything, yet.

Bad News: I bought a bit of soy milk before I began this experiment (it’s best you not ask me from where; but in answer to your next question, yes, I also bought some wine and trust me, you’ll know when I run out of cigarettes.) Anyway, the soy milk is nearly gone and I haven’t joined the Park Slope Food Co-op yet. It’ll be an interesting weekend anyway. And I had no idea that I was so dependent on taxis.

Worries: There is a lot of soy milk going begging in my office fridge. I feel I might steal a bit if I fail in my mission to join the Park Slop Food Co-op. Though, I can’t see how crime could be part of the Freegan way, right? I mean, unless you count the dumpster diving bit. And I don’t, I don’t count it.

Gentle Readers, here is your ruling as decided by my combining all the best bits of all of your emails: So the question was; "Can I eat the non-vegan stuff already in my freezer?" And, I have to say that I was shocked (shocked!) to read how many of you would sell the Earth down the proverbial river for a CREAMSICLE! Now look, I like a tasty frozen treat as much as anyone, but there are principles at stake here! The Husband is just going to have to do his part (beyond his willful use of air conditioning and chargers) and eat all that non-vegan stuff. I’m only doing this for 31 days and I cannot imagine that Creamsicles ever go bad. It’s a shame though. I really thought, going into this, that rule number five would be a lifesaver. Living off my stuff for 90 days wouldn’t be hard (except for the running out of Creamsicles part.) Shoot, I could probably make it to next year’s primaries and still have some of the dented stuff left. I have so much stuff that my loved ones worry I may be one of those people who end up crushed to death by all their accumulated junk. Anyway, thank you for encouraging me to eat all the non-vegan crap in my kitchen but no, I’m going to try and make it through without meat, eggs or dairy. I’m an Eco-Princess, right?

Gentle Readers, it appears that I once again need a ruling: I have been repeatedly (repeatedly!) asked if it would more appropriate for me to limit my consumption to donated or recycled food instead of buying from either the New York City Greenmarkets or the Park Slope Food Co-op that I haven’t joined yet (I’m repeating this phrase not so much to annoy you; but to remind myself to join the Park Slope Food Co-op.) Now, to gently circle back to my point, I know that I could browbeat my loved ones into ‘donating’ food to me for 30 days. Shoot, I could do that with looks alone. But doesn’t that feel like cheating? Not to mention, I cannot think of a more disastrous career move then eating your co-workers leftovers. Can you imagine? Anyway, it’s your call. Email me and let me know. See ya on Monday when I will regale you (or not, no pressure) with tales of my wild foraging in the deep woods of Brooklyn