“If the penalty for a crime is a fine, then that law only exists for the lower class.”

👉🏿 https://sfstandard.com/2024/04/19/san-francisco-developer-sia-tahbazof-corruption-sentenced/

“If the penalty for a crime is a fine, then that law only exists for the lower class.”

👉🏿 https://apnews.com/article/ken-paxton-texas-securities-fraud-9ed5eecc30c1f967ec51f7e58ad9d0af

“If the penalty for a crime is a fine, then that law only exists for the lower class.”

Meeting grandpa Keith.

A drawing by Food Not Bombs co-founder Keith McHenry to illustrate Food Not Bombs gatherings, tours or other actions. This drawing depicts buildings and trees in the background, a band playing on a stage, and people holding a banner saying "Food Not Bombs" in the foreground.

23 Republican Senators & 124 Congressmen signed an amicus brief to the Supreme Court asking for a 50 state ban on mifepristone, a drug safer than tylenol that is standard treatment for abortion & miscarriages, "due to safety concerns". The brief DARES to argue that banning the life saving drug would save women from 'reproductive control'. (x) These 147 people would rather have women die of sepsis than let women control their own bodies. If your representatives are on this list, call them and tell their office you will be voting against them in the next election because they asked SCOTUS to throw the US medical drug system into chaos at the cost of American lives.

United States Senate

Lead Senator: Cindy Hyde-Smith (MS) John Barrasso (WY) Mike Braun (IN) Katie Britt (AL) Ted Budd (NC) Bill Cassidy (LA) Kevin Cramer (ND) Mike Crapo (ID) Ted Cruz (TX) Steve Daines (MT) Josh Hawley (MO) John Hoeven (ND) James Lankford (OK) Mike Lee (UT) Cynthia Lummis (WY) Roger Marshall (KS) Markwayne Mullin (OK) James Risch (ID) Marco Rubio (FL) Rich Scott (FL) John Thune (SD) Tommy Tuberville (AL) Roger Wicker (MS)

United States House of Representatives

Lead Representative: August Pfluger (TX–11) Robert Aderholt (AL–04) Mark Alford (MO–04) Rick Allen (GA–12) Jodey Arrington (TX–19) Brian Babin (TX–36) Troy Balderson (OH–12) Jim Banks (IN–03) Aaron Bean (FL–04) Cliff Bentz (OR–02) Jack Bergman (MI–01) Andy Biggs (AZ–05) Gus Bilirakis (FL–12) Dan Bishop (NC–08) Lauren Boebert (CO–03) Mike Bost (IL–12) Josh Brecheen (OK–02) Ken Buck (CO–04) Tim Burchett (TN–02) Michael Burgess, M.D. (TX–26) Eric Burlison (MO–07) Kat Cammack (FL–03) Mike Carey (OH–15) Jerry Carl (AL–01) Earl L. “Buddy” Carter (GA–01) John Carter (TX–31) Ben Cline (VA–06) Michael Cloud (TX–27) Andrew Clyde (GA–09) Mike Collins (GA–10) Elijah Crane (AZ–02) Eric A. “Rick” Crawford (AR–01) John Curtis (UT–03) Warren Davidson (OH–08) Monica De La Cruz (TX–15) Jeff Duncan (SC–03) Jake Ellzey (TX–06) Ron Estes (KS–04) Mike Ezell (MS–04) Pat Fallon (TX–04) Randy Feenstra (IA–04) Brad Finstad (MN–01) Michelle Fischbach (MN–07) Scott Fitzgerald (WI–05) Mike Flood (NE–01) Virginia Foxx (NC–05) Scott Franklin (FL–18) Russell Fry (SC–07) Russ Fulcher (ID–01) Tony Gonzales (TX–23) Bob Good (VA–05) Paul Gosar (AZ–09) Garret Graves (LA–06) Mark Green (TN–07) Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA–14) H. Morgan Griffith (VA–09) Glenn Grothman (WI–06) Michael Guest (MS–03) Harriet Hageman (WY) Andy Harris, M.D. (MD–01) Diana Harshbarger (TN–01) Kevin Hern (OK–01) Clay Higgins (LA–03) Ashley Hinson (IA–02) Erin Houchin (IN–02) Richard Hudson (NC–09) Bill Huizenga (MI–04) Bill Johnson (OH–06) Mike Johnson (LA–04) Jim Jordan (OH–04) Mike Kelly (PA–16) Trent Kelly (MS–01) Doug LaMalfa (CA–01) Doug Lamborn (CO–05) Nicholas Langworthy (NY–23) Jake LaTurner (KS–02) Debbie Lesko (AZ–08) Barry Loudermilk (GA–11) Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO–03) Tracey Mann (KS–01) Lisa McClain (MI–09) Dr. Rich McCormick (GA–06) Patrick McHenry (NC–10) Carol Miller (WV–01) Mary Miller (IL–15) Max Miller (OH–07) Cory Mills (FL–07) John Moolenar (MI–02) Alex X. Mooney (WV–02) Barry Moore (AL–02) Blake Moore (UT–01) Gregory F. Murphy, M.D. (NC–03) Troy Nehls (TX–22) Ralph Norman (SC–05) Andy Ogles (TN–05) Gary Palmer (AL–06) Bill Posey (FL–08) Guy Reschenthaler (PA–14) Mike Rogers (AL–03) John Rose (TN–06) Matthew Rosendale, Sr. (MT–02) David Rouzer (NC–07) Steve Scalise (LA–01) Keith Self (TX–03) Pete Sessions (TX–17) Adrian Smith (NE–03) Christopher H. Smith (NJ–04) Lloyd Smucker (PA–11) Pete Stauber (MN–08) Elise Stefanik (NY–21) Dale Strong (AL–05) Claudia Tenney (NY–24) Glenn Thompson (PA–15) William Timmons, IV (SC–04) Beth Van Duyne (TX–24) Tim Walberg (MI–05) Michael Waltz (FL–05) Randy Weber, Sr. (TX–14) Daniel Webster (FL–11) Brad R. Wenstrup, D.P.M. (OH–02) Bruce Westerman (AR–04) Roger Williams (TX–25) Joe Wilson (SC–02) Rudy Yakym (IN–02)

If your representatives are on this list, call them and tell their office you will be voting against them in the next election because they asked SCOTUS to throw the US medical drug system into chaos at the cost of American lives.

Help to patients who have to cross state lines to get medical care by donating to your local abortion fund here. (x)

On to Round 2!

This is a wrap-up of the current standings. Polls for round 2 will be published starting this Saturday (12/16).

Congratulations to all the counties that progressed!

The state that is standing the strongest is New York, with 39 counties progressing to round 2! Albany, Allegany, Allegany, Broome, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Chemung, Chenango, Clinton, Columbia, Delaware, Franklin, Greene, Hamilton, Jefferson, Kings, Livingston, Nassau, New York, Niagara, Oneida, Orange, Otsego, Putnam, Rensselaer, Richmond, Rockland, Saint Lawrence, Saratoga, Schuyler, Steuben, Suffolk, Sullivan, Ulster, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Westchester, and Wyoming.

Next most powerful state is Virginia, which has 36 winning counties. Alleghany, Alleghany, Amherst, Augusta, Bedford, Brunswick, Caroline, Carroll, Charlotte, Chesterfield, Fairfax, Fauquier, Fluvanna, Gloucester, Goochland, Grayson, Halifax, Isle of Wight, James City, King and Queen, King George, King William, Lee, Louisa, Montgomery, Patrick, Pittsylvania, Prince Edward, Pulaski, Rockingham, Scott, Smyth, Southampton, Tazewell, Warren, and Wise.

Ohio is also standing strong with 27 advancing counties. Brown, Butler, Columbiana, Coshocton, Crawford, Defiance, Erie, Fulton, Geauga, Holmes, Jackson, Lake, Lawrence, Licking, Madison, Mahoning, Medina, Mercer, Monroe, Muskingum, Perry, Pickaway, Ross, Scioto, Seneca, Trumbull, and Van Wert.

North Carolina is up next with a solid 24 wins. Beaufort, Cabarrus, Caldwell, Camden, Carteret, Craven, Currituck, Granville, Harnett, Henderson, Hoke, Jackson, Johnson, Lenoir, Lincoln, Macon, Madison, Mecklenburg, Northampton, Onslow, Person, Robeson, Tyrrell, and Wake.

Only 1 more state has over 20 counties that made won their match-ups and that's my wonderful Washington. Adams, Asotin, Chelan, Clallam, Cowlitz, Ferry, Garfield, Grant, Grays Harbor, King, Kitsap, Kittitas, Klickitat, Lewis, Pacific, Pend Oreille, Skagit, Snohomish, Thurston, Walla Walla, Whatcom, Whitman, Yakima. Stay strong my soldiers.

A much higher number of states are comfortably in the middle of the pack. They are as follows:

Texas: 19 counties. Bosque, Collin, Dallas, Denton, Fort Bend, Goliad, Hockley, Jones, Lipscomb, Live Oak, Llano, McMullen, Milam, Ochiltree, Orange, Panola, Parker, San Patricio, and Travis.

California: 17 counties. Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado, Imperial, Lake, Mariposa, Monterey, Orange, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, Tulare, Tuolumne, and Yolo.

Pennsylvania: 16 counties. Allegheny, Blair, Butler, Carbon, Dauphin, Franklin, Greene, Jefferson, Lancaster, Lycoming, Mifflin, Montgomery, Perry, Potter, Venango, and York.

Tennessee: 15 counties. Blount, Campbell, Carter, Cumberland, Hardin, Houston, Johnson, Knox, Madison, Maury, McNairy, Obion, Union, Williamson, and Wilson.

Nebraska: 13 counties. Adams, Buffalo, Cass, Cherry, Dakota, Keith, Knox, Nuckolls, Platte, Saunders, Stanton, Thayer, and Webster.

Nevada: 13 counties. Churchill, Clark, Douglas, Esmeralda, Eureka, Lander, Lincoln, Lyon, Mineral, Pershing, Storey, Washoe, and White Pine.

Illinois: 12 counties. Cook, DeKalb, Franklin, Jasper, Kane, Marion, McDonough, McHenry, Morgan, Peoria, St Clair, and Winnebago.

Maryland: 12 counties. Anne Arundel, Calvert, Carroll, Cecil, Dorchester, Frederick, Montgomery, Prince George’s, Queen Anne’s, Talbot, Washington, and Worcester.

Michigan: 12 counties. Barry, Berrien, Clinton, Genesee, Gogebic, Kalamazoo, Lake, Oceana, Ottawa, Rocommon, Sanilac, and Wexford.

Iowa: 11 counties. Dickinson, Fayette, Hancock, Hardin, Henry, Humboldt, Jefferson, Jones, Polk, Pottawattamie, and Wright.

Louisiana: 11 parishes. Ascension, Bossier, Cameron, Catahoula, Concordia, Jefferson, Lincoln, Natchitoches, St Bernard, St James, and St Tammany.

New Jersey: 11 counties. Bergen, Cumberland, Essex, Middlesex, Morris, Passaic, Salem, Somerset, Sussex, Union, and Warren.

Kentucky: 10 counties. Boone, Boyle, Breckinridge, Daviess, Leslie, Logan, Pike, Shelby, Trimble, Woodford.

Many of these poor cute states are barely hanging on. Please wish them luck.

Florida: 8 counties. Alachua, Bay, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Okaloosa, Osceola, Palm Beach, and St Johns.

New Mexico: 8 counties. Colfax, Curry, Doña Ana, Lincoln, Mora, Otero, Roosevelt, and Socorro.

Georgia: 6 counties. Bartow, Cherokee, Floyd, Fulton, Pierce, and Rockdale.

Indiana: 6 counties. Benton, Elkhart, Jennings, Marion, Marshall, and Starke.

Minnesota: 6 counties. Aitkin, Clearwater, Hennepin, Hubbard, McLeod, and Pipestone.

Wisconsin: 6 counties. Calumet, Fond du Lac, Osaukee, Portage, Racine, and Sheboygan.

Wyoming: 6 counties. Big Horn, Converse, Lincoln, Natrona, Park, and Teton.

Missouri: 5 counties. Clay, Gentry, Greene, Newton, and St Louis.

South Carolina: 5 counties. Anderson, Calhoun, Dillon, Dorchester, and Lexington.

Utah: 5 counties. Beaver, Summit, Utah, Washington, and Wayne.

Alaska: 4 boroughs. Anchorage, Juneau, Matanuska-Susitna, and Wrangell.

Arkansas: 4 counties. Cross, Searcy, Washington, and White.

Colorado: 4 counties. Douglas, El Paso, Fremont, and La Plata.

Oklahoma: 4 counties. Bryan, Payne, Rogers, and Washington.

West Virginia: 4 counties. Fayette, Marion, Monongalia, and Roane.

Alabama: 3 counties. Bullock, Cleburne, and Mobile.

Arizona: 3 counties. Coconino, Maricopa, and Yavapai.

Maine: 3 counties. Androscoggin, Hancock, and Washington.

Idaho: 2 counties. Bannock and Bonner.

Kansas: 2 counties. Atchinson and Johnson.

Massachusetts: 2 counties. Barnstable and Berkshire.

Montana: 2 counties. Gallatin and Silver Bow.

North Dakota: 2 counties. Benson and LaMoure.

Some states only have 1 county that progressed. They are: Delaware (Kent County), Hawaii (Maui County), Mississippi (Adams County), New Hampshire (Hillsborough County), Oregon (Linn County), and South Dakota (Bennet County).

```

In addition to all the winning counties above, there will be 83 new county flags folded into round 2!!! (Because of math reasoning this had to happen) Get hyped

They are as follows:

Alexander NC, Allen OH, Alpena MI, Alpena MI, Alpine CA, Arapahoe CO, Ashe NC, Avery NC, Baldwin AL, Baltimore MD, Bell KY, Benzie MI, Bernalillo NM, Black Hawk IA, Brevard FL, Camden NJ, Campbell WY, Canyon ID, Centre PA, Charles City VA, Cheatham TN, Chester PA, Clark WA, Clarke VA, Cleveland OK, Cochise AZ, Columbus NC, Coweta GA, Darke OH, Davidson NC, Elko NV, Erie PA, Florence SC, Garrett MD, Goshen WY, Greene VA, Grundy IL, Gwinnett GA, Hidalgo TX, Highland OH, Hocking OH, Holt NE, Hot Springs WY, Howard MD, Huntingdon PA, Ingham MI, Island WA, Kankakee IL, Lackawanna PA, Lawrence PA, Leelanau MI, Lehigh PA, Leon FL, Liberty TX, Lucas OH, Madera CA, Mahaska IA, Manitowoc WI, McLennan TX, Meigs OH, Milwaukee WI, Nashville and Davidson TN, Northumberland VA, Orleans NY, Page VA, Porter IN, Sacramento CA, Salt Lake UT, San Diego CA, Sangamon IL, Sevier TN, Shelby TN, Skamania WA, Spotsylvania VA, Stafford VA, Sussex VA, Terrell TX, Trinity CA, Tulsa OK, Tuscarawas OH, Ventura CA, Wahkiakum WA, Yuma AZ

puttering oblivion; promises to gouge

        “Go to nature!” rejoins Keith abruptly; whereon she burst into tears. They are transient, however, and Keith, knowing it, sweeps her rootless tree into oblivion only to replace it with a hoary monarch of countless ages.       “All very well to copy some,” he continues, “but this pittery puttering won’t do, Bertha! You’ve simply got to go to nature. You’ve got to get out and gouge!       Bertha promises to gouge. “Your sky isn’t bad!” he observes, amelioratingly, “but your clouds are boiled potatoes. Smash in your clouds — this way! Use a big brush — work largely! Keep everything together! See things as a whole!”       As he approaches my easel I feel that I have nothing to say why sentence of death should not be pronounced upon me for imposing on the helpless cattle of my landscape unpalatable soapiness of grazing land.       “What is that?” Keith has pounced into the middle of my canvas.

ex Emily P. B. Hay, William Keith as Prophet Painter (San Francisco: Paul Elder, 1916) : 18 : link same (U California) and Getty Research Institute copies via hathitrust : link

William Keith (1838-1911) wikipedia : link

Mary McHenry Keith (1855-1947), Keith’s second wife, lawyer and social justice advocate who was especially known for her work in the woman suffrage and animal rights movements. wikipedia : link

Emily Parkin Babcock Hay (1869-)  

“I'm done with the left-right divide. It’s now humans vs the deadly robotic corporate state”

“I’m done with the left-right divide. It’s now humans vs the deadly robotic corporate state”

Winter Oak Keith McHenry of Food Not Bombs is interviewed by Paul Cudenec Paul Cudenec: Thanks very much for agreeing to this exchange, Keith. It is very encouraging to know that in this age of near-universal deceit and hypocrisy, there are still individuals out there who stand true to their values. First of all, I gather you have a proud family history of fighting for freedom, going back to the…

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“I am done with the left-right divide. It’s now the humans versus the deadly robotic corporate state” | winter oak

“I am done with the left-right divide. It’s now the humans versus the deadly robotic corporate state” | winter oak

Keith McHenry: Thanks Paul, at this point there is nothing more important than resisting this rush to the totalitarian police state. Our liberty, humanity and connection to the natural world is at stake and we don’t have much time to stop this catastrophe. Events grow more dire every day so, by the time people read this, the devastation of war, censorship, famine and digital slavery may be so…

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From the Golden Age of Television

Series Premiere

P. O. W. - ABC - October 27, 1953

A presentation of "The United States Steel Hour" Season 1 Episode 1

Drama

Running Time: 60 minutes

Directed by Alex Segal

Stars:

Richard Kiley as Sgt. Lucky Dover

Gary Merrill as Major E. E. Mead

Phyllis Kirk as Betty Lou

Brian Keith as Sgt. Iron Man Bonsell

Johnny Stewart as Corporal Freddy Benton

Don Hanmer as Walter Fitch

Michael Dreyfuss as Danny

Lloyd Knight as Marty

Mary Fickett as Lt. Harper

Cameron Prud'homme as Dover's Father

Anne Seymour as Dover's Mother

Donald McHenry as Willis

Morley Chang as Comrade Chang

Russell Hardie as Mayor Blake

Screenshots were taken from a print restored by UCLA.

Currently reading FNB’s “Hungry for Peace”. Does anyone have experience with running or volunteering with a Food Not Bombs chapter? I’d love to hear about it!

Cover for New Frontier novel "Renaissance." Art by Keith Birdsong, 2000.

The Without a Roof Radio Program for January 11, 2017

Today, Wednesday January 11th at 5pm Pacific on the KZFR 90.1 FMWithout a Roof Program -- Shahera Hyatt, Project Director at the California Homeless Youth Project reads a statement on the Tampa Food Not Bombs mass arrest last weekend for providing a free meal in a downtown Tampa Bay community park.

Next up is a reading of a Paula Lomazzi, (director at the Sacramento Homeless Organizing Committee), penned remembrance and reflection for Steve Augerer who died houseless last month residing along a riverbank in Sacramento, California.

We then interview Steve O'Bryan at Pullins Cyclery, his downtown business location. Steve answers this weeks theme question(s) of "What is the face of Poverty Downtown" and what is the Chico Chamber of Commerce and the Downtown Chico Business Association Dcba doing to address it.

We then go to a joint interview with Cliff Connolly, who took a viral video of the mass arrests at a their Saturday community meal, and Dezeray Lyn, a member of Food not Bombs who was arrested and taken away in handcuffs. Keith McHenry, Co-Founder of the international Food Not Bombs organization, follows their interview with a statement on what is occurring in Tampa Bay within the historical context of Food not Bomb's long-standing service to the poor in communities across America and around the world.

We WRAP the show with Shelby Nacino, a Law Student from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law who answers our theme question(s) from the context and view from a report she is preparing for Western Regional Advocacy Project regarding the Chico Business Improvement District.

streaming live at http://kzfr.org TUNE IN AND INVITE YOUR FRIENDS

A bit of activist history (cw suicide, cw people being weird/ignorant/angry about suicidality): https://www.foodnotbombs.net/hugh.html

He made the “red sheep” joke the first time I met him. (There was a massive history of drama between him and Keith McHenry that involved Hugh getting kicked out of SF FNB for a while, and the oldtimers mostly did not want to talk about it.) It’s a joke because the phrase is usually “black sheep” for someone who fits in, but anarchism= black and communism = red so, red sheep. He explained it too. Basically, he was a total dork, and he probably killed himself, and I liked him, and I miss him. I went to his memorial service. It was an odd mix of FNB people and people he’d known from participating in medical experiments. His family members were specifically barred from attending. Many people expressed a hope that he’d just left and started a new life somewhere else -- his body was never found. I didn’t really know him, not as such. But, I miss him. His (probable) death was a tragedy. He was very socially isolated. This is a common risk for activists, especially ones who put a lot of effort into living out their values as thoroughly as possible. Like it says: for Hugh, the Cause was everything.

— 𝐅𝐀𝐐 ⋆ ˚｡

this blog is strictly multifandom, but that does not mean that i don’t play favorites for certain fandoms/characters. so there will most definitely be more writings for certain characters and fandoms.

requests: are closed, but thots are always welcome!

in no way shape or form should minors be interacting with anything on or posted to this blog. this is an 18+ space. anon hate and celebrity discourse also has no place here, so please respect that. if you are racist, homophobic, bigoted, zionist, islamphobic, judgmental to what people enjoy writing/reading, can’t depict fiction from real life, you will be blocked.

𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞…

rpf, necrophilia, incest, pregnancy, daddy/little play, age play, spitting, kitten, bimbo!reader, foot fetish, animal play, race play, watersports, underage scenarios, alpha/omega, domestic violence, kid fics, male!character x male!oc, i hate the word ‘doll’ as a pet name so i avoid it like the plague.

𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞…

smut (refer to the above list when it comes to this), fluff, age gaps, poly/threesome+, reverse harem, dubcon, noncon, yandere, toy play, cheating (to a certain degree), blood play, knife play, some bdsm, breath play, violence, gore, capture x captive, hunter/prey, praise and degradation, power imbalance, step siblings, supernatural, villainary, choking, mommy/daddy kink (to an extent).

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐄𝐒.

marvel ↷

miguel o’hara, hobie brown, marc spector, thor odinson, loki laufeyson, peter parker (all variants), yelena belova, joaquin torres, doctor strange, wade wilson, carol danvers, eddie brock, scott lang, hope van dyne, kate bishop, hela, pietro maximoff, logan howlett, wanda maximoff, steve rogers, kraven, cable, druig, makkari, thena, blade

dc universe ↷

dinah lance/black canary, diana prince, clark kent, pamela isley/poison ivy, arthur curry/aquaman, harley quinn, adrian chase, pattinson!bruce wayne, edward nashton/the riddler

top gun: maverick ↷

jake 'hangman' seresin, bradley 'rooster' bradshaw, javy 'coyote' machado, mickey 'fanboy' garcia, natasha 'phoenix' trace, beau 'cyclone' simpson, reuben 'payback' fitch

star wars ↷

poe dameron, finn, kylo ren/ben solo, bo-katan kryze, din djarin, young!han solo

scream ↷

ethan landry, stu macher, billy loomis, chad meeks-martin, mindy meeks-martin, amber freeman, tara carpenter

bridgerton ↷

anthony bridgerton, colin bridgerton, benedict bridgerton, kate sharma, simon basset, phillip crane

house of the dragon ↷

ser harwin strong, daemon targaryen, aemond targaryen, rhaenyra targaryen

american horror story ↷

cordelia goode, tristan duffy, michael langdon, harry gardner, madison montgomery, kit walker, xavier plympton, ally mayfair-richards

etc shows ↷

villanelle, lip gallagher, tommy miller, carmy berzatto, luca (the bear), kate parks, daisy jones, billy dunne, warren rhodes, geralt of rivia, love quinn, max wolfe, olivia benson, roman godfrey, dream the endless, lucifer (sandman), jonathan pine, mira phillips, the salesman (squid game), hwang jun ho (squid game), kim geon-woo (bloodhounds)

movies ↷

john wick, finnick odair, peeta mellark, johanna mason, han lue, cipher, walter de ville, tangerine, dave lizewski, thomas sharpe, james conrad, neil (tenet), edward cullen, millie / molotovgirl, dante reyes, thrandull, steve kemp, charlie swan, marquis vincent de gramont, keys (free guy), akira (john wick), beverly marsh (it two), ben hanscom (it two), keith (barbarian), frank (don't worry darling)

adam driver ↷

kylo ren/ben solo, adam sackler, flip zimmerman, phillip altman, charlie barber, henry mchenry, commander mills, rick smolan, officer ronnie peterson, matt the radar technician, clyde logan, paterson, jude

oscar isaac ↷

santiago garcia, poe dameron, nathan bateman, jonathan levy, william tell, blue jones, rydel keener

pedro pascal ↷

din djarin, javier peña, frankie morales, javi gutierrez, joel miller, dieter bravo

chris evans ↷

ransom drysdale, lloyd hansen, andy barber, ari levinson, frank adler, steve rogers, jake wyler

Food waste is heating up the planet. Is dumpster-diving by app a solution?

Lucie Basch knew that people threw away food that was perfectly good to eat — bananas with a few black dots on the peel, cans of beans just past the expiration date. But when she started working at Nestlé’s factories in the United Kingdom in 2014, she realized the world had a big problem. Much of the food she saw go down the production line — chocolate bars, coffee capsules, and cereals — would never be eaten. 

One-third of the food produced worldwide, Basch learned, ends up rotting in fields, the back of people’s fridges, or in the dump. It’s an urgent problem for the climate: Food waste accounts for as much as 10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Decomposing food releases so much methane that if food waste were a country, its emissions would make it the world’s third-worst polluter, behind China and the United States.

“I realized that we need to build a better food system,” Basch said. “And for me, I really wanted to use technologies to connect people at the right time at the right place to enable them to make a difference.” 

Basch, a native of France, teamed up with entrepreneurs in Europe to create Too Good To Go — an app that helps bakeries, restaurants, and supermarkets sell their excess food to locals in the form of affordable “surprise bags.” These businesses put their leftover bagels, croissants, and noodle bowls in mystery bags you can reserve through the app for $4 to $6. Then you stop by the shop during the scheduled pick-up window. It’s essentially dumpster diving by smartphone, except that you pay for the goods instead of digging through a dumpster with a flashlight. More than 38 million people around the world have downloaded the app so far.

In recent years, food waste has become the basis of a growing industry. Three U.S. companies — Hungry Harvest, Imperfect Foods, and Misfits Market — buy “ugly” produce, pack it up in cardboard boxes, and deliver it to people’s homes. A Colorado-based company called FoodMaven seeks out surplus food from farmers and large distribution centers and finds ways to sell or donate it; a San Francisco startup, Full Harvest, takes blemished produce from fields and sells it to juice makers and other businesses.

Preventing excess food from heading to the dump was once the domain of counterculture movements like the “freegans” — a loose group of vegans who made exceptions for animal products that they scavenged from dumpsters. New apps and business models are now taking these approaches and scaling them up, aiming to keep food from landfills and maybe turn a profit while they’re at it.

The word “freegan” was originally coined as a joke. It was allegedly minted in 1994 by the activist Keith McHenry after he found a wheel of cheese in a dumpster. Six years later, a pamphlet called “Why Freegan?” turned the joke into a manifesto, defining freeganism as “an anti-consumeristic ethic about eating” and the “ultimate boycott.” A prominent group of freegans in New York City became a media spectacle in the mid-2000s, appearing in the New York Times, on The Oprah Show, and in coverage all around the world, often featuring footage of the group’s weekly dumpster dive.

Freegans saw food waste as a symptom of a broken economic system, not the problem itself, said Alex Barnard, an assistant professor of sociology at New York University. He was active with the New York City group during its height and later wrote a book on freegans and food waste. 

“The idea was that food waste is this incredibly poignant symbol of a failure of capitalism. There’s all this labor and animal suffering and exploitation that goes into these commodities,” Barnard said. “But what an amazing additional tragedy: that all of that suffering happens for something that isn’t even consumed.”

A woman with a group of “freegans” pulls a bagel out of a garbage bag outside a shop in New York City in January 2006. STAN HONDA/AFP via Getty Images

These days, Barnard doesn’t meet many people who call themselves freegans, but their efforts have had a lasting effect. Whereas food waste used to be seen as a symptom of the excesses of capitalism, now it’s seen as a problem on its own. And that problem is easier to solve than the bigger issue: overproduction.

“The root of the problem is, we produce way more calories than we can possibly consume,” Barnard said. “At some point, your food waste movement has to actually decrease production.” 

Critics like Barnard say that in the scramble to commodify food waste, many of these business ventures have lost sight of the big picture — that the Nestlés of the world are simply producing too much food.

Still, there’s some evidence that food waste-fighting apps are alleviating the situation at hand. A study last year looked at the app OLIO, a platform for people looking to give away food and other household items to their neighbors. After analyzing 170,000 posts on OLIO over the course of about a year and a half, researchers found that almost $1 million worth of food was diverted from garbage cans, the emissions equivalent of between 87 and 156 metric tons of carbon dioxide. 

One of the co-authors of that paper, Jonathan Krones, a visiting assistant professor of environmental studies at Boston College, has written that food is getting commodified “from cradle to grave.” Krones believes that businesses started focusing on food waste once “information became cheap”; that is, when nearly everybody had a smartphone, it was easier for bargain hunters to know when those day-old muffins were up for grabs.

Not everyone is convinced that all of the companies fighting food waste are solving real problems. The businesses that sell “ugly” fruits and vegetables, for instance, have been criticized for profiting off produce that didn’t really need diverting, as much of it was already getting sold to restaurants or fed to animals. 

To make sure that the food sold on the app wouldn’t have otherwise been donated to food banks, Too Good To Go teams up with local hunger-relief organizations in the cities it operates in. “It’s super important that we fit into the existing ecosystem, and that we can help each other,” Basch said.

Though Krones is concerned about the unintended consequences of commodifying food waste, he’s also excited about the latest crop of companies like Too Good To Go. Their business models are scaling up in the ways that other efforts haven’t. “You know, people have been dumpster diving for a really long time, and there have been ‘gleaning’ organizations for a really long time, and food waste has gone up and up and up,” he said. 

Basch sees Too Good To Go as complementary to dumpster diving. “I think a lot of Too Good To Go’s waste buyers are dumpster divers themselves,” she said. “The goal is really to make it more systematic.” Not everyone is comfortable digging through a company’s bins in the middle of the night, after all. 

Too Good To Go and similar apps still face obstacles to widespread adoption — namely, what Krones refers to as the “ick factor,” the notion that “second-hand” food is unsanitary. Basch stresses that when you buy a surprise bag on Too Good To Go, you’re getting the good stuff. “You’re actually just saving the food that would have been sold full price just 10 minutes earlier,” she said. On the whole, Too Good To Go users appear to be happy with the contents of their mystery bags, which have garnered an average rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars on the app. 

Last fall, Too Good To Go started up in New York City, Boston, and other East Coast cities. This month, it has expanded to the West Coast, launching in San Francisco, Seattle, and Portland. More than 700,000 Americans have downloaded the app so far, according to a spokesperson. On a typical scroll through the Seattle app, you’ll find mystery bags of bagels and udon noodle bowls that have already sold out, alongside plenty of bottles of nearly expired olive oil ready for the taking. (One can only make so much pesto.)

“We know that we’re saving close to 200,000 meals every day now, but it’s just a drop in the ocean, really, so we need to do more, we need to go faster,” Basch said. 

Too Good To Go estimates that on average, each “meal” (meaning each surprise bag) sold averts 2.2 pounds of food from the dump. That’s the carbon-emissions equivalent of fully charging a smartphone 422 times.

This story was originally published by Livescience.Tech with the headline Food waste is heating up the planet. Is dumpster-diving by app a solution? on May 25, 2021.

New post published on: https://livescience.tech/2021/05/25/food-waste-is-heating-up-the-planet-is-dumpster-diving-by-app-a-solution/