Akademik

n.

A person, usually a vegan, who consumes only food that is obtained by foraging, most often in the garbages of restaurants, grocery stores, and other retailers. Also: Freegan. [Blend of free and vegan.]

—freeganism n.

Some call them "dumpster divers," others brand them "skip (dumpster) lickers," but Ross Parry and Ash Falkingham like to count themselves among the Freegans — a growing band of foragers who seek to live entirely from the waste of others.

In this brief trip to a small supermarket dumpster in southeast London, they have recovered enough food to provide themselves — and several others — with an impressive evening meal, as well as bread, muffins and teabags for the next morning's breakfast.

Freeganism, derived from the words "free" and "vegan," is spreading to Britain from the United States, where one of its founding fathers, Adam Weissman, has set up a Freegan information Web site to persuade others to join him.

—Kate Kelland, "freegans' forage for food in Britain's bins," Reuters, May 26, 2006

It's about 7.30 on a mild Tuesday evening in one of Melbourne's northern suburbs. I'm in a small Toyota station wagon with Tim, Shane, G (Gareth) and Danya. They are "freegans": people who minimise their impact on animals and the environment by living on what supermarkets throw out.

—Peter Singer and Jim Mason, "Food for nought," The Age, May 20, 2006

10am. I met a bald bloke who explained that there are camps for carnivores, camps for vegans and camps for "freegans" who simply eat anything they are given.

—Jeremy Clarkson, "Stop the road, they want to get off," The Sunday Times, August 31, 1997