Free Food

by Emmanuel Marshall.

This page has been updated. Read the latest version here

image

 
…I’m sitting here, in a chain restaurant we all know well, with a big M out the front. I’m using the free WiFi that they thoughtfully provide. I’m not gonna eat here though. For the price of one of their crummy overpriced hamburgers, I can eat for three days if I shop smart and scavenge.
I do like their fries though…
No! I’m writing about eating cheap! This is no time to be succumbing to my lust for junk food. I am here to take advantage of free internet, that’s all. Stay focussed..!

We all gotta eat. Fact of life.  Food is one of the unavoidable expenses of the low budget traveller.  I’m always looking for ways to stretch my dollars further, and I have found some simple ways to reduce my food budget.
Even in an expensive country like Australia, you can eat for as little as US$1.50 per day.

This post is all about eating for cheap when you’re on the road. And don’t think that eating cheap means eating badly.
In some parts of the planet I’ve traveled, like Thailand and Morocco, finding delicious low-price food is easy. Things work a bit differently in different parts of the world, though.
In this article I’m dealing with traveling and eating in developed, industrialised regions, such as North America, Europe, Australia, etc, where eating can be very expensive. It doesn’t have to be.

 
Dumpster Diving.

In rich, wasteful societies, supermarket waste bins are an excellent source of free food.  The practice of recycling food from supermarket bins is known as ‘dumpster diving’, ‘skipping’, or ‘freeganism’ (a freegan is someone who eats recycled food).

The best time to dumpster dive is usually late at night, but you can find food in bins almost any time of day.  Most supermarkets re-stock their shelves late, when there are few customers in the store.  Truck loads of new stuff come in, and the food that has been on the shelf for a few days already gets thrown out. Any bakery goods, fresh fruit and vegetables, meat, etc, that is more than a day old is thrown in the massive metal bins behind the store.  I’ve scrounged many a delicious and nutritious meal from such bins.

image

(Above: Shannon cooking up a dumpster feast on Fairy Meadow Beach. We rescued all this food from the bins behind the local supermarkets.)

Go dumpster diving with a backpack or other large bag. Take a head torch, if you are going at night, and a pair of utility gloves to protect your hands from broken glass.
You may need to climb inside the bin, so don’t wear your best clothes.

Many stores lock their dumpsters, but access to the food can be gained by prizing up the corner of the lid, or removing the steel rod from the lid hinges, and opening it from the hinge side.

Use caution when diving.  Over-zealous junior managers sometimes call security guards or police to harass divers. The best policy is to be quiet and discreet to avoid any hassles. 

In all the time I’ve been diving I’ve only encountered a few harassment situations, and by staying calm and being discreet I avoided any serious issues.

Cache food in batches, and remove it quickly to a secure location nearby, where you will not be observed.
On a good night, you can get kilo’s of bread, cakes, eggs, meat, vegetables and fruit – all still in the plastic wrapping. 
Collecting meat in this way can be hazardous, so use caution.  Meat, especially chicken, can harbour harmful bacteria. If the meat is still cold from the fridge, and sealed in plastic, then it is probably safe to eat. If the plastic wrapping looks swollen, or the meat is smelly, or discolored, give it a miss.

Even canned goods and packaged food are thrown out sometimes, if they are nearing their ‘best before’ date, or the packageing is damaged superficially in some way.

image

(Above: a really successful dumpster haul in Melbourne, Australia. Me, and my beautiful friends Tania and Ash rescued all this stuff, and more, in one night, running round the neighbourhood in Ash’s car. 5 kilograms of beautiful strawberries, a lamb roast, kebabs, cakes, yoghurt, milk, bread… we ate like pigs for days!)

If you like a pint now and then (and who doesn’t), then try dumpster diving behind a large liquor store.  You can sometimes score cases of beer, and bottles of spirits that have scratched labels, or are near date.
I have a friend, Franc who is a veteran diver.  Franc once rescued six cases of beer from bins in one lucky night, as well as ten kilo’s of bread, three boxes of fresh grapes and a kilo of smoked salmon. 

Another way to actively recycle food is to eat leftovers, or ‘table dive’.
In restaurants and cafes, many customers do not finish their meals. You can approach diners who are preparing to leave and have leftovers on the table. Most people will be surprised to be asked, but will happily let you finish their unwanted food if you are friendly and polite. I have eaten in airports like this often. Damned if I’m gonna pay US$8.00 for a plate of french fries!

(Below: dumpster diver extraordinaire, Franc, brewing up a pot of dumpstered grapes at Rainbow Gathering.  Delicious.)

image

If you’re a confident and friendly person, sometimes all you need to do to get a free feed is ask! Go to a cafe, restaurant, bakery or grocer and just enquire whether they have any left overs that are headed for the trash. I’ve scored veges, bread and pizza this way. Ask and ye shall receive.

  
Hunting and Harvesting.

No stores around?  Flat broke?  Whoa there!  No need to eat your own left leg just yet.

As you travel, keep your eyes open for roadside food. 

Fruit trees can be found on the side of the road in many places. 

Blackberry vines are common and very plentiful at some times of year.

When farmers plant corn crops, the seed often spills over onto roadsides.  Corn can be easily cooked on hot coals from a fire. Leave it in the husk to keep it moist while it cooks.

(Below: Rolled oats with stewed roadside blackberries.  Mmmmm-mm!)

image

Fishing is a great way to eat for free.  All you need to catch fish is a small hand reel, which you can get for about $5.00.  You can bait your hook with worms, grubs, or even balls of white bread.

(Below: a typical el-cheapo hand fishing reel.)

cuban yo yo

image

(Above: I caught this Breem with a basic line and white bread for bait.)

If you are up for a challenge, try trapping rabbits, or hunting small game with a spear. 

You can make a simple snare trap by forming a noose with thin cord, and hanging it in the path of an animal trail.  Look for places where the path passes through narrow openings in hedges, or runs under logs, so you can position the snare in a spot the animal cannot miss.

(Below: a rabbit snare.)

img_0894

image

(Above: a couple of hungry hitchhikers tucking into a roast possum. Reno, Cam and me went out to hunt kangaroos, but this possum was all we could get. Reno whacked it with a machette X-). Read the story here…)

A crude spear can be fashioned from a sapling tree.  Sharpen the thicker, heavier end into a tapering point, or lash a knife to it.

Even a heavy stone can be a hunting weapon if you have a strong arm and good aim.

 


fb_thh_short_2
 
Want to learn how to travel the world on $10/day?
Get your FREE e-book: The Travel Hackers Handbook.


 

Shop and Save.

Often, the bins are empty, the fish aren’t biting, and you will have to buy your food.
If you are on a tight budget, careful shopping is essential.  We all know some stores are cheaper than others.  Generally, in developed countries, the bigger the shop, the smaller the price. Big supermarkets are the way to go. 

Buying in bulk is not usually an option for travellers, but you can sometimes save money by buying larger quantities if you are camped in one spot for a while.  Check price tags carefully, looking for the per kilo price, and compare value.

Some staple foods are cheap almost everywhere.  Items like flour, eggs, rolled oats and potatoes are usually good value.

Rolled oats are great food to carry when you hitchhike.  They are very efficient, in terms of weight versus nutrition, and require nothing to prepare except cold water and a bit of sugar, which you can obtain from truck stop cafe counters.

Another of my favourite super cheap meals is camp fire bread.  We call it ‘damper’ in Australia. 

 
Damper.

All you need to make damper is a camp fire, a few cups of flour and a bit of water.  Self raising flour is the best.

Ingredients:

flour – one cup per person
water
pinch of salt
firewood

Method:

1. Build a hot fire with plenty of wood.

2. Put 3/4 of the flour in a bowl. Add a pinch of salt, if you have some.
Make a well in the centre of the flour and begin by adding a small amount of water.  Mix the water in, and gradually add more, mixing it with your fingers constantly.  You are going to get sticky.  Don’t worry. 

3. When the flour has become a firm dough, remove the dough ball from the bowl, and knead it in your hands.  At this point you can rub some dry flour between your hands to get the sticky lumps of dough off your fingers. 
Knead the dough firmly, adding flour as necessary until it is soft, not sticky, and evenly textured.

4. Wait for the fire to burn down, then rake the hot coals flat.

5. Make the dough into balls slightly bigger than a golf ball.  Flatten the dough balls in your palm into discs about a 1/4″ thick.

6.  Place the flattened discs of dough directly onto the hot coals.  When the lower surface is brown, and starting to blister, flip the damper over to cook the other side.  When it is cooked, the damper should have a firm, crisp feel, and make a slighly hollow sound when tapped with a finger nail. Experiment with different water / flour proportions and dough thickness to suit your taste.

7.  Eat it while it’s hot!  (Damper is great with soup, peanut butter, jam, or whatever you get out of the local supermarket bin.)

(Below: my mate Tania is an amazing camp chef! Check out her super simple scone recipe here..!)

image

  
Happy hunting and gathering (and recycling)!
I’ll add more money saving ideas as I learn them.
If you have suggestions about ways to eat for cheap, please comment below, and share!

(Below: Craigo, with a major dumpster haul on Australia’s Gold Coast.)

wpid-20150708225044_wm

 
…I may have worn out my welcome here at the burger joint. The kid wiping tables keeps giving me sour looks. I’ve been sitting here for three hours using the WiFi, and I haven’t even bought a thirty cent ice cream.
Oh man… Thinking about ice cream makes me hungry.
Writing about eating in a fast food place is torture.
Hah! Looks like that lady over there isn’t gonna finish her fries. Time to eat…

 
>> Questions?  Check out the Q and A page, or email me.
>> What do you really need? Learn how to pack your bag for adventure!
>> Want to stop wasting money on backpacker hostels?
>> Like Raw Safari on Facebook.