You may have heard of the 2014 Paul May case where the Crown Prosecution Service called for three men to be charged with theft after they “raided” Iceland’s bins for discarded food including tomatoes, mushrooms and cheese. The freelance web designer along with two other defendants claimed that they were simply rescuing food waste that would otherwise be sent to landfill.

After initially being charged under the 1824 Vagrancy Act for being found in "an enclosed area, namely Iceland, for an unlawful purpose, namely stealing food" the charges were dropped after the retail chain were bombarded with criticism from fellow food waste activists.

This case and many others exemplify the discrepancies surrounding the legalities of the word ‘freeganism’ as Dentons Law Firm states: “Firstly, when someone discards an item, whom does it belong to? Secondly, is a freegan “dishonest” in retrieving the item, even if they believe that it morally right to do so?” 

Although not a freegan herself, money-saving journalist Vicky Parry believes by changing the wording within the law, this movement could hold the power to replenish access to food within UK and has started an online campaign with her company, MoneyMagpie in hope to persuade the Government to rethink their current policies and ultimately educate society about the potential freeganism has for helping food poverty.

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

It was after one night shift at at her old stadium bartending job when Vicky realised just how severe the food wasted was.

“We had something like £2000 worth of waste at the end of every shift of hot dogs,” she said. “And I was like, well, not only is that you know loads and loads of piggies that went to heaven for no reason, it was also walking home through poverty and seeing people on the streets begging.” Vicky said.

After approaching the stadium to request the hotdogs  be sent to a local homeless shelter, managers said that it was not possible. This is because of possession, without professional arrangements between the companies, there is a risk of being charged for underlying health risks therefore, food can not be passed onto other entities.

Despite understanding this, Vicky was still infuriated and believes morally, the food wasted should be provided to vulnerable people. “What happens to people who might just want to take something, not steal it?” She said, “or what happens to people who don’t have enough wages? What about homeless people who see some food?”

Freeganism has potential to reduce reliance on charities and to help address rising food prices, one of the many problems caused by inflation, Covid and the general economic downturn. Research shows that the CPI, which is ‘the official mechanism used to measure inflation in the UK’ showed the cost of food and drink has gone up 5.9% year-on-year as of March 2022. However, this shocking figure has not just affected luxury foods it’s also brought the prices up on staples such as rice and pasta.

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Vicky said: “If the government can come up with a way to hand over responsibility of when they go to bin it, that’s all they need to do. If big businesses could stamp something and say discarded, if there was just some way of saying this is not their responsibility, that’s all. 

 “It’s nutritious food as well, it’s not even bad food. People are now going what’s cheaper, a pack of turkey dinosaurs or vegetables? Well it’s the vegetables, but they can’t cook.”

Vicky is not alone with this plea. Dr. Martin Caraher, Emeritus Professor of Food and Health Policy at the University of London, believes that the Government need to reassess their policies, not in terms of just freeganism but in terms of bringing in more alternative measures to help food insecurity, which has been heightened for low income families by Covid household debt.

As Universal Credit and welfare budget cuts endanger access to food even more, a system that targets health and wellbeing is needed instead of a quick solution to restore our food supply chain.

Professor Caraher explained “We've got is a rising obesity crisis and we've got a rising food insecurity crisis as well as a more general poverty crisis and what we've currently got is separate policies. 

“If we look at the roots, they are basically the same problem. It's people having not enough income to make decisions around healthy food. The whole population is getting heavier, but the largely the people who go hungry are more likely to be obese, they may go hungry part of the month and then overcompensate when they get money in another part of the month.”

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Although obesity is rising, according to The Money Charity, based on February 2022 numbers, the UK’s total interest payments on personal debt over a 12-month period would have been £45bn, meaning that many low-income families are struggling to put nutritious food on the table let alone heat their homes. 

So what should be made a crime, people in need taking food or big retailers throwing away of millions of tonnes of perfectly edible food each year?

Despite zero waste being strongly advocated for, there appears to be little attention focused on freeganism, perhaps because few people have heard of it, or perhaps people are afraid of being prosecuted for theft. In any case, Vicky’s campaign has put this monumental movement on the map. Meanwhile, she is proudly voicing her views that the Government should condone the act and is steadily receiving support from the public. 

If her campaign is successful, Vicky will approach Parliament directly in the hope of changing this moral issue within our criminal justice system.

You can sign the freegan petition here