There were hundreds upon hundreds of questions and comments generated by the HuffPost Food article published on Thursday, July 28. I'm answering them in a series of entries, each addressing a different recurring question/comment. Please keep in mind that I do not (can not) represent the whole of the freegan population. I represent only myself and my own views/motivations/concerns. 

First things first. Let's nail down this "freeganism" business. What IS freeganism and what exactly is a freegan?

I was a little annoyed that the image at the top of the HuffPost article is that of a presumably young person doubled over into a large dumpster. 

1) That image is not of me.

2) Though I am not opposed or averse to diving in this manner, this is not how "dumpster diving" is typically practiced in NYC. 

The simple fact is that such dumpsters are quite rare in the city. Grocery stores, delis, bakeries, and pharmacies typically leave their trash bags in piles on the curbside, right in front of the store. We do not dig through municipal trash, leftovers, or rat-infested-anything. On the contrary, the food that we rescue in NYC is quite clean, healthy, nutritious, delicious, and often sealed, shrink-wrapped, or otherwise still in its original packaging!

That being said, it is also important to acknowledge that freeganism is not merely dumpster-diving, and dumpster-diving is not necessarily inspired by a freegan worldview. Many people living in abject poverty eat trash not because they are reacting to a capitalist, corporatist, consumerist economic system that they regard as exploitative and immoral. They do so because they are helplessly poor, starving, and have no other choice. 

Freegans on the other hand generally do have other options. They are typically not financially forced into a freegan lifestyle, it is rather their own economic and ethical choice (read my blog entry from Thursday to get a grasp on why I became a freegan myself). But freeganism does not pertain only to the ways in which one acquires food. We consider bicycling, gardening, composting, reusing, couch surfing, and recycling as other means of living out the freegan way. Basically - any activity that consciously minimizes waste and avoids consumption could be considered freegan. Note that it's the consciousness that makes the real difference.

Some more extreme freegan practices might include squatting, hitch hiking, freight hopping, and/or refusing work. I'm certainly interested in these and have dabbled in some, but perhaps the one that most disturbed my week-in-the-life readers was my refusing work in the form of a conventional job. Instead, I spend my time busking, creating, engaging in activism, or volunteering. 

The assumption by many was that I must be a drain on society if I'm not earning my keep. The fact is that I earn enough money busking and doing odd jobs here and there to pay my minimal expenses. Any other needs or wants are met by the communities I serve: my church, the freegan.info group, the gym and book store. I do not have health insurance, but I've been fit as a fiddle for years and years. If ever I feel under the weather, I self-medicate. I've only seen a physician once in the past four years, and this was very recent. The prognosis: I'm fit approximately as a fiddle. Commenters have speculated that surely I'm sick and/or I'll be a drain on society when I become so. I hate to pop their Tea bubbles, but I've been eating this way for over a year and a half and I seem to be doing A-OK! So no, I wouldn't say I'm much of a drain on society at all. I certainly give much more to society, free of charge, than I take out.

Indeed, I decided last November that I no longer wished to sell my time, my effort, my art. I refused to continue regarding these as commodities. How could I put a price tag on that which I regarded as priceless? I began teaching Really Really Free Guitar Lessons. It's been all downhill from there. I frequently offer my music for free download online, play free shows wherever I go, volunteer my time and service wherever I'm needed, and I hardly ever charge. The real kicker and perhaps the part that most confused my readers: I don't expect anything back from society. 

Here's the thing. Ultimately, I'm not doing this for society. I'm not doing it for the planet and I'm not doing it to be a "good" person, whatever that means. I only hope to obey my conscience, to obey God. I trust that God will provide my needs in return, especially through the generosity of my friends, family, and supporters. 

S/he has been very faithful thus far.

If you have further questions or comments on this particular issue, then I encourage you to subscribe to this blog, where I frequently discuss freeganism, busking, volunteering and where I continually learn how and why to reject the global economic empire whose idealogical cornerstones are exploitation and greed and to submit instead to a God whose kingdom is built on peace, justice, and generosity.

Thanks so much to everyone who has shown support for my lifestyle and my art these past couple days! It has been very very encouraging. But it also occurred to me today that nowhere in the Huffington Post article, or even in my own extended bio, did I mention the NAME of my solo music project (GioSafari) or leave LINKS for people to check out my music!

First things first, I want EVERYONE to download my newest single for FREE on noisetrade.com, it's called Vagrants & Vagabonds, Outlaws & Thieves. 

You may also leave a tip there if you feel so inclined. Some people have asked whether there are ways they can financially support my work. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! Here are links for mp3 downloads and/or support:

iTunes
Amazon


I am also more than willing to send you my music for free and/or for donations via paypal. Email or connect via paypal at [email protected].

Finally, here are links for updates, networking, videos, and streaming:

Facebook
YouTube
Twitter 
Last.FM
MySpace

Following the huffpo article, many questions have been asked on this blog regarding freeganism, busking, my faith, etc. I will absolutely respond to many of these questions in due time! Expect that blog entry within the next week. Thanks to you all for your support, I appreciate it very much!

Peace,
Gio

Great news! I was featured in this week's HuffPost Food Informants Series! Read about a week in the life of a freegan! 

The editor did use a bit of editorial license with my diary, which I'm fine with. And they've tried to represent my motivations in the introductory bio, but there is much more that could not be included in its entirety for sake of brevity. So I do hope you'll read below the full bio that I sent the editor. It paints a more complete picture of how and why I came to busking and freeganism in NYC...

I'm a writer, artist, musician - this is my existential calling, what I was born to do, so to speak. As a Christian, I believe God has given me the special ability, skill, passion to do this and it would be downright disobedient for me not to do it! 

Unfortunately in this society (in every society?) artists don't get paid much. It's our job to show others how sick, twisted, and depraved society has become - we have a special eye for this - and also to offer better alternatives, to show the way things could be. The problem is that the people who have power and money are precisely the ones who do not want anything to change! So you may call me a conspiracy theorist if you wish, but I doubt it's a coincidence that artists like myself have a difficult time surviving in a society such as ours, despite the great amount of labor, thought, and love that we put into our craft. As a society, we are conditioned to believe that artists are just fantastical idealists, unrealistic weirdos; and that our work, our art, is worthless on a pragmatic level - why would anyone financially support that which they perceive as worthless? Indeed, why would governments support art programs in schools over worthwhile and pragmatic pursuits like math and science?

Since I refused to compromise my calling and my time (by, say, getting a crappy part-time job), I had to find alternative ways of living. I became freegan. 

I believe I'd always been a freegan in ideology, at least since high school, but I sought a community of people with whom I could practice this alternative lifestyle. I was involved with the radical freegan group Food Not Bombs in Orlando, where I first dumpster dove and began to see the waste in our economy and its backwards priorities - profits over people. Indeed, OFNB has been in a long-standing legal battle against the city of Orlando which illegalized the sharing of food and feeding homeless people in a public park, hoping to quell the fears of classist and xenophobic business owners and upscale residents in this heart-of-downtown neighborhood. I recently wrote a song about the situation as 30 of my friends have been arrested in June and July for doing nothing more than feeding the homeless. Here's the link for that poem: http://gandollo.weebly.com/1/post/2011/07/lightweight.html

After a few months of living in NYC and seeking part time work, I decided to pursue my music and art wholeheartedly. I would have to take freeganism much more seriously! So I attended a freegan.infomeeting in December 2009 and I've since grown in sympathy with the Freegan cause, especially its concern for the abuses inherent in current economic systems: waste of resources, exploitation of people, degradation of the environment, calloused treatment of animals, commodification of time, labor, even war (thus human life in wholesale). Of course I write songs about these issues, among many others; I also write blogs.

The one I most prioritize currently is my personal blog and portfolio at gandollo.weebly.com. In it, I document almost everything that I'm doing in my life - past and current projects, GioSafari (my solo music project), new poetry, videos, updates, powerful quotes, and more. Another blog is atfreenyc.weebly.com, which is all about how to live on a shoestring in an expensive city like New York. I talk about dumpster diving, busking, living hand-to-mouth, the financial struggles that I face on the day-to-day; but also about the joys I find in experiencing nature, determining my own schedule (including waking up at 6am), bartering and volunteering, and freedom from running the hamster wheel of capitalism. 

I have a third blog about washing dishes (dishesdance.weebly.com) called Dance Party At the Kitchen Sink. The name comes from two popular quotes regarding revolution: 1) Everyone wants a revolution but nobody wants to do the dishes; 2) A revolution without dancing is a revolution not worth having! I hope to plant a church in Chicago some time in the future. That is my kitchen sink - I want to build a community that is passionate about justice, that is willing to get its hands dirty and wash the dirty dishes of our society - violence, racism, homophobia, sexism, socioeconomic inequality and injustice - but is also going to do so with a hop, skip, and dance in its step! Activists tend to take their work very seriously, to the point that their work becomes very serious. We must always remember that we are not only fighting violence and injustice (fighting - such a violent word!), we are also constructively working towards a world of peace, joy, compassion, equality, and sustainability. That's why I'm perpetually hosting a dance party at the kitchen sink!

I try to wake up each morning at 6a. I usually fail miserably. But here's a poem inspired by the few times I've succeeded!

Hark! I'm called through early dark to join the ancient choir,
to trumpet solar steeds before a chariot of fire.
I summon Dawn with shutters drawn, with sleep stuck in the corners - 
Now here she comes, the promised one, still fresh and rosy fingered.

I'll awake her with a gentle kiss,
whispering sweet nothings into the mist;

Oh, morning.

At the brown brink eastward springs, through the prisms skyscraping,
a rainbow. Awake my soul to sing.
A step to the street and down the block, downhill along the fence I walk;
Around the bend, down many steps, along the fence, up to the park.

With no entrance I threaten to intrude
because it's there I see the Spirit brood.

Oh, morning.

Over the bent world, with warm breast and with bright wings,
the Holy Ghost waves from her post across the black chain links.
But in this oasis prison it's the desert that's the fraud;
I barge to where the world is charged with the grandeur of God.

I sit amidst the trees and lift my face;
the Light and choir help me fill the space -

Oh, morning.

Click here for a blog entry from March, 2011 which is not quite so cryptic. Haha..

Every sunday morning my church congregation is led in the following "generosity liturgy," a prayer to prepare our hearts for a time of fellowship and monetary offerings. This prayer has helped shape the way that I think about money, generosity and my role as a member of the Church and of the human race, joining God in the renewal of all things!

(to God..)
There is nothing we have that You have not given us;  all we have and are belong to You, bought with the blood of Jesus. 

To spend everything on ourselves and to give without sacrifice are the way of the world that You cannot abide. But generosity is the way of those who call Christ their Lord; who love Him with free hearts and serve Him with renewed minds; who withstand the delusion of riches that chokes the word; whose hearts are in heaven, and not on earth.

We are determined to increase in generosity until it can be said  that there is no needy person among us. We are determined to be faithful stewards of such a little thing as money, that You may trust us with true riches. Above all, we are determined to be generous because You, our Father, are generous.

It is the delight of Your daughters and sons to share Your traits and to show what You are like to all the world.

"Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?"
Yeshua (Matt 6:26)

I'm still learning what it means to live in radical abandon for the Kingdom of God, to live out my calling, and to fully trust in God's provision. A large part of that has meant committing my time, energy, and thought to the office of songwriting; busking on the subway trains; becoming freegan.

Just found this note on paypal w a $20 donation attached: 

Gio, thank you for your beautiful and inspiring music. The ride in the subway yesterday was lit up by your talent and unassuming stance.

Let's just say this brought me to tears. I still struggle to trust God as I live hand-to-mouth; it often doesn't seem like it, but he always meets me halfway. The simple fact is that I love what I do, my calling, and God is good. I can rest in this.

Anyone can send me a donation or personal gift on paypal! If you appreciate what I do and how I do it, then I would really appreciate any donations in kind! They can be sent, via paypal, to [email protected].

You can also now get a FREE download of my debut album, Life Is A Bike Wreck (Better Wear Your Helmet), for a limited time on Noisetrade. You will also have the option there of leaving me a tip. 

If you DO decide to contribute in either of these ways, please know that 1) it will probably make me cry, 2) I'll send you free downloads and cool stuff, 3) I'll be so very very thankful!

Several months ago, I saw that two or three of my peers on twitter were talking about an upcoming festival (a "gathering," NOT a conference or convention) in North Carolina that would focus on the intersection of art, justice, and spirituality. It was to be called Wild Goose Festival, after a Celtic metaphor for the Holy Spirit of God.

I contacted Jacob, one of the directors, hoping to snag some stage time at the event, but I was too late - the programming was already planned out. I ended up volunteering with the "recycling crew" instead (euphemism for the waste management team which also handled trash and compost).

Being a freegan myself - and therefore especially concerned about waste - I figured I was a shoe-in. I gladly accepted the position which would allow me to attend the entire event for free - food and camping accommodations included!

I volunteered 16 hours throughout the fest shouldering large compost bins and heavy black bags of trash and recycling into the bed of a bright blue pick up truck and emptying them at the farm's dump site. It wasn't very glamorous, but I did make friends with my fellow trash crew members and we even devised a secret handshake!

Though it was fun and even enlightening - to a certain extent - to spend the weekend camping out, singing, dancing, playing, and engaging in conversation with my mostly-left-leaning brothers and sisters, I was sorely disappointed by their apparent inability to minimize and sort waste properly, even in a festival milieu that so aptly encouraged it! Nearly every waste station had separate bins for compost, trash, and recycling with colorful signs explaining which items ought to go in each - yet It was all too often that we found plastic bags in the compost bins, bottles and food waste in the trash. 

By the end of the festival we accumulated about two large dumpsters worth of both trash and recycling; relatively little amounts of food and paper waste were composted; stunningly exorbitant amounts of waste were improperly sorted. 

Now I hate to sound all holier-than-thou; but seriously, how can such a group of hippie, environmentalist, progressive, leftist, and/or so-called emergent Christians blow it on such a basic level? Christians really can't figure out how to reuse, reduce, recycle? To properly steward the planet created for us? If anything, we ought to be leading the charge! 

I know that many Christians are, indeed, leading the way - I first really learned about composting at a similar Xian event in 2008 called PAPA Fest - and that many of those who attended Wild Goose did their part. But on the whole the folks of this festival community (still only a small sampling of this minority appendage of the Church in the US) absolutely must do more to create a better model for consumption and waste. Here's hoping that by next year this flock gets its act straight, realizes its responsibility to care for the earth, and starts to lead the way. Our planet can hardly afford otherwise!

For more on my trip to North Carolina, check out the post on my personal blog page... click here =D 

In February I became addicted to a sport called bouldering (most people know it as "rock climbing" except that bouldering doesn't involve ropes and typically involves climbing only 15-20 feet high). After my roommate went to Barcelona and became addicted to climbing himself, he brought me to the gym and I never looked back.

On my second or third visit I ran into a CouchSurfer I had met about a month earlier to see a taping of Jon Stewart's Daily Show. Her boyfriend walked up as we chatted and began to tell me about volunteering at the gym. He explained that he worked one three-hour shift each week in exchange for free membership.

WHAT!

I needed to learn more about this. Sure enough, I contacted their volunteer coordinator and... well, turns out it wasn't a hoax! And it's a good thing, too, because I paid $200 for a seasonal member ship (March 20 through June 20) and it nearly broke the bank!

Today was my first volunteer shift. 

I'll never have to pay for climbing again.

I LOVE BARTERING!!!... and also BOULDERING!!!

Mark the blameless and behold the upright,
   for there is a future for the man of peace.

On May 21, 2008 I was hit by a car in Orlando. It changed the trajectory of my life so much that I actually commemorate the date as my "rebirthday". 

I found freedom on that windshield, like Jesus on toast. And it just so happens that this year May 21 is also DOOMSDAY!

I am the bicyclist (and/or freegan) of the apocalypse!
http://facebook.com/giosafari

As such, I come to bring freedom to the rest of NYC. Join us for tomorrow's freegan party which will include food, live music, and a film screening! Not to be missed! Check the event page for details and rsvp...
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=113349502082714

Hope to see you there!