bottles of wine thrown out (l) hand reaching for an unopened food tray (m) closeup of a bottle of wine (r)

@dumpsterdivingfreegan/Tiktok @dumpsterdivingfreegan/Tiktok

‘Brand new pumpkin pies, banana puddings, and other desserts’: TikToker goes dumpster-diving day after holiday at Whole Foods in viral video

'I also found turkeys that were never sold for Thanksgiving, so they were just thrown away.'

 

Alexandra Samuels

Internet Culture

Posted on Dec 15, 2021   Updated on Dec 15, 2021, 7:35 pm CST

A TikToker who claims she hasn’t paid for groceries in two years recently went viral again after dumpster-diving at Whole Foods.

In two new videos, popular user @dumpsterdivingfreegan, who has over 350,000 followers, shared goodies from her two latest holiday-themed hauls. In one of the posts, the TikToker—who has gone viral for sharing videos showcasing the hundreds of dollars worth of food and produce that are thrown away—shared that she recently found an entire box full of wine in the garbage.  

“‘Tis the season,” she starts.

“One of the bottles had broken, so they had to throw out the entire case,” she says. As a result, she continues, “I got to take home 11 bottles of wine.”

https://www.tiktok.com/@dumpsterdivingfreegan/video/7037190159800093998

Another video, taken the day after Thanksgiving, shows a second haul of food she retrieved from the dumpster bins at Whole Foods. 

“In addition to tons of trash bags full of brand new pumpkin pies, banana puddings, and other desserts, I also found turkeys that were never sold for Thanksgiving, so they were just thrown away,” she says.

In addition, she says she found cases of ground beef and turkey, an entire case of chocolate almond milk, and various breads and pastries. 

“If these stores refuse to donate the food they waste, the least they could do is stop over-producing so much just to keep their shelves full,” she says.  

Since being posted in early December, her two videos received over 356,000 and 684,000 views, respectively. Her posts also received thousands of comments from viewers who were shocked by the amount of waste. 

“This should be illegal, u CANNOT throw away good food when there are people starving,” one user wrote. 

“This makes me so sad, throwing perfectly good food instead of donating, while some people are literally starving at their doorstep,” a second viewer commented.

“Just wasteful greed,” a third said.

In previous videos, Whole Foods employees have explained that they can’t take home unused food without paying for it first. And a spokesperson for Whole Foods told The Daily Dot on Monday that it’s not a company policy to throw away unused products. The store also said it donates “millions of pounds of perishable and nonperishable food to local food banks and food rescue agencies across the United States.”

The Daily Dot has reached out to @dumpsterdivingfreegan via TikTok comment.

Share this article
*First Published: Dec 15, 2021, 12:53 pm CST