MINNEAPOLIS -- "I got some strawberries!" Seth Graham's voice bounds off the walls of a dumpster as he settles unopened containers of fruit into a cardboard box that Ruthie Cole is holding. "Ooh, pomegranate seeds," Cole says.
Graham redirects his headlamp and snags another garbage bag. He sticks a gloved finger through its side, spilling a mixture of empty containers, rotten produce and brown slush onto his boots. Nothing worth keeping. Graham continues the search. Cole stands to the side, observing and advising.
"Seth, get the flowers," Cole says. "I'll put them in a bouquet."
Cole and Graham are dumpster divers. The two friends take food that appears edible, bring it home, wash it up and eat it. They are among a growing group of people who find sustenance in discarded food. Some, calling themselves "freegans," have a philosophy that shuns spending money and capitalism, and do it to protest waste.
