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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2009
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5

Full-Price Fury Sends Writer to the Dumpster

W. Hodding Carter fed up with supermarket prices

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(Newser) – Since February, W. Hodding Carter's family of six has been living within their means on $550 a month, which means making hummus at home and slashing extras like candy and fancy cheese. But now, in a fury over the "unconscionably insufficient number of sale items" at his local supermarket, Carter writes in Gourmet that he's ready for Plan D.C.: Dumpster cuisine.

But his plan got off to a slow start. "The Dumpster, with its reinforced steel sides and hydraulic hatch, was like a small, odiferous Fort Knox," Carter writes. So he appeals to supermarket employees to throw him set-to-expire produce before they toss it. The guy in charge of produce isn't there, but Carter will catch up with him soon. Because of "my … um, chickens, er, I mean … my, um, pigs. Yeah, pigs."

"I was going dumpster diving and would return home a hero with a cornucopia of tossed foods," W. Hodding Carter writes in Gourmet.   (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)
Sean Meagher works on a vegetable display in the produce department of a Kroger store in Cincinnati on July 16, 2008.
Sean Meagher works on a vegetable display in the produce department of a Kroger store in Cincinnati on July 16, 2008.   (AP Photo/Al Behrman, file)
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Enough of always reacting and meekly turning in coupons. It was time for Plan D.C. I was going after the free stuff: dumpster cuisine. - W. Hodding Carter in Gourmet

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5 comments
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PaleRider
Apr 19, 09 3:47 PM CDT
Stimulus ??? Reply
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Toon
Apr 19, 09 9:41 PM CDT
If living on 150% of poverty is extremely frugal what is living below the poverty level called? Reply
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IN RESPONSE:
Mad
Apr 19, 09 11:33 PM CDT
..."Reality", for 1.5 million Americans
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IN RESPONSE:
Mad
Apr 19, 09 11:39 PM CDT
Opps.... That figure was for my geographical area... Nationwide the number of Americans living below the poverty line is nearly 40 million. One in eight
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IN RESPONSE:
radnip
Apr 22, 09 3:46 AM CDT
It's called "so the top 1% can live extremely well".
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