This week J and I watched an interesting French documentary, The Gleaners and I (2000). I really loved Agnes Varda, the director of this documentary - she had such a quirky, fun way of going about her documentary project. The film discussed the act of gleaning: why people glean, what people glean, the legal issues of gleaning, etc. I think my friend Kelly would have been especially interested in watching this film, since she sneakily took some apricots from her neighbor's tree this past week (and made a delicious-looking rustic pie afterward!) Actually, Kelly, you'd be happy to know that a gourmet chef was interviewed in the film: he always gleans his own fruits and vegetables, since he wants to know 1) where the produce came from and 2) that the produce is fresh.This film was also fun because it incorporated works of art into the discussion (such as Millet's painting The Gleaners (1857, shown above)). Varda viewed herself as a gleaner of images, which I thought was interesting.
In addition to gleaning, Varda went around and interviewed people who are scavengers. It was interesting to see the reasons why people scavenge, and what kind of things people choose to scavenge. This made me think back to my college days, when my roommate(s) would sometimes go "dumpster diving" at the Provo Bakery, in order to get their hands on the day-old pastries. It's not that my roommates were starving - they just wanted some free donuts. There were several times that our kitchen floor was covered with two or three black garbage sacks, each one filled with sticky pastries. Mmm. I ate many a delicious donut from those bags.
Since I never went "diving" with my roommates, I don't feel like I can claim that I have ever scavenged (although I often shop at thrift stores, which is just a step above scavenging, right?). I'm not opposed to it, I guess, but I've never really needed to scavenge or glean. What about you? Have you ever scavenged or gleaned? Why or why not? And more importantly: if you did go, what did you get? Anything good?
(If anyone is interested, click here to see a beginning clip of The Gleaners and I).
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3 comments:
My dad was totally into scavenging! Now, he wasn't one of those types that ever came home with moldy food or broken mirrors or something, but he loved the idea of finding some great, antique find. I don't know if he ever did dumpster diving (doubt it), but you better believe the man had a way of never having to pay for a thing at a yard sale.
He once came home with a 1932 Harley Davidson that he found.
Out here in D.C., scavenging is HUGE. People do it ALL the time. Way more than I would have ever thought. But, it's such a affluent society that people throw out the nicest things you've ever seen because they are constantly upgrading. People will throw out a computer, a tv, and all sorts of fancy stuff because they make $200 bucks an hour, so possessions mean both nothing and everything to them. Plus, people here can dump their trash on the curb (and I'm talking couches, desks, TVs, big stuff) and the garbage man will take it away -- something you definitely can't do in Utah.
There's a lady in my ward who furnished her entire house from stuff people left on the curb and I have never accepted a ride from someone in the ward and not have them slow down next to the garbage piles on the curb to check out the goods.
You are so current! Check out this article on forage cuisine!
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2004117,00.html
I used to work at a professional theatre, and every year we would have a very nice banquet. BEcause I worked the floor I could not eat with them, so when everyone would leave, I would sometimes go around and finish people's desserts-- if they looked untouched or mostly untouched. I just couldn't bear a beautiful chocolate mousse to go to waste!
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