"No Such Thing as a Free Lunch" (2008)

How can a radical activist movement based on limited participation in the capitalist system use the mainstream media to further its goals? No Such Thing as a Free Lunch follows members of the Freegan movement in New York City as they dumpster dive on trash tours, cook feasts with salvaged food and give interviews to Oprah—all while managing their often difficult relationship with the media—and each other.

This short (18 min) documentary was made as part of the NYU Program in Culture and Media. It was later screened in the 2009 RAI series “Exploring Food, Connecting Communities,” at the British Museum, London and was awarded the Anthropology as Service Prize at the 2008 International Student Ethnographic Film Festival, Goldsmiths: University of London. In 2015, the film was selected for acquisition and broadcast by Community Channel (UK free-to-air television channel for community groups and social justice organizations).