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Paper short abstract

Through digital ethnography on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and food-sharing apps, participant observation and interviews, I explore this creation of alternative digital networks that facilitate the redistribution/“foraging” for food (& other items) which many classify as waste in Athens, Greece.

Paper long abstract

In this paper I analyse Greek food waste redistribution and sharing practices, and present some ethnographic observations on how in Athens, Greece visions of future food systems emerge, mediated by digital technologies. From people gathering food left neatly by the trash bins, and from unofficial networks of food waste sharing in neighbourhoods, to the use of food waste sharing apps that have mushroomed in the city and to what I call “digital dumpster diving” on Facebook groups where people post pictures of items left on the street, I explore this creation of alternative digital networks that facilitate the “foraging” for food (and other items) which many classify as waste.

I reflect on these practices of reclaiming food and other items in the capital city and their changing meanings in the Greek cultural sphere: Is food waste foraging simply an economic necessity, or a creative way to craft solidarity networks, adapt and resist the multiple crises (financial, climate, energy) that the country has been experiencing? How do these changing ways of “foraging” clash with the cultural notion of dignity and deeply engrained beliefs on waste-as-cultural-dirt?

This paper draws from ongoing ethnographic fieldwork in Athens, Greece, over the last decade. I engage with the dynamics, behaviours and motivations around the recirculation and consumption of food waste through digital ethnography on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and food-sharing apps, participant observation and interviews.