That is so extremely wasteful.

Even if I was that desperate - just the mere thought of touching food from a dumpster...

if it is packaged, then no problem. If the dumpster is clean, cleaned daily, and the food is not rotting but merely day old, then again no problem. We found a bakery that puts their unsold day olds in a decent container outside for people to take but I'd not sort through trash for my food.

Good for them, I hope it works out.

There are many millions of people around the world who would (by not starving to death) be grateful to eat all the edible food we throw away just in this country.
We as an decadent society fail humanity as we continue to waste and squander our resources with boundless greed and selfishness.
We should not be appalled by students dumpster diving to get decent nutrition, we should be outraged by a calloused society that starves millions of people around the world to death.
http://www.npr.org/2012/11/23/165774988/npr-the-ugly-truth-about-food-waste-in-america

Them on top of the trash. I understand that the food is still good but wouldn't eat at a restaurant getting its produce from the trash

but honestly the biggest problem I see here is you don't know *why* the food was thrown out. Being a certified professional cook and working in a commercial kitchen for the past year. I've learned a few things about public food handling. It's all with an aim to diminish food poisoning.

1) You're only allowed to keep/reuse something for seven days. If you didn't use it, freeze it within those seven days or pitch it.

2) You don't know how long it was sitting out on the counter even before you got to the dumpster. Raw meats, fish and poultry collect bugs like W collects wars. Eggs are prime offenders of mass illness at large gatherings. Or some dairy products, is it expired? No, well, the rule still applies, you don't know if it was sitting out too long. Granted some cheeses can be used. Mold on the outside of a dense block can be cut off, and the cheese can be used in cooking. I wouldn't put it fresh on a cheese tray, IOW.

3) Veggies and fruit have to be washed all over again. If they are slimy, the are out of here.

I think a better, safer solution would be to go get the day's finished product leftovers and redistribute that. There might also be some room for places to donate unused product before that seven day deadline, if they prefer. I'm just thinking what would help and also be safe.

Pretty much the only food I ever worked around was when I managed a pizza shop - and the only two people working there my wife and I (and she did deliveries).

One of the thing I like about some of the cooking shows is seeing behind the scenes, would be nice if they included more information like you have.

For a homeless person, that food taken out of dumpsters would have been their "maybe" one meal for the day. If they will serve the homeless free of charge, along with paying customers who have the money to pay, then fine. But, if they are taking food that the homeless actually need to survive, and trust me, homeless people DO need that food to survive (been there, done that, yes), then it is a no go with me.

If you are homeless and that hungry, and I have been there, you will eat that food out of a dumpster, no questions asked. The "ick" factor many people feel comes from never having been in that situation. With hunger, there is that point where "you takes your chances" with whatever food you can find.