OFF review: Dive!

By Chad Larson

I grew up working in a grocery store. My family is in the business and has been for three generations. That tradition will likely continue. We were pretty good about not wasting food, because so much that came in wasn’t prepacked like you see at the big chain stores.

Dive! is a documentary that examines the amount of waste coming from these stores throwing away perfectly good food that’s near the expiration date. Bags of limes are tossed because a single fruit has gone bad.

A group of “divers” are the main focus of the story. They raid the dumpsters behind large grocery stores, racking up on food that would otherwise go to waste. They eat like kings on what many would consider garbage. They live by a strict set of rules – don’t take more than you need, leave the site cleaner than you found it, and don’t enter areas that aren’t yours to enter (i.e. no lock cutting).

There’s more to the story than that, though. The main filmmaker becomes obsessed with the waste from these stores. Why are people going hungry when we waste so much?

One interesting fact: LA throws away almost 3 billion pounds of food per year.

This movie is a real eye opener, especially considering that the companies refused to speak to the filmmakers, even off camera. It’s sad to see the statistics that are included throughout the film.

I think that anyone who eats or buys groceries should see this movie and take its message to heart.

“Dive” screens at the Oxford Film Festival on Friday at 11:1 a.m. and Saturday at noon.