New Haven may have no full-service grocery stores, but that is not stopping some dumpster-diving Yalies from dining in style, according to an article written by Chloe Rossetti ’11 for The Atlantic.

Rossetti and her housemates bring home donated leftovers from local cafes and coffee shops, use the produce of the Yale Farm and drive to the dumpsters of large grocery stores to acquire the goods for meals that often draw several guests, she wrote:

Humble scavengers, we thank the Food Deities as we bring home a bounty of still-edible Ezekiel bread, broccoli, strawberries, cheese, oranges, bean dip, tortilla chips, whoopie pies, cookies, and chocolate cake.

Rossetti added that police officers often approach them while they are scavenging, and one time an officer made them return all of their groceries to the dumpster.

She wrote that she and her friends have gotten creative in preparing dishes.

“Some of our more food-inclined housemates have been known to treat our fridge as a battleground, and emerge triumphant with pilaf, homemade gnocchi, or pierogies,” she explained.

Rossetti acknowledged that the absence of Shaw’s dumpster has had little effect on them. It was locked and surrounded by barbed wire.

[via Time]