SOUPER WOW WOW

By Roxanne Boyle, @roxyforshort, dumpster.cargo.site

It was the summer of 2019, when I stumbled across a dynamic and diverse group of people, just nine months after moving to Montreal. Relocating across the country had been challenging. Not only was it difficult to make new friends, but also to find my sense of place and community. Meeting these new people gave me that sense of community that I had been missing. They held dinners called Souper Wow Wow which were held in Royaux park or at homes in the Plateau and Center Sud, every Wednesday night from spring to winter of last year. The dinners were a place for anyone who would like to come to enjoy food, discussions, and a good time. Their interests and conversations were rich and spread out in all directions; from political activism to community engagement, feminism, and environmental justice.

The dinners were just one part of the experience. The majority of the food was found in the dumpsters on mt Royal and around the Plateau and it was an initiative by the community, for the community, to serve one free hot meal a week. This is how I was taught to dumpster dive. Not only that but the new people I met taught me where the best places go diving are, and how to do it with the utmost efficiency. Like most people, I had heard about food waste and the impact it has on the environment, Albeit, it’s not until you experience it first hand that you can actually grasp the severity of the wast and its implications.This short photographic series contains images of my new daily life here in Montreal; documentation of the Souper Wow Wow dinners and dumpster diving excursions.