A man trying to help the poor and homeless by giving them unwanted food he rescues from supermarkets has been threatened with harsh penalties.
The 46-year-old man, known as Michael, digs into bins at supermarkets in Sydney’s inner-west for throwaway food, which he would then leave outside his Enfield home for those who need it.
He posted photos of what he’d collected from dumpsters to an online community page dedicated to reducing waste in the area.
‘Good morning neighbours, I put these out this morning before I left for work,’ he captioned one photo of a heaped pile of bread and vegetables.
The ‘proper legend’ has said that he is now facing a year-long ban and $1,000 fine from an unspecified mall after they caught him on CCTV going through their bins.
A 46-year-old man, known as Michael, excavated bins at supermarkets and posted photos of what he’d collected from dumpsters to an online community page

The ‘proper legend’ has said that he is now facing a year-long ban and $1,000 fine from supermarkets after they caught him on CCTV going through their bins
Michael was happy to help reduce peoples’ grocery bills and encouraged them to ‘only take what you need’, but now he’s having to rethink this strategy.
‘I feel good that I can help in any way I can to reduce their grocery budget and help move short dated or excess stock,’ he told Sky News.
‘I and many others have now been slapped with a ban from shopping malls because management do not like the public going through their bins.
‘Unfortunately my details have now gone to the police and if they catch me again it’s $1,000 fine and a 12 month ban.’
Before these prospective punishments, Michael was offered help by a vegetable vendor who saw him sifting through bins a couple of months ago.
They willingly offered him their excess produce to add to the pile growing on his porch, which would quickly disappear after his status updates.
Locals from the area lamented the situation Michael found himself in and praised the ‘great deed’ he had been doing for the community.
‘I have picked up bread from you twice and it makes a massive difference as I’m struggling with money at the moment and unemployed,’ one person wrote.
‘Proud to call you a neighbour,’ a second added.
Despite the pushback from supermarkets, dumpster diving has become a massive trend across the country as the cost of living continues to rise in Australia.
New Zealand man Brenden Rikihana, 53, rummages through dumpsters in Western Australia and donates most of his haul to struggling families and charities.
Mr Rikihana films what he finds in bins at Woolworths, Coles and Aldi on his ‘Bin Living with Big B’ social media channels.

Brenden Rikihana, 53, is a self-confessed ‘scavenger’ who also rummages through supermarket dumpsters looking for products and fresh food items he can donate to charity
Approximately 7.6million tonnes of food is thrown away each year in Australia, of which 70 per cent is perfectly fine to eat, according to Foodbank.
In 2016, France became one of the first countries in the world to introduce an anti-waste law, forcing supermarkets to give unsold produce to food rescue organisations.
While there is no equivalent law in Australia, Coles and Woolworths have both teamed up with charities like SecondBite which aims to end world hunger.
Despite these initiatives, Dr. Carol Richards and Dr. Bree Hurst from the Queensland University of Technology found that supermarkets still find ways to throw out food.
‘First, the strict ‘quality’ standards required by the Coles and Woolworths duopoly means that a large volume of food does not reach the supermarket shelves,’ they wrote in 2017.
‘This is produce that does not meet size, shape and appearance specifications – such as bananas that are too small, or apples that are too red. If producers do not agree to meet these standards, they will lose access to approximately 70-80 per cent of the fresh food market in Australia.
‘Supermarkets attribute their high quality standards to consumer demands however, consumers can only buy what is available at the supermarket.’
Lowering cosmetic standards for foods sold in supermarkets would dramatically help reduce food wastage in the supply chain, according to a 2022 report from the NSW government.
Other research from Foodbank shows that food wastage costs households around $2,000 to $2,500 per year and costs the economy $36.6billion each year.
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