Helped himself with the waste – the food rescuer should be in port for four weeks

Time and again, edible but expired food ends up in the trash bin at supermarket chains. It cannot always be sold or even donated in time. Christian A. from Vienna is committed to saving these from the landfill. He is a so-called food saver. During their trips, they repeatedly come into conflict with the law – because the waste containers of large supermarket chains are of course not on public property. Because of such a food tour, the Viennese has now ended up in court.

On tour at the end of May
But from the beginning: At the end of May, Christian A. and a colleague went on their rounds again. The target: waste containers from large supermarket chains. At 3 a.m., they found what they were looking for in Stromstrasse. The problem: the containers are behind a huge, fenced-off grid. “The gate was open and you could see a lot of food and healthy plants from far away,” Mr. A. told the “Krone”.

Passerby raised the alarm
A passer-by apparently saw it differently and alerted the police. They arrived immediately and temporarily arrested the two food rescuers. Now Mr. A. had to appear in court as the main perpetrator. Accusation according to the criminal complaint: “Christian A. attempted to steal someone else’s movable property, namely food, by deliberately breaking into a closed space.”

The explanation of ‘food rescue’ was apparently not enough for the court. Christian A. was sentenced to four weeks of suspended imprisonment. He wants to appeal. “I would have even saved the discounter money by transporting it away,” says A.