Freegans
A long time ago I read an article where the author quoted or referenced a person who did not pay a cent for food. They referred to themselves as a specific term which I couldn't recall due to my old age. Earlier I started looking into getting stuff for free and within a few clicks of the mouse I saw the term I had long forgotten: freegan. You can catch the full manifesto of freeganism on the http://freegan.info page, but from what I can tell, they basically believe in no waste. Don't waste food, don't waste housing(btw, I thoroughly disagree that housing is a right, not a privilege), and I forget the others. However, dumpster diving for dinner would be their claim to fame, if you ask me.
Dumpster diving for dinner is not the preferred term, I believe 'waste reclamation' is. The concept is that those 'Expires by' or 'Best if used by' or 'Sell by' dates are not that important. In many cases, the food is still good. But shelving it is against store policy, so they pitch it.
Anyway, there doesn't seem to be a freegan(or a meagan scene, which is what I would be, a meat eating freagan) scene in Chicago, or am I mistaken? New York has a freegan meetup group with over 300 members, if I'm not mistaken. Lets go Chicago freegans, get organized!
Cool youtube video with famous chef Gile Coren on a freegan expedition: