How to Compost: Composting Techniques and Benefits
Agric4profits
NOVEMBER 21, 2023
Want to learn how to compost? Compost is a special thing used in farming. It's like magic food for plants. When we make compost, we take things from nature,
Should Bioplastics Be Allowed in Organic Compost?
Civil Eats
APRIL 29, 2024
Steve Ela is an organic fruit grower in western Colorado who relies on compost to nourish his heirloom tomato crop each year. Ela knows first-hand how central compost is to his organic farm—and all organic agriculture. Department of Agriculture (USDA) compost rules could dramatically change the meaning of organic compost for farmers.
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This Car-Free Michigan Island Is Leading on Composting
Civil Eats
OCTOBER 23, 2023
Sitting high atop a cart emblazoned with the mission of “Keeping Mackinac Beautiful,” a city sanitation worker maneuvers a two-horse team through the fray, stopping periodically to collect trash and compost. This iconic Great Lakes vacation spot has been running a composting program since the 1990s. are adopting composting each year.
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FDA says (quietly) CAFOs contaminate leafy greens
Food Politics
JUNE 19, 2024
For example, there is a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) with more than 80,000 head of cattle and an associated compost operation in proximity to some of the produce production areas studied. [ Here is food safety lawyer Bill Marler’s comment. What a surprise ]. The investigation’s findings “STEC [Shiga toxin-producing E.
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Meet the Modern Composters on Wheels
Modern Farmer
MARCH 15, 2024
Hitched to the back of the bike is a narrow trailer, holding three tall receptacles for collecting food scraps. Rentsch does this work for Soil Cycle , a compost-based nonprofit. Monday through Friday, Soil Cycle sends its cyclists out on the road, picking up food scraps from houses and businesses and taking them back to its facility.
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Preserving Community Compost in New York City
Food Tank
MARCH 26, 2024
New York City Mayor Eric Adams recently announced budget cuts that include the elimination of funding for community composting programs. The New York City Compost Project is a partnership between the City of New York Department of Sanitation (DSNY) and community organizations. In 2022 alone, the organization diverted almost 2.7
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Sustainability Project Transforms Cafeteria Waste into Usable Compost
ATTRA
SEPTEMBER 12, 2023
The New Earth Project is developing compost processes to create a symbiotic relationship and benefit the community. Carbon Capture through Composting New Earth collects food surplus from three school cafeterias and combines it with woody biomass, agricultural byproducts, and biochar in Johnson-Su compost bioreactors.
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‘Invisible’ Waste: For Restaurants, Composting Food Scraps Is Just the Beginning
Civil Eats
OCTOBER 15, 2024
Climate on the Menu Read the stories in our series with Eater: Beyond Farm to Table: How Chefs Can Support Climate-Friendly Food Systems As global warming bears down, some restaurants are forging stronger bonds with regional food systems and regenerative farms. Food service buildings in the U.S.,
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The Staggering Scale of Food Waste, Explained
Modern Farmer
FEBRUARY 22, 2024
Most people don’t set out to waste food. It happens everywhere in our food system. Byproducts of processed foods get tossed out on the manufacturing line. All of these things add up; food waste cost the US $428 billion in 2022. In addition to the monetary costs, wasted food could be going to those who need it— 12.8
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20 Children’s Books Celebrating Our Food and Farming Systems
Food Tank
DECEMBER 9, 2024
Food Tank is highlighting 20 books for young readers that will inspire them to think more deeply about food. These activity books, cookbooks, and stories celebrate diverse foodways and farming practices from across the world, uplift the power of community, and celebrate all that pollinators do for global food and farming systems.
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The Bulk of Food Waste Happens at Home. Here’s How to Cut Your Footprint.
Modern Farmer
FEBRUARY 22, 2024
Food gets wasted at every point in the system. But as we reported in our food waste explainer , the biggest wasters of food are households across the country. In 2022, food waste cost the US $428 billion. percent —of the country’s uneaten or unused food occurs at the household level. Nearly half— 48.2
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Careit: Turning Food Surplus into Community Solutions
Food Tank
JANUARY 4, 2024
Careit: Transforming Food Donation Careit, a food donation and rescue software, is working to empower nonprofits and communities across the United States by providing equal access to surplus food and resources. That’s happening across the U.S.
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Table2Farms: Innovating Composting to Combat Climate Change
Food Tank
JULY 17, 2024
Table2Farms is working to expand the scale of composting projects across the United States to reduce methane emissions, regenerate soil, and inspire organizations and individuals alike to compost. T he organization believes that the first step in achieving this vision is to support composting projects that already exist.
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Can New York City Treat Its Food Scraps as More Than Trash?
Civil Eats
JULY 15, 2024
On an unseasonably sunny day in March, at a community garden in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bushwick, Dan Gross and Shaq Benn moved piles of wood chips and hosed down shoulder-high windrows of compost. Tucked underneath elevated train tracks, Know Waste Lands is the home base of the compost-hauling nonprofit BK Rot.
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Meet the Arizona Nonprofit Working to Transform Urban Food Deserts
Modern Farmer
MARCH 29, 2024
Thousands of pounds of fruit go to waste every year while more than half a million area residents struggle with food insecurity. What if these food-insecure households— more than 13 percent of the county’s population —could access the abundant provision literally dropping from trees in their neighbors’ backyards?
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Where Are You Reading This? That’s Where Food System Transformation Is Happening
Food Tank
MARCH 29, 2024
A version of this piece was featured in Food Tank’s newsletter, released weekly on Thursdays. Here’s a trivia question: Where are the most important transformations in the food system taking place right now? And as Food Tankers know, we don’t just do this work for ourselves. Just take food waste, for example.
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20 Food Systems Reads that Will Inspire You this Summer
Food Tank
JULY 2, 2024
Food Tank is compiling a list of books that will engage, educate, and inspire you this summer. Rethink your relationship with gardening in Tama Matsuoka Wong’s Into the Weeds: How to Garden Like a Forager , or learn about food systems innovations in the face of climate change in Food Systems of the Future. Historian Michelle T.
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From Awareness to Action: What’s Next for the Fight to End Food Loss and Waste
Food Tank
DECEMBER 10, 2023
Climate Change Conference, food systems experts discussed opportunities for food policy and the private sector to address food loss and waste. The conversation was hosted by Food Tank and the Nordic Council of Ministers. Food loss in the Global South and the Global North are very very different.”
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Urban American Farmer: Growing Local Food and Relationships in Austin
Food Tank
AUGUST 15, 2024
Founder Trisha Bates offers a variety of services focused on food education to help transform urban space into food production sites. Urban American Farmer hosts farming courses to increase consumer awareness about sustainable food sourcing and growing practices.
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To Solve Climate and Food Challenges, We Need Ambitious Ideas Like These
Food Tank
JULY 12, 2024
A version of this piece was featured in Food Tank’s newsletter, released weekly on Thursdays. I’m still reflecting on something Zitouni Ould-Dada, a Senior Advisor at FAIRR, said during Food Tank’s inaugural London Climate Action Week Summit earlier this summer. And as Food Tankers, we need to reflect on ourselves, too.
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CAPAL Intern Drawn to Federal Employment Opportunities
USDA Blog
SEPTEMBER 26, 2024
As a public policy analysis major focusing on economics, she found that the experience enabled her to connect her educational background with a familiar cause: food security. I connected with the overall end goal to reduce waste,” she said.
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On Farm Composting Video
Caff
APRIL 20, 2021
This video explores on-farm composting, including a brief overview of California’s new best management practices mandate for on-farm composting as well as the food safety and organic requirements. Hear from two different farmers, including a on-site video of the Frog Hollow Farm composting operation.
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America’s favorite fruit reveals the hidden truth about food waste
Food Environment and Reporting Network
JUNE 7, 2024
And as such, the way we sell, eat, and, yes, waste it is typical of all of our food. There’s over 100 billion pounds of produce waste in this country every year; we only need 7 billion to drive food insecurity to zero,” Mike Meyer, head of advocacy at The Farmlink Project, told NPR last year , at the time of the apple crisis.
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On the Ground With Atlanta Schools Reducing Food Waste
Modern Farmer
OCTOBER 28, 2024
Harward and some families gathered food for the family, but she knew more had to be done. It was her daughter who mentioned all the food going to waste at her school and asked her mom a simple question: Why couldn’t they give families the food from her school instead of throwing it away? Helping Hands Ending Hunger.
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This is the Year to Eat More Upcycled Foods
Modern Farmer
FEBRUARY 29, 2024
“Upcycled” is the food trend of the year—and, hopefully, it’s one of the rare ones that is here to stay. When announcing their forecasts for food trends in 2024, organizations ranging from Whole Foods to Mintel to the Specialty Food Association predicted a growing consumer interest in foods made with upcycled ingredients.
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Climate Label Legislation Could Empower Eaters to Make Eco-Friendly Food Choices
Food Tank
OCTOBER 1, 2024
On September 25, Congresswoman Julia Brownley (CA-26) and I introduced the Voluntary Food Climate Labeling Act, legislation that will revolutionize the way consumers learn about the climate impact of the food they eat. Articles like the one you just read are made possible through the generosity of Food Tank members.
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20 Organizations Cultivating the Food Movement in Atlanta
Food Tank
APRIL 2, 2024
Across the city of Atlanta, Georgia, many organizations are working to build a food system that centers community wellbeing with the health of the planet. On April 14, Food Tank is heading to Atlanta to partner with Spelman College and Emory University for the Summit “ Empowering Eaters: Access, Affordability, and Healthy Choices.”
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Composting and Food Waste Reduction Pilot Project
ATTRA
JULY 2, 2024
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, under the Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production, is soliciting proposals from eligible applicants to host a Composting and Food Waste Reduction pilot project. The agency expects to award a total of approximately $7.8
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Montana Partnership Reduces Food Waste and Supports Sustainable Gardening and Food Production Through Biochar
ATTRA
OCTOBER 17, 2023
By Emilie Ritter If you live in Missoula, Montana, you’ve probably seen the blue e-bikes transporting food scraps around town. I think about food a lot because I love to eat and value the effort and beauty of the growing process. “I I think about food a lot because I love to eat and value the effort and beauty of the growing process.
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Through Urban Food Systems, We Can Transform Food Policy And Nutrition Access—Starting Right Now
Food Tank
JULY 7, 2023
A version of this piece was featured in Food Tank’s newsletter, released weekly on Thursdays. Some of the most transformative food policy is coming from cities and municipalities across the world. City-focused food policy is more urgent now than ever. And we don’t need to wait decades or even years to see results.
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Zero Waste Strategies Tackles Liability Fears in Food Donation
Food Tank
DECEMBER 17, 2024
Zero Waste Strategies (ZWS), a Texas-based environmental consultancy, is working to clarify legal misconceptions surrounding food donation laws and ensure potential donors are informed of the incentives theyre entitled to. million tons of food in the United States went unsold or uneaten, with 32.6 Especially food waste, Savage says.
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What’s Left Out of the Conversation When it Comes to Urban Agriculture
Food Tank
JUNE 14, 2024
When properly resourced, it can be utilized as a framework to achieve food justice and create a more sustainable food system rooted in equity, community power, and climate resiliency. It is rooted in practices that support the environment, promote sustainable methods of food production, and minimize waste.
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Hilton Reduces Food Waste by 61 Percent During Green Ramadan Campaign
Food Tank
SEPTEMBER 9, 2023
Environment Programme (UNEP) West Asia and food technology company Winnow, Hilton recently announced that it achieved a 61-percent reduction in food waste across three major hotels in the Middle East during Ramadan festivities this year. We said, why don’t we try to close the loop and create a circular economy process?”
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Public Understanding of and Attitudes Toward Bio-Based Labels and Claims
Jayson Lusk
MARCH 6, 2023
Given the lack of harmonization and potential public confusion around terms used to describe the bioeconomy, a survey was designed to to determine consumer knowledge, beliefs, and preferences for the following 10 terms: biobased, biodegradable, bioeconomy, bioplastics, biopolymer, circular economy, compostable, organic, plant-based, and recyclable.
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Whole-Orchard Nutrient Management & On-Farm Composting at Heartwood Farms
Caff
MAY 2, 2024
On April 10th, Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF) hosted a field day at Heartwood Farms in Linden, CA with farmers Franz Eilers and Emma Wade to discuss all things compost and pest management on their biologically-integrated walnut and cherry orchards. The compost created from ground-up walnut prunings and cover crop mowings.
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Five gadgets to fight food waste: the good, the bad, and the ridiculous
Food Environment and Reporting Network
JUNE 5, 2024
Share this Only recently has the idea of reducing food waste moved beyond a niche concern. Even as fighting food waste has entered the mainstream consciousness 38 percent of all food in the U.S. is simply thrown away, and the average household tosses out almost $2,000 a year in wasted food.
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A week in the life of a big-time food waster
Food Environment and Reporting Network
JUNE 5, 2024
Share this I am an expert on wasting food, if only because I do it so much. Almost nothing — except for this week, when I committed to tracking my food and what becomes of it. Almost nothing — except for this week, when I committed to tracking my food and what becomes of it. Approximately 40 percent of all food in the U.S.
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Making ‘Weeds’ Part of the Food System
Modern Farmer
MARCH 11, 2024
And so, even though they grew abundantly without being planted, most of them just went to the compost pile. Photography by Ngoc Minh Ngo) MF: You forage foods such as lemon balm, chickweed and nettle, and your buyers include some very nice restaurants in New York City. TMW: I want [the work that I do] to become part of the food system.
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Food Was a Focus at COP28. Here’s What You Need to Know
Modern Farmer
DECEMBER 12, 2023
Food production accounts for 26 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions , and past COP conferences have been accused of greenwashing , in part by offering meat on the menu while talking about reducing global meat consumption. This year, at COP28 in Dubai, global food systems and agriculture were discussed more than ever before.
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Effective Waste Management: Lessons from Massachusetts
Food Tank
DECEMBER 10, 2024
Bans on organic waste, or food waste, offer a tool to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In requiring food scraps to go somewhere other than landfills, waste bans help to avoid the methane that typically comes from food rotting in landfills, Dana Gunders, President of ReFED , tells Food Tank.
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Supermarket Food Waste Is a Big Problem. Are Strategic Price Cuts the Solution?
Civil Eats
SEPTEMBER 11, 2023
Can this strategy also work at grocery stores, where an estimated 119 billion pounds of food gets wasted each year? The study zeros in on the question: What does more to stop food from being wasted from grocery stores—food waste diversion systems or smart pricing strategies? All of this food waste—35 percent of the U.S.
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Guest Post: Is the Future of Organic Food at Risk? Research Funding Holds the Answer
National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition
NOVEMBER 19, 2024
The world is increasingly recognizing the value of sustainable food systems, and organic agriculture plays a vital role in this movement. This translates to healthier food and a healthier environment and reduces reliance on synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. For the FY25 budget, NIFA is suggested a $3.5
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Biochar, Compost, and Agroforestry May 4th, 2022
RR2CS
MARCH 29, 2022
Topic: Biochar, Compost, and Agroforestry – Three Keystones of Soil and Climate Resilience for Alberta Date: May 4th at 1:00PM Presenter: Rob Lavoie of AirTerra Cost: FREE Biochar is a charcoal-like substance that is made by burning organic material from agricultural and food wastes. Want to prepare for the webinar?
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