Toward Zero Food Waste

This Great Idea is inspired by an article in Luther College’s Alumni ‘Norse Notes’, and several conversations and interactions in church buildings and with church folx over the past several weeks.

At an EcoFaith Summit Planning Retreat we asked the host camp what was done with food scraps – and the answer was: landfill.

A participant recounted their experience at Holden Village (a remote Lutheran retreat space in the Cascade Mountains; I served as pastor there for two year, so it’s always fun to hear what people take away), where everyone in the village participates in food repurposing: every diner in the dining hall is asked to scrape their plate after every meal into a designated ‘Food Scraps Only’ bin (which also collects compostable paper products, but you get the idea).

At Holden, as at Luther College, food scraps are taken to a large composting bin/site where they – you got it – COMPOST! – and become food for future gardens and flower beds.

The Norse Notes ‘Working Toward Zero Food Waste’ article begins:

‘Every day in the Luther Cafeteria, potential food waste is diverted to make rich compost to replenish the land, and prepared food that wasn’t served is repackaged for food-insecure people in Deorah and surrounding areas. This work is part of [Luther’s] commitment toward reducing waste on campus.’

That’s two great outcomes with every meal served: food scraps and unshakable waste goes back into the food chain as compost while shareable food is repackaged and distributed to food insecure people.

Watch the video – and share it with your people!

The inspirations are multiple: composting and redistributing unused food. What might either or both of these fuel in your community??