Farmers urge residents to participate in curbside composting programs

“Please place your food scraps in the green (curbside) compost bin,” says agronomist and farmer Bob Shaffer. “Compost is the material that we as farmers need to apply to our soils to produce the best crops for your food— food that has the ability to support your health.

“Nothing is available to us that makes better compost than food scraps. That’s because of the large volume of food scraps and the high mineral content, protein content, carbohydrates, and oils that are found in food scraps.”

Sandi McGinnis-Garcia of McGinnis Ranch, a 4th generation family-run farm in the Monterey Bay Area, also encourages all city residents and businesses to fully participate in curbside composting programs.

“If everyone could do this one simple thing, put food scraps in your green bin, what a difference we can collectively make,” McGinnis-Garcia says. “Composting has many benefits to help our environment, soil health, and sequestration of carbon when it breaks down in the soil, not to mention farmers need this organic matter to amend the soil to keep our crops healthy, retain water, and feed the soil to keep growing on what farmland we have left.

“Importing food is not the answer. We need the cycle of food scraps to replenish the soil and not have this beneficial matter buried in landfills forever. It is a simple solution, and everyone can participate and use it as a teachable moment for future generations.”

Frank Olagaray owns and operates Blossom Vineyards, a 1,600-acre ranch near Thornton, California. He grows almonds, walnuts, olives, and wine grapes and applies high-quality compost in his orchards and vineyards.

"It’s very important for people in cities to fully participate in curbside food scrap collection for composting because we heavily rely on the use of good quality compost in our organic crop production,” Olagaray says. “The compost allows us to move away from synthetic fertilizers in our conventional farming operations, which is ultimately better for soil health, crop health, and health of the environment."

San Francisco pioneered curbside food scrap collection for composting in 1996. Working together, the city, residents and businesses, and Recology have kept more than 2 million tons of compostable material out of the landfill.

Portland, Seattle, St. Paul, Austin, and many other cities have followed suit. California law, SB 1383, now requires all 400 cities and 58 counties in the state to divert 75 percent of compostable materials from landfill disposal, which will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including methane.

Debra Becker of Cordero Vineyards in southeastern Napa County says compost made from food scraps is nutrient-rich, benefits the soil, and “ultimately helps grow grapes that become a very nice glass of wine.”

Los Angeles made curbside composting mandatory in January. San Diego delivered curbside composting bins to properties across the city this summer and is building a large composting facility.

The food scraps, sticks, and leaves customers put in curbside composting bins go to regional composting facilities, where they become finished compost. More than 90 percent of that compost is applied on local farms.

“We’ll feed the microbes in soil with compost, and they’ll feed the plants,” says Matthew Englehart, a regenerative farmer based in Clark Fork, Idaho. “Soil health, climate health, human health, one conversation. If we grow our food differently, we can capture all that excess carbon in the atmosphere and store it in unlimited quantities in the soil. That will create nutrient-dense food.

“People have gotta wake up. Compost.”

— Recology is a 100-percent employee-owned integrated resource recovery company providing collection, recycling, curbside composting, and outreach and education to customers throughout California, Oregon, and Washington. Recology finds new ways to recycle and compost what was once considered waste. Recology has more than 3,800 employees and serves 136 communities.