The average American household throws away more than a thousand dollars of food every year. The Food and Drug Administration estimates that, nationally, 30 to 40 percent of the food supply is wasted annually.
Fortunately, there are paths for food waste that don’t end at the landfill.
“Many people will actually bring, and some people don’t think that a small volume of food can help us, any volume of food can help us,” said Christa Staley, executive director of the Peoria division of the Midwest Food Bank.
The bank gathers food to distribute to more than 300 partners through various means, including the still edible food that may go to waste.
“Maybe they bought a surplus for something and didn’t end up opening the packages and they’re not expired,” Staley said. “Or they’re moving and they’re needing to downsize some things and they’re needing to get rid of some things to not have such a heavy load.”
Some people also find that their garden makes more produce than they could possibly use alone. Staley encourages them to bring their veggies before throwing them out as well.
“A man actually just showed up yesterday unannounced with a pickup truck full of tomatoes, which is amazing,” Staley said.
It could be a small amount, or a truckload, Midwest Food Bank takes people’s squash, lettuce and more. The food bank doesn't only intervene to stop the waste from private individuals, Staley says they also partner with Kroger for "food rescue" programs.
“It does help us to take things that maybe they aren’t selling anymore but definitely are within the ability from a freshness and safety perspective to turn around into our food pantries and get them into the hands of people that need them and consumed,” she said.
However, there are more paths for food waste than redistribution and consumption or the landfill. It could find its way to the outskirts of Dunlap and one of the acres of compost overseen by Paul Rosenbohm and his son Luke, the owners of Better Earth Compost and Logistics.
“We have a concrete pit that it gets dumped into and then we add leaves and grass and wood chips into it, make our mixture,” Paul said. “After we get it mixed up thoroughly, then we put it out on our facility and put it in large twin rows.”
A large roto-tiller machine stirs the rows to keep them at the proper temperature, moisture and oxygen level. All this work is nudging the waste to develop the right kinds of microscopic life.
“That are eating it and digesting the food waste and making the food waste and the yard waste, making it into the compost,” said Paul.
Paul Rosenbohm estimates that something between 60,000 to 75,000 yards of waste materials come through Better Earth every year. Through the composting process, 60 to 70 percent of that volume is broken down before it's shipped back out to customers as compost.
“We have most of the major nurseries within 100, 125 miles that are using our product,” Paul said. “If they’re not, I always feel like they’re missing out.”
Other customers include landscaping companies, contractors, other compost makers who blend Better Earth's compost into their mixes and athletic fields.
A few farmers also use the compost, though Paul acknowledges that most are still used to using their preferred brand of fertilizer. Fertilizer, he says, doesn’t have to spread nearly as thick as compost.
Luke Rosenbohm, Paul's son, brings in all the waste in trucks, as Better Earth Logistics. He collects from places like restaurants, grocers, cafeterias and schools.
He says students sometimes reach out, looking to get their own school involved in making compost.
“That’s how it’s going to become the norm,” Luke said. “When the kids say, ‘no, this is what we’re going to do,’ and then the next generation says ‘nope, this is the norm for us now, this is what we’re going to do,’”
Of course, you don't have to be a business big enough for a hauling subscription to make your own compost. You can do it at home. Paul uses some of his own compost in his garden, bringing vibrant blooms to his “extensive” flowerbeds.
It's another route for food waste, besides the dump.
