My hometown has an organization called Project Green Fork. You can read all about it here, but briefly, it’s a way to encourage food service providers to reduce or eliminate the amount of waste they generate. They oversee a six-step certification process. Upon completion of the steps, a restaurant can use the PGF logo to show the community they are actively involved in loving the environment.

The steps are:

1. For all disposable products, they must be compostable, biodegradable, recyclable, or made from recycled content. No polystyrene, aka styrofoam, anywhere.

2. Recycle all products listed by PGF as recyclable.

3. Work with PGF to develop a composting process to collect pre-consumed fruit, vegetable, coffee grounds, and eggshell scraps and other compostable waste.

4. Reduce the usage of toxic cleaners wherever possible with plant-based and/or biodegradable cleaners.

5. Complete an energy audit and develop a plan to reduce energy consumption.

6. Maintain oven hoods and grease traps and keep inside and outside of the restaurant clean and free of litter and debris.

It’s a great program and since 2008 it has certified over 70 restaurants and kept 4 million pounds of recyclables and 20 thousand pounds of food waste out of landfills.

What does any of this have to do with me? I recently was presented with an opportunity to partner with a restaurant seeking PGF certification, namely, I agreed to compost their kitchen waste.

I KNOW!!

Imagine my excitement. Also a little uncertainty I wouldn’t be able to pull it off.

So far, it’s working great. This is how it works: I get a weekly delivery of 1 or 2 garbage cans full of the most beautiful fruit and vegetable scraps I’ve ever seen. Avocado peels, pineapple skins, mushroom stems, corn husks and cobs, tomato trimmings, sprouted grains, kale stems. It’s picture perfect.

Provided you’re into this kind of thing, and I think I know my people. You understand why I’m smitten, don’t you?

So far, I’m putting it all in my compost bin, layering it with lots of browns.

I may do some trenching beneath growing beds at some point, but for now, to the compost bin it goes.

I’ll show you the finished product when it’s ready.

My only regret is I can’t give it to the chickens because it has eggshells in it. I’m afraid of transmitting disease from factory farm eggs. Maybe I can convince them to sort it into egg and no-egg piles? We’ll see.

Until then, it’s bypassing the chickens. Let me know your thoughts on the matter.

Happy composting.

–Daisy