edible Marin and Wine Country Spring 2012 : Page 45
carted off to Oakland for meltdown and re-use. The wood bio-mass ends up at a plant where it will be converted to energy. The food waste—and there appears to be a lot of it—ends up in one of a row of large heat-able bins with hoses snaking into their centers. These are the aerating hoses. Thanks to this new-fangled process, the UVSD’s food composting program can turn food waste from the Valley’s plentiful restaurants into rich and nourishing garden amendment in just 28 days. This breakthrough food-composting program is Abreu’s baby, and is a shining star in a constellation of improvements. Here is how it works: Three days a week UVSD picks up food waste from local restaurants, catering companies and institutions. That bulk—which includes all food waste, even meat, bones and shells—goes into trucks that have been sealed to prevent leakage. It is then trucked to a UVDS location on Whitehall Lane on the valley fl oor and dumped onto a concrete pad. Next, it is put into large boxes and mixed with 30% mulch (“Mulch” is natural material, high in carbon and nitrogen, that has been chipped or ground up and left to sit and steam, but has not yet met the time and temperature requirements to be deemed “compost.”). Then the mixture, still in the boxes, is transported up to UVDS’ Clover Flat location, where it is heated up to 160° and aerated for three minutes every 20 minutes, thanks to hoses on an electrical timer. After the heat, air and micro-organisms, which are naturally occuring in the food compost and vineyard pomace, have done their magi-cian’s dance to transform this waste product into something resembling soil, the mixture is fed through a grinder, to further decompose larger pieces such as bones and shells. Then it heads back down to the valley fl oor site where it is marketed to vintners, farmers, organic vegetable producers and landscape professionals, including the Department of Transportation. UVDS also donates organic blends of compost to schools and nonprofi ts for use in their gardens and farm-to-table programs. When Abreu shows me the mountains of dark brown compost on the site down in the valley, it is the smell that is most notable. It smells like loam, that wonderful earthy smell. And also like grapes. Grape pomace (skin, pulp, seeds and stems) is a huge resource in the composting process, says Abreu. The ideal result of this disposal system serving vine-yards and restaurants is that the compost and mulch end up back in the vineyards, restaurant gardens and landscaping to complete a perfect local cycle. “If we can do it, anyone can do it,” says Cindy Pawlcyn, the owner/chef of Mustards Grill, Brassica and Cindy’s Back-street Kitchen. Pawlcyn was the fi rst restaurateur in the area to embrace the food composting process back in 2009. She estimates it took about two weeks to set up her kitchens with three types of bins and train the staff to use them. “Some restaurants don’t want to do it, because it takes some time, but it is just the right thing to do,” says Pawlcyn in her low-key, matter-of-fact way that makes everything seem not only do-able, but downright easy. Pawlcyn’s Minnesota family grew food in their backyard garden, so composting was a way of life. As one of the early proponents of farm-to-table cooking and environmental stewardship in the restaurant business, she was happy to get on board with Abreu and UVDS’ program. Pawlcyn says they have reduced their landfi ll-bound garbage stream by 75%, and Abreu repeatedly credits Pawlcyn’s enthusiasm for the success of the early phase of the program as she inspired others to sign on. Today, 30 restaurants participate in the food waste collection program. UVDS collects approximately 10 tons per day, three times per week. In other words, 30 tons of salvaged restaurant waste per week. “Last year we grew 88 pounds of tomatoes,” Pawlcyn boasts as we sit on the patio outside Mustards Grill, looking over her successful kitchen garden. No doubt the food waste from her restaurants’ tables and the resulting UVSD compost have something to do with those numbers. In the restaurant business since she was a teenager, Pawlcyn witnessed fi rst hand the ineffi ciency of prior restaurant systems for decades. “The UVDS program is a huge leap,” sighs Pawlcyn, seeming relieved that things have fi nally changed. “And, really, it’s just such common sense.” For information on how to participate in the UVDS food waste program, or advice on setting up a similar system in your area, contact Christy Abreu at christy@uvds.com or 707.963.7988. BULK & RETAIL AT OUR WM EARTHCARE LANDSCAPE CENTER Located at Redwood Landfill & Recycling Center 8950 Redwood Highway Novato (415) 892-2851 7-3 M-F, 8-3:30 Sat. EDIBLE MARIN & WINE COUNTRY SPRING 2012 | 45