From Food Scraps to Farm-ready Compost

Eric Paris has seen more food waste than you can imagine.

At the composting site on his Vermont farm, you will sometimes find a heaping pile of fruits, veggies, bread, the occasional lobster and literal tons more. After physical labor and science have their way with it, this once-waste becomes dark, thick, nourishing compost.

Paris, an Organic Valley dairy farmer, wanted to do more to help leave the world a little better than he found it. He thought returning food waste to the earth, while improving soil health, would be a fine way to work with nature.

“There’s food insecurity in our country and you have all this stuff thrown away,” Eric said. “The least we can do is keep food waste out of the landfill and give it a second life to produce more food, all while reducing carbon emissions.”

On a small scale, Eric started making compost. He spread this on farm fields and eventually started sharing it with neighbors and selling it to landscapers and gardeners. He decided he could do more and, with help from a Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont grant, he built an expanded aerated pile system. This allowed him to compost all year long, instead of limiting it to warm weather months.

Now, he receives approximately 10 tons of food waste from restaurants, grocery stores and institutions weekly. When school is in session, it goes up to 12 tons. By using wood chips, leaves, manure from his organic cows (sometimes from county fairs and other events) and an aeration system, he turns all this waste into compost that is approved for use in organic production.

“I bring in tons of food waste, but it is a drop in a bucket,” he said. “It’s amazing how much comes through.”

Along with creating nutrient-dense compost, the system reduces carbon emissions and generates energy.

Is Compost from Food Waste Organic?

“No and yes,” Eric says.

Food waste that is brought to his farm is a mix of organic and nonorganic food and matter, but when it leaves as compost, it is all approved for use in organic production.

The reason compost made of nonorganic matter isn’t disqualified in organic farming is because compost itself cannot be certified organic. This is because compost is neither food nor fiber. Eric said that part of the composting process generates heat, which kills all pathogens. He can demonstrate this using a heat recovery unit that records temperature data. Once compost goes through a proven process, it’s approved for use in organic production per the USDA National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances.

How Composting Works

Bacteria feed on food waste, wood chips and manure. As they consume this “food,” their population grows rapidly. This microbial activity, combined with the introduction of oxygen from turning or aerating the pile, generates heat — a natural byproduct of decomposition. As the bacteria begin to run out of food, the heat they produce gradually decreases.

An interesting takeaway: Many compostable utensils are not approved for compost used in organic farming because they are made from synthetic bioplastics. Near Eric’s screening apparatus sits a metal pail filled with noncompostable items that were accidentally dumped in the trash as diners tried to clear their plate — knives, potato mashers, oodles of forks and various silverware and who-knows-whatchamacallits.

Two-Part Compost Aeration System

Without diving too deep, here’s a summary of how Eric’s system functions:

1. Staging Area: Food waste is dropped off by truck and temporarily stored.

2. Mixing: The waste is blended with cow manure and wood chips to create a compost mix. This mixture begins the composting process.

3. Zone 1 – Aeration: The mix is moved to Zone 1, where perforated aeration pipes push warm air through the pile. This simulates microbial activity and speeds up decomposition. The heat generated is routed to a heat recovery unit.

4. Zone 2 – Aeration and Vapor Extraction: The compost is transferred to Zone 2, where pipes continue to extract moisture and vapor. This helps control odor and further stabilizes the material. The vapor is exhausted into the air.

5. Finishing Pile: Compost is moved to a finishing area, where it completes the heating process.

6. Screening: Finally, the compost goes through a screener that removes contaminants like bones, utensils and even clothing, leaving behind clean, usable compost.

7. Back to the Earth: As the pile gradually cools, the decomposition process comes to an end. The finished compost can then be spread on fields or used in gardens to enrich the soil and provide essential nutrients to plants

The compost sits at 131 F for three days, a process that breaks down the material and kills harmful pathogens and weed seeds that, if left untreated, could grow wherever the compost is distributed. That temperature is a key benchmark in composting standards for organic farming, ensuring the pile gets hot enough to sanitize without damaging beneficial microbes.

Depending on weather and the amount of waste, he creates three new batches each year, for approximately 500 cubic yards of finished, nutrient-rich compost.

Heat is a natural byproduct of decomposition. If Eric is able to expand his operation, he hopes to build a shed and heat it on chilly Vermont days using that energy.

Composting Beyond the Farm

In addition to being avid composters, Eric’s family owns and operates two local restaurants where they are especially mindful of food waste. “Food waste does get generated, so we are doing our piece to take care of it,” Eric said.

Read more about Eric’s family and farm here.

Why Food Waste Matters?

How we grow food and use (or not use) it has a huge impact on the environment — from water and land use to the energy needed to transport food, every step in the food system carries a footprint. It also takes energy to produce packaging and water to wash items like vegetables before they’re shipped to a store.

When we throw out a scrap of food, we throw out the energy and resources used to grow and transport it. When it goes into a landfill, it can contribute to climate change by emitting methane.

Wasted food isn’t just an environmental issue — it’s a financial one — it hurts our pocketbooks when we throw food away!

What Can I Do to Reduce Food Waste?

We are all guilty of letting a banana go bad or forgetting about the leftover lasagna in the fridge. It happens!

A simple way to begin your journey toward wasting less food is to pay attention to what you throw away. Keep a list for a few weeks of what ends up in the trash. Once you recognize patterns, you can make small changes.

Plan meals more intentionally and have plans for the leftovers, learn how to store food properly, reuse scraps, and if there is food waste, compost it. See if there are opportunities to curb food waste at your local school. Community compost programs are also an option.

Much of the food waste Eric receives has passed its expiration date. Along with being more careful about only buying what we need and saving leftovers, some of the responsibilities lie with our perception and with our grocery stores, Eric said.

“We as a society are trained to see shelves fully stocked without an inch to spare and produce bins full to the point of nearly overflowing; freezers and coolers maxed out. If we don't see these things, we might think that the store is in financial trouble, might be poorly managed or doesn't offer volumes that we're used to seeing,” Eric said. “Our grocery stores could be more profitable and reduce food waste by reducing their inventory but unfortunately, I don't think that we'll ever see this happen.”

Simple Food Storage Tips

Here are tips for some of our favorites: Organic dairy of course!

• Freezing milk and dairy products
• How to store butter
• The best way to store cheese
• Upload the FoodKeeper app for more tips to maintain food freshness.

No matter what you do to reduce food waste, every little bit can help; it all improves soil health and reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

When farmers use climate-smart agriculture practices, cooks prepare meals in climate-smart kitchens and people pay attention to waste, the planet — and the animals on it — has a better chance.

The Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont shared a touching video of the Paris family farm. Check it out: