Boulder County Receives Grant to Reduce Food Waste
A Boulder County initiative to divert food waste from landfills and improve soil quality is getting a boost from a new grant program at the USDA.
The initiative, Restore Colorado, is designed to increase access to compost for agricultural producers, improve soil quality, and encourage innovative plans that reduce food waste and divert it from landfills.
The grants come from the Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production which was created in the 2018 Farm Bill. Kevin Norton, Acting Natural Resources Conservation Service Chief, spoke about the criteria for funding.
Norton: “ The Community Compost and Food Waste Reduction; It is community-driven. It must be a local unit of government so that one is community-driven.”
Boulder County says it will partner with the nonprofits, Zero Footprint, and Mad Agriculture in a “Table to Farm” concept to improve the current supply chain for the large-scale application of compost. The county says “Table-to-Farm” also puts the focus on consumers and restaurants who take responsibility for the emissions connected with the food supply chain. Under the Restore Colorado banner, restaurants will be invited to partner with Zero Foodprint to collect an additional 1% fee from customer bills to fund regenerative farm projects for local food producers.
Restore Colorado is among the first-ever recipients of these grants and cooperative agreements. Boulder County’s project proposal was chosen from a pool of 578 total applications.
