SUNDERLAND — A partnership between a local resident and a farm stand has formed a “food loop” where any uneaten produce is put back into the ground to fertilize the next harvest.
Sunderland’s Millstone Farm Market has created a relationship with local resident and composter Ben Goldberg, where anything left on the store’s shelves is turned into compost. This compost is then turned into worm castings, a fertilizer filled with minerals and nutrients for plants.
“It’s the circle of life, veggies come from the dirt and end back up in the dirt,” said Cory Stafford, the market’s manager. “We don’t like throwing anything out.”
The store’s compost bin is collected weekly and is turned into fertilizer. Stafford said the store has only recently started this practice, but it’s building on a tradition of recycling everything that goes back at least three years.
“I went through the entire store to see if everything had a second, or even third use,” Stafford said. “We pride ourselves on our produce and we want those who grow their own at home to benefit, too.”
When the compost bin reaches Goldberg’s workshop, he grinds the contents up into small pieces before placing them into his worm bin, which is a wooden box with four sections filled with soil and two species of worms. After the compost is added, he adds a mixture of “worm friendly” soil and closes the box to let the worms feast. As the worms digest the compost, they excrete the nutrient-rich castings, which Goldberg bags up and sends back to Millstone Farm Market.
“The nutrients are reclaimed from the food scraps as they decompose and pass through the worm,” Goldberg explained. “The term for that is the nutrient food loop, much the same way as it happens with us. … Excess nutrients are excreted and returned to the environment.”
Even the compost Goldberg cannot use for the worms is put to use. He said some foods are more attractive to the worms than others and he gives the leftover scraps to his two goats.
“My worms are pretty fussy eaters,” Goldberg said. “They don’t really like onions.”
The process, which Goldberg said takes a couple of months, is simple. The bin has four sections with bars separating each bin. He works a few sections at a time and when he harvests the castings, the worms crawl to the next section where new compost is being dumped.
“When I stop feeding in this bin, they migrate over to the salad bar,” Goldberg said, pointing at the section he had just filled with compost. “I harvest the casings after they migrate.”
Goldberg, a carpenter with an interest in biology, said the local production of produce is only one part of the farming economy.
“Everybody talks about growing local. It’s one thing to grow local,” Goldberg said. “Local nutrition and fertilizer is a part of that, too. It supports that industry.”
He said he is motivated to partner with local markets and undertake this process by the idea of recycling and giving back to the environment.
“It’s not a business, it’s fun to me,” Goldberg said. “It’s the idea of creating food loops. The waste of Millstone Market is a resource for someone else. That kind of thinking is pretty important.”
According to Stafford, Millstone Farm Market was originally recycling “95 percent” of its produce but that number is higher now with the soil creation process. Stafford said he is happy when products are reused in any way if it helps the environment.
“As long as somebody or something is getting the beneficial factors out of it,” Stafford said. “It’s important for us to all do it.”
The shelves of the market are stocked full of pre-made pastas, salads and yogurts made from produce pulled off the shelf. Stafford said the store is also always creating pasta or salads with leftover products that haven’t spoiled yet as a way to reduce the number of items thrown in the compost bin. He added the “opportunities are endless” when it comes to recycling.
“We’re always thinking of recipes,” Stafford said. “We try to minimize compost, but some things are just unusable. … We don’t want to throw something in compost if it’s still good.”
The store has a lot of staff turnover as they hire students for summer work, which Stafford said is an opportunity to teach more people about the benefits of composting and recycling.
“I lead everybody in the store, I’m constantly teaching it to new employees,” Stafford said. “I also hope by teaching it — even though it’s work-related — they’ll use it in real life.”
Stafford said the market’s practice of recycling everything they use is something he hopes other businesses in town start doing. He wants the Millstone Farm Market to take the lead on this process and to “set an example” for others in the area.
“As a small business, we hope other businesses hear about this and maybe think of jumping on board,” Stafford said. “In the biggest picture, it helps the planet.”