Not listed
NATIONWIDE, OVER ONE-THIRD OF FOOD IS WASTED (USEPA). NEW MEXICO'S COMBINATION OF AN ARID CLIMATE, RURAL AND DIVERSE POPULATION, AND HIGH POVERTY RATE (18%, U.S. CENSUS) PRESENT UNIQUE CHALLENGES TO SUCCESSFULLY INITIATE COMPOSTING AT SCALE AND DECREASE FOOD WASTE. HOWEVER, THESE SAME FACTORS MAKE LOCAL COMPOSTING AND FOOD WASTE REDUCTION CRITICAL IN NM TO IMPROVE SOIL HEALTH AND WATER RETENTION ON FARMS AND INCREASE THE AMOUNT OF NUTRITIOUS FOOD AVAILABLE FOR LOW-INCOME AND DISADVANTAGED COMMUNITIES. LACK OF KNOWLEDGE OR TIME CAN PREVENT FARMERS FROM ADEQUATELY COMPOSTING THEIR WASTE (PERSONAL INTERVIEWS). CURRENTLY, NO MUNICIPALITIES OFFER FOOD WASTE COLLECTION AND PRIVATE COMPOSTING SERVICES AND THE FEW CURBSIDE-COMPOSTING OPTIONS THAT EXIST IN CITIES ARE EXPENSIVE. THE LANCASTER COMPOSTING CO-OPS (PENNSYLVANIA) AND REUNITY RESOURCES (SANTA FE, NM) ARE SUCCESSFUL EXAMPLES OF COMMUNITY- AND URBAN FARM-SCALE COMPOSTING. HOWEVER, WRITTEN CASE STUDIES ARE NEEDED THAT CAN SERVE AS A GUIDE FOR DEVELOPING LOCALLY ADAPTED COMPOSTING AND FOOD WASTE REDUCTION (CFWR) PROJECTS. CULTIVATING COLLABORATIVE COMPOSTING IN NEW MEXICO (CCCNM) WILL DEVELOP A COMMUNITY COMPOSTING CO-OP (CCC) SITE AND A FARM COMPOST HUB (FCH) SITE AND WRITE UP FREELY SHARED CASE STUDIES BASED ON THESE AND OTHER REGIONAL COMMUNITY COMPOSTING EFFORTS. ?CCCNM CREATES TWO SELF-SUSTAINABLE COMPOST PILOTS AND PROVIDES SHARABLE CASE STUDIES AND A STATE-WIDE DIGITAL RESOURCE HUB TO PAVE THE WAY FOR INCREASING COMPOSTING IN ARID CLIMATES AS A VITAL COMPONENT OF MAINTAINING HEALTHY SOILS IN THESE AREAS. THE PROJECT BUILDS ON APPROACHES THAT HAVE PROVEN SUCCESSFUL TO ADDRESS EXISTING SOCIAL, EDUCATIONAL, AND CLIMATIC CHALLENGES.CIUDAD SWCD, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH OTHER MEMBERS OF THE NM COMPOST COALITION AND COMMUNITY PARTNERS, SEEKS TO FUND A PART-TIME COMPOST COORDINATOR TO OVERSEE THE PROJECT. THE COMPOST COORDINATOR WILL PROVIDE COMPOST AND FOOD WASTE REDUCTION TRAINING, LEAD A COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS, AND PREPARE A FINAL, SHARABLE REPORT AND TOOLKIT FOR THE TWO PILOTS. OTHER TASKS INCLUDE, ADDITIONAL OUTREACH AS ABLE, MATERIALS AND LABOR TO INSTALL ONE COMMUNITY COMPOSTING SYSTEM AND SCALE UP ONE URBAN FARM COMPOSTING SYSTEM, AND TO INFORM THE EXPANSION OF AN EXISTING STATE-WIDE DIGITAL RESOURCE HUB (AGRIGATE), WHICH WILL INCLUDE EXISTING COMPOSTING SITES AND SHARE THE PILOT PROJECT LESSONS, SUCCESSES, AND MATERIALS.THE CCC AND FCH PILOTS ARE DESIGNED AND SITED TO PRIORITIZE, SUPPORT, AND INVOLVE COMMUNITY MEMBERS FROM HISTORICALLY UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES. THE COMMUNITY-SCALE COMPOST BIN WILL BE CENTRALLY LOCATED IN THE SANTA BARBARA-MARTINEZTOWN COMMUNITY GARDEN (FIGURE 3), IN A COMMUNITY IDENTIFIED AS DISADVANTAGED BY THE CLIMATE AND ECONOMIC JUSTICE SCREENING TOOL (CEJST; FIGURE 2), AND NEAR SERVICES FOR UNHOUSED PEOPLE. SIMILARLY, THE FARM-SCALE COMPOSTING SYSTEM LOCATED AT THE INDIGENOUS FARM HUB (IFH) WILL OFFER A CENTRALIZED PLACE TO COMPOST ORGANIC WASTES GENERATED ON NEARBY FARMS,. THE IFH TEAM, RUN BY AND SERVING INDIGENOUS PEOPLE FROM VARIOUS SOVEREIGN NATIONS LIVING AND WORKING IN THE ALBUQUERQUE AREA, WILL RECEIVE TRAINING TO GENERATE QUALITY COMPOST TO BE RETURNED TO PARTICIPATING FARMERS. THE IFH WILL HAVE TWO FARM RESIDUE STREAMS: SECONDS PRODUCE--EDIBLE PRODUCE THAT IS NOT VISUALLY APPEALING ENOUGH TO SELL--AND INEDIBLE WASTE, WHICH WILL BE USED TO MAKE COMPOST. THE SECONDS RECEIVED WILL BE TRANSFORMED INTO VALUE-ADDED PRODUCTS AT THREE SISTERS KITCHEN AND WILL THEN BE DISTRIBUTED TO FAMILIES AND COMMUNITIES IN NEED.IN COLLABORATION WITH PROJECT PARTNERS, THE COMPOST COORDINATOR WILL PROVIDE EDUCATIONAL AND OPERATIONAL SUPPORT TO EFFECTIVELY ESTABLISH THE COMPOST PLOTS AND PROVIDE NEEDED TRAINING AND MENTORSHIP TO PEOPLE WHO WILL BE CARING FOR THEM LONG-TERM. THE COMPOST COORDINATOR WILL WRITE CASE STUDIES TO BE SHARED ON AGRIGATE AND BY COMMUNITY PARTNERS. THE CASE STUDIES WILL ILLUMINATE THE COMMUNITY, ECONOMIC, AND ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS OF THE PILOT PROJECTS AND OTHER ESTABLISHED COMMUNITY COMPOSTING SYSTEMS AND WILL INCLUDE OTHER SHAREABLE MATERIALS.CCCNM'S DESIGN WAS INFORMED BY OTHER SUCCESSFUL PROGRAMS, INCLUDING THE LANCASTER COMPOSTING CO-OPS, WHICH EXEMPLIFIES COMMUNITY-SCALE COMPOSTING, AND REUNITY RESOURCES, A REGIONAL EXAMPLE OF URBAN FARM-SCALE COMPOSTING. FUNDS WILL SUPPORT KEY STEPS IN THE PROCESS, INCLUDING ENCOURAGING BETTER UTILIZATION OF FOOD RESOURCES BEFORE THEY BECOME WASTE, EFFICIENTLY COMPOSTING WHAT IS WASTED, THOUGHTFUL APPLICATION OF THE COMPOST TO ELIMINATE THE NEED FOR SYNTHETIC FERTILIZERS AND BUILD HEALTHY SOILS, AND CASE STUDY DEVELOPMENT AND DISTRIBUTION. THIS COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH WILL ALLOW FOR THE LONG-TERM SUCCESS OF THE TWO PILOTS AND HELP OTHER COMMUNITIES TO BEGIN OR EXPAND COMPOSTING AND FOOD WASTE REDUCTION EFFORTS.
$127.2k 4/19/24