Recipient Organization
ORLANDO, CITY OF
400 S ORANGE AVE
ORLANDO,FL 32801
Performing Department
Office of Sustainability
Non Technical Summary
Through the Composting and Food Waste Reduction cooperative agreement, the City of Orlando willdevelop an off-grid, solar-powered community compost and education center. The facility will be locatedat South Street Farm (626 West South Street, Orlando, FL 32805), an urban farm located in the Parramore neighborhood of Orlando and operated by the City of Orlando's Office of Sustainability, Resilience and Future-Ready. Located in the historically African American neighborhood of Orlando, South Street Farm serves as an educational urban farm which provides fresh produce that is distributed to community residents to improve food security and nutrition.The USDA Composting and Food Waste Reduction grant will fund the purchase, installation and staffing of a solar-powered static aerated composting facility, which will allow for the composting of food wastewithout the odors and pests that traditional compost methods may attract. The facility will collect and harvest rainwater to supply water to the facility. This pilot program will serve as a proof of concept that the city intends to scale to other neighborhoods in Orlando to process food waste on a hyper-local basis, reducing hauling distances. Community outreach and engagement activities will be conductedto identify the location for a second facility and to purchase, install and staff a second facility in the second year of the project.A sustainability project coordinator will be hired to ensure that food waste is not contaminated by non-organic matter; to encourage adoption of composting; to respond to community members' questions and feedback; to locate satellite drop-off locations within thecommunity; to plan the second installation; and to operate the facilities.The project entails significant neighborhood outreach with the support of trusted partners and community organizations within the 32805 zip code, including HEBNI Nutrition, Parramore District and the Desire Foundation. Partners will contribute food waste, host satellite food waste collection bins, educate residents on the benefits of composting, use finished compost and convey community feedback about the project. This builds upon community engagement that has already taken place under the leadership of district 5 and 6 city commissioners.Finished compost from the facility will be offered free of charge to residents in the 32805 zip code and districts 5 and 6 for use in home gardens. Any leftover compost will be used for the McQuigg Urban Farm and South Street Farm, two city-owned operations. McQuigg Farm offers community garden space to twenty households in the 32805 zip code.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
Goals and Project ObjectivesThe overarching goal of this project is to limit greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through food waste prevention, reduction and diversion. Our eight primary objectives address the goal of tackling the climate crisis while centering racial equity and environmental justice.(1)Reduce Municipal Food WasteThe City of Orlando Composting and Food Waste Reduction program will reduce municipal food waste through expansion of consumer education efforts about preventing food waste through behaviors that address food purchasing, preparation, storage and preservation as well as education about the benefits of composting.(2)Divert Residential and Commercial Food Waste from LandfillsThe City of Orlando will divert municipal food waste from the landfill by processing wasteusing a static aerated composting system. The static aerated composting facility, which will be covered and painted, addresses barriers to adoption of composting that can include concerns about smell, attraction of rodents and neighborhood blight.(3)Increase Rainwater UtilizationThe City of Orlando will capture rainwater from roof / solar panels of composting facility to be used in the composting process and will distribute rainwater barrels to residents for home rainwater collection systems.(4) Generate CompostThe City of Orlando will encourage residents and businesses in the target area(s) to drop off food waste to community compost facilities and satellite drop-off locations. Staffing of the drop off location addresses the issue of contamination of organic waste with non-organic materials that could be a barrier to successful composting.(5) Increase Agricultural Producers' Access to CompostAfter testing for pathogens, the City of Orlando will make finished compost available to beginning gardeners and urban farmers in the target area(s) for free to enrich the soil, improve yields and reduce the need for fertilizer usage. The provision of free compost for home garden use, community gardens and urban farms in the 32805 zip code addresses the barrier to growing food due to poor soil quality caused by a legacy of discriminatory zoning practices.(6) Improve Food Security for those with Low Access to FoodThe City of Orlando will operate the South Street Farm as a community asset, distributing produce from the farm and from gleaning efforts to residents of the target area through neighborhood centers, schools, child care centers, partner organizations and other community anchors. Through trusted partners organizations, neighborhood residents may accept food donation that they otherwise may not feel comfortable accepting.(7) Enhance Operations of Community Composting Facilities through Evaluation and Public InputThe City of Orlando will track results of the Composting and Food Waste Reduction program and incorporate feedback and public input into facility design and operations.(8) Engage Underserved Communities in Design of Composting FacilitiesThe City of Orlando will build on existing community engagement efforts which have already resulted in the decision to locate the first community composting facility at the South Street Farm and will incorporate feedback into the design and operation of compost facilities and drop-off locations in order to establish community ownership over food waste disposal practices.
Project Methods
The project will be carried out utilizing best practices and industry standards as defined by the Compost Research and Education Foundation. The Sustainability Project Coordinator will complete a 40-hour certification course offered by the Compost Research and Education Foundation (or equivalent). Soil testing will be conducted to ensure that finished compost is free from pathogens and safe for use in gardening and farming operations.Evaluation will be conducted using the following methods, that will allow the project director to assess actual outcomes and compare to expected outcomes:Weighing all feedstock delivered to composting facilities;Weighing finished compost that is distributed;Weighing food distributed through gleaning events;Collecting sign-in sheets from residents participating ineducational events;from households that agree to participate in the composting program; and fromvolunteers;Counting numbers of individuals receiving donated food and finished compost (names and addresses are not requested to preserve dignity of those receiving donations);Calculatingacreage of applied compost;Collecting names and addresses of commercial facilities that agree to contribute feedstock to the community compost facilities;Measuring the number of gallons of rainwater harvested for use in the composting facility;Conducting soil baseline test and post-test and monthly compost testing to determine the safety of the finished compost and soil quality;Tracking the kilowatt hours of solar energy produced;Conducting a survey to enhance operations of community composting.