Welcome to Winning Wednesday!
Food waste is a major source of greenhouse gases and takes up space in landfills. At least a third of the food people buy doesn’t get eaten. When you transform food waste into compost, you reduce greenhouse gas AND create fertilizer for all kinds of plants to use.
Earlier this year, I told you about the fight to save New York City’s community compost program, through which people all over the city turn their food scraps into compost, fertilize street trees and community gardens, and lots of other good stuff.
Eric Adams wanted to dump this program on the ash heap of history. That has not happened. In the new city budget, about $6 million has been restored to the program. The money is now part of the City Council’s budget, so it will be insulated from future mayors’ stupidity. New groups like the estimable East New York Farms will be part of the program too.
That’s the good news. The bad news is that the $6 million doesn’t replace all the money previously allocated to the program. So, for example, GrowNYC may not be able to fund its popular food scrap drop-offs at the city’s farmers markets (Greenmarkets). Also, the site of the Big Reuse composting center in Queens will be paved for a parking lot, despite the fact that we fought hard for the compost site, and the parking lot is totally unnecessary. La lucha sigue.
That said, this is still a victory for a true grassroots community program and community organizing. Congratulations and keep composting!
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