UGF Helping Cedar Grove High School to Divert Over Six Tons of Waste from the Landfill to Improve Soil Health

Compost is at the heart of the Union Grove Farm (UGF) regenerative agricultural approach.  It takes a lot of material to make that compost, and one challenge can be finding all the raw materials needed.  This includes food scraps to feed the red wiggler worms that produce our rich vermicompost, and organic materials to create the compost used in our vine rows.  The good news is, our efforts divert these “waste” materials from the landfill and repurposes them to improve the health of our soils and the quality of our grapes.  We collect leaves, tree-trimmings, paper & cardboard, and food scraps.

One big contributor to our composting effort this year has been the cafeteria at Cedar Ridge High School (CRHS), in Hillsborough, North Carolina. 

“It is important that schools teach children to read and write, and it is equally important for their future that they learn how to live in a sustainable way that supports human health and preserves the environment.  By collecting student food ‘waste’, we teach the next generation how they can minimize trash and turn it into treasure”, says Laura Kavanaugh, the soil health expert at UGF and who leads UGF’s composting operations.

The partnership started when Laura’s husband, Patrick, a science teacher at CRHS, began gathering scraps to help feed the worms.  What started as just a few apple cores and banana peels quickly grew into 5+ gallons a day.  That food has to be separated into worm appropriate food (worms are surprisingly picky) as well as ground up into a mixture that the worms love.  The worms then work their magic to create a special, biology-rich, vermicompost.  Feeding our 50,000+ worms takes a lot of work as they chow through about 40 pounds of food scraps a week. 

“The process takes a bit of work to separate the food and then run it through the grinder,” says Patrick. “It’s a bit messy but the worms go through the food much more efficiently when it is ground. And we want to keep them happy. It also produces a more uniform vermicompost as an end-product.”

When UGF began building larger compost piles using Aerated Static Piles (ASP), the folks at CRHS began collecting their compostable lunch trays, napkins and paper towels to mix into the piles along with food that the worms avoid (onions, oranges, etc.).  It’s a win-win as CRHS diverted an average of 30 pounds a day of paper scrap and 50 pounds of food from the Orange County Landfill.  That will sum up to well over 6 tons by the end of the school year!  The best part is that all of that waste will be composted in various processes on the farm to create improved soils.

UGF is incredibly thankful for all the help and support from Patrick Kavanaugh and the CRHS custodial staff for our regenerative farm.