WINTHROP — Whitten Family Farm in Winthrop is launching a food waste collection service for anyone generating food scraps in Potsdam, Massena, Winthrop and Brasher Falls. The food scraps will be converted to compost at their farm, providing a resource for local growers while stimulating the community.

“We provide buckets and bins to residents, businesses, organizations - any entity generating food scraps, collect them on a weekly basis and provide clean containers for the following week,” says Farm Owner Cherie Whitten.

The Whitten family will construct a composting system that integrates vermicomposting using worms, mechanical aeration, and heat capture to make high-quality compost and harness the heat and nutrients generated through the decomposition process. The fertilizer produced will be used on their farm, and will be available to the community.

Considering food waste as a resource can lead to many benefits for local communities. All organic material, when buried, creates methane, a potent greenhouse gas.

When the same organic material undergoes the composting process, it has the ability to sequester carbon in the soil, while improving soil structure (reducing run-off issues), and provides a nutrient-rich amendment for plants resulting in a reduced need for imported and synthetic soil amendments, the Whitten’s said.

“The world is currently facing a serious fertilizer crisis, making it more important to capture these locally generated, high-quality nutrients. This will help to ensure local food security.  Not only does this project have a positive environmental impact, reducing the amount of food waste in landfills, but it is also a local resource business that is regenerative, meaning it should return a high economic multiplier to the local economy,” the family said.

The Whittens are working with the Town and Village of Potsdam through the Potsdam Climate Smart Communities Task Force, who initiated discussions regarding sustainable food waste management with the support of a grant from the NYS Pollution Prevention Institute.  

They are also being supported by Clarkson University and AdkAction’s Compost for Good project.

“Managing food waste through composting is essential for resource recovery and sustainable agriculture”, says Susan Powers, Director of Clarkson’s Institute for a Sustainable Environment, “Our contribution to the Potsdam CSC task force has provided a significant effort to develop the system required from generators through to the composting process. We look forward to continuing our support of this system as a starting point for encouraging more farms to establish their own composting businesses in this area”

“Cherie Whitten’s commitment to her community is truly inspirational. With her vision, work ethic, thoughtful design and sense of personal responsibility, we have no doubt that she will be generating beautiful, high-quality compost, while saving money for residents who would pay for their scraps to go to a landfill”, said Compost for Good Cofounder Jennifer Perry.

“We want to form a partnership with you, a relationship, to harness this food waste energy and start a positive environmental and economic movement in our area”, said Whitten.

The service is offered through monthly or yearly memberships.

To learn more about composting, this new service, or to sign up, contact Cherie Whitten at WhittenFamilyFarm@gmail.com .