Composting Council Forms Partnership to Address Food Waste, Senior Hunger

The U.S. Composting Council (USCC) has formed a partnership to address the connection between food waste and hunger among America’s seniors.

The partnership between the Bethesda, Md.-based Composting Council and the National Foundation to End Senior Hunger (NFESH) aims to communicate the problem more widely, according to a news release.

“Our missions intersect: diverting resources that can contribute to world soil health, and ending food insecurity,” said Al Rattie, interim executive director of the Composting Council.

From an anti-hunger perspective, diverting food scraps from waste to compost means cost savings, additional food and ultimately more meals for seniors in need. The two groups aim to work together on the complementary goals of eliminating food and composting food scraps, improving soil health through compost and addressing senior hunger.

“Food waste is a serious problem in this country, and it has serious consequences for the millions of seniors going without enough to eat as well as for the environment,” said Enid Borden, NFESH founder, president and CEO. “Here at NFESH we see the two problems – hunger and food waste – as having one solution.”

Composting is key because it is critical to recapturing inedible food scraps to grow nutritious food through compost-enhanced soil, Rattie said.

As the first formal activity of the new partnership Matt Levine, NFESH chief operating officer, will participate in a panel on organics programs at the Composting Council’s annual conference in Austin, Texas, later this month.