Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced an $11.5 million investment in cooperative agreements that support innovative, scalable waste management plans to reduce and divert food waste from landfills.
The $340,961 awarded to Cleveland will help the city expand drop-off residential composting locations, increase waste diversion and access to composting services, and provide subsidized monthly subscriptions to composting services to SNAP-eligible households.
Local partners in this effort include Rust Belt Riders, Rid-All Green Partnership and the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District.
Rust Belt Riders, an employee-owned, Cleveland-based commercial and residential composting small business, has been partnering with Rid-All, an urban farm in the Kinsman neighborhood, over the past year to compost food waste from West Side Market. They also partner with the Hunger Network to distribute produce that is still edible to pantries and those in need.
“This award will go a long way in helping us grow a sustainable program that not only turns food waste into healthy soil, but also supports local, employee-owned small businesses,” said Mayor Justin M. Bibb. “Food waste is the single most common material in our landfills and is responsible for significant methane emissions. The more we can divert out of the waste stream, the better for our people and our environment.”
The Composting and Food Waste Reduction cooperative agreements, which are funded by the American Rescue Plan Act, are part of USDA’s broad support for urban agriculture. The program is jointly administered by USDA’s Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). The recommended projects will be implemented between now and 2026.
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