Fruits and vegetables once headed to trash now feeding Fort Worth gardens
Herbs, potatoes, tomatoes, grapes and more are in their garden, in the Glencrest neighborhood of Southeast Fort Worth. The farm takes advantage of the free compost to grow foods rich in nutrients.
By Archiebald Browne
Star-Telegram
June 19, 2022
Excerpt:
Every week, grocery stores pull their overripe or slightly imperfect fruits and vegetables and throw them in the dumpster. Now a North Texas program is working to divert that food waste to urban farms to help grow healthier foods.
Compost Carpool, founded in 2019, is a regional company that transports thousands of pounds of discarded produce per week to urban farms around Fort Worth.
Partnering with Compost Carpool in 2021, the Blue Zones Project launched the Culled Produce Program with grocery retailer G.E. Foodland Inc. in the city.
The Blue Zones Project is a community-led well-being improvement group that focuses on helping Fort Worth and other cities around the nation. As part of the project, the city, schools and employers encourage healthier lifesytles.
Melissa Pringle, founder of Compost Carpool, said the relationship with the Blue Zones Project allowed the company to expand its mission to include food recovery.
“Composting is one of the top ways you can reduce your overall carbon footprint,” Pringle said. “It’s a full cycle of diverting waste from landfills, reducing greenhouse gases, getting those nutrients back into the soil, and helping the local community by supporting urban farmers.”
