October 2024
Community Spotlight Blog by Allison McIntyre (Recycling Administration Assistant), Tanesia White (Recycling Educator)
Interviewees: Farmers Matteo, Ashner, Zechari’ah, and Manuel
The Recycling Outreach Team’s “Community Spotlight” initiative highlights local stories about waste-sustainability. This month, Allison spoke with some of the youth farmers at the YMCA Farm Project (“Y Farm”) about the farm’s compost operation. Farmer’s Matteo, Ashner, Zechari’ah, and Manuel explained how food scraps are turned into compost that they can use on the farm! Together we created this video about the operation. If you enjoy this blog, make sure to read our interview with KayCee Wimbish, Project Director and Farmer at the Y Farm to learn more about the Y Farm’s mission and their work!
The YMCA Farm Project’s mission is to empower youth through employment. This initiative creates a space where children and youth are involved in every aspect of food production. A team of High School students are employed at the farm year round to assist with growing the food on the farm. Along with the farm work, students can be part of a cooking crew in the winter where education around healthy food and kitchen preparedness is fostered. In addition to this program, a community cooking crew meets and prepares packaged foods for the community fridges in Kingston.
In this interview we spoke with 4 farmers at the YMCA Farm Project to learn about the farm and the circular process of food scraps to compost. The YMCA Farm project accepts food scraps from the Kingston Community and uses it to create a rich compost soil that is used in their pollinator garden and around the farm. Matteo, Ashner, Zechari’ah, and Manuel have all been working on the farm for almost a year or more. They taught us about the composting process and explained the importance of the compost to the farm. During the interview we asked the youth, “what do you wish people knew about the farm” and their answers showed just how much the Y Farm has to offer!
To support the YMCA Farm Project, visit their farm stand in the YMCA lobby on Thursdays from 3:30 to 6:00 pm now through February. To learn more please visit their website linked here.
Relevant Resources:
Interview with KayCee Wimbish, Project Director & Farmer at the Y Farm: https://ucrra.org/community-spotlight-kaycee-wimbish/
Compost Drop off at the YMCA Farm Project
If you are interested in dropping off your food scraps at the YMCA Farm please follow the rules and guidelines on their website.
Find a compost drop off location near you:
Community-scale composting programs provide an easy and convenient way to participate in the benefits of organics recycling, while letting someone else do the composting for you! Most programs have a one-time or an annual enrollment/subscription fee, and then participants can collect and deliver their food scraps to the drop off program all year round. The map of community compost drop off sites is growing!
This map was updated August 2024. To add or edit an item in this list, please contact Angelina Brandt, Director of Sustainability at APEO@UCRRA.ORG
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