Foodlink employees took a field trip with the Rochester Sanitarians to the Coyne Dairy Farm in Avon, NY to learn about the opportunities and potential of wormpower.
Rachel Staver, RD, Foodlink’s Child Nutrition Manager, inspects the final product!
“Wormpower” refers to the digestive capacity of worms, which literally accelerates the decomposition process of cow manure and compost into high quality organic dirt within 60 days. We all know from elementary science and biology class that worms breakdown organic matter and are an important part of the ecosystem, but never before witnessed the true power of 50 million worm “employees” when put to work to produce high quality dirt! It was a great experience and we are very grateful to the Coyne Dairy Farm team for the tour.
How does it work? Coyne Dairy Farm mixes ripe manure from their dairy cows with compost material.They blend this stuff together and “cook” it at 55 degrees centigrade for at least three days. At this point it’s been “pasteurized” and is ready for the worms. The worms are lean-mean pooping machines. They are “top-feeders”, making their way through the top 6 inches of gunk, churning it into soil. Once the worms have done their job, the rich black dirt is ready to be certified organic! The finish product smells like musty earth and has excellent physical structure. We learned that this is not only good for the environment, but it is a lucrative business as well. Coyne Dairy Farm sells their Grade AAA dirt for $395 a cubic yard- this is compares to regular compost which goes for $28 a cubic yard!!!
Matt Knaub, Foodlink’s Warehouse Manager poses for a photo in front of “Worm Power”!
Why does Foodlink care about worms? Foodlink is excited about wormpower because we are embarking on a strategic initiative to convert our food waste to dirt. Foodlink sorts over 10 million pounds of donated food annually, and finds that over 3 million pounds of that food that is no longer fit for human consumption. We dump 3 million pounds, creating an incredibly rich waste stream. Foodlink and local partner are embarking on an initiative to turn that waste stream into ethanol, and convert the byproduct of this conversion into soil with Wormpower!
What will Foodlink do with this dirt? Foodlink will use this dirt as part of our urban agriculture initiative, to bring rich soil back to Rochester and create an environment for healthy, local food production. This fits in to Foodlink’s mission to empower at-risk communities by providing food, nutrition, education and resources in Central and Western New York. Foodlink believes that this is a sustainable way to help bring fresh food to our urban food-deserts. We appreciated the opportunity to learn from Coyne Dairy Farms and look forward to embarking on our own “wormpower” initiative.
“This is a worm bed – where all the action happens! The worms are “tucked in” for the night (the tour was in the evening) and are underneath the blue tarp.”
After the Wormpower tour we enjoyed a nice Italian dinner and a glass of wine at Fratelli’s in Avon. It was a great time for all that joined and a bonding opportunity for Foodlink employees outside office hours. Thanks to all that participated and made it an exciting evening!
-Jeanette Batiste
Chief Operating Officer