The loneliest road in America. 115 miles of open road and desert between Fallon and Austin (population 340). There is, however, one stop in the middle: a town called Middlegate, population 17. There’s a restaurant there, where many people making the trek to or from Fallon stop for a burger. I met up with Dave and Austin there for lunch. After eating, they took off and I stayed to chat with the owner about their food waste. Being in the middle of nowhere, I was curious to find out if they had a trash collection program. The owner looked at me, laughed at my ignorance, and told me that they burn everything. I guess it’s not worth it to haul the trash of so few people 60 miles. I also asked about food waste. It turns out that all of the restaurant’s food waste feeds the chickens. “They’ll eat anything,” the owner explained. “And give us eggs in return.”
While it’s not compost in the traditional sense, having chickens does indeed recycle nutrients. They’re not microbes, but they still get the job done.
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