A Qualitative Summery

You've been waiting. I've been working. Here it is: 62 days of photos, video, and interviews compacted into 4 minutes. Enjoy!

Daily Article

An article I wrote last spring just ran in the Stanford Daily. It's definitely on the order of food waste across America (actually more like IN America, at Stanford to be specific) so here's the link!

A Quantitative Summery

Summery=summer+summary. Ha.

Now that I’m home, I deemed it necessary to do a bit of a wrap-up entry to add some numbers to all of the writing (my blog is 67 pages in a word document. yikes.).  So, here we go:

Days on the road: 62

Nights we camped: 17

Nights we couch surfed: 7

Nights we spent with friends or friends of friends (or friends of friends of friends): 19

Nights in hotels: 15

Nights in churches or community centers or hostels: 4

Number of states: 16 (17 if you count DC)

Number of methods people deal with food waste: 6

Number of animal species benefitting from food waste: 3

Number of people who compost: more than I had anticipated

Number of amazing people we met: too many to count

Number of cornfields: waaaay too many to count

How I feel about the trip in general:

really, really good.

The City of Paul Revere and Baked Beans

aka Boston, the FINAL DESTINATION!

Worcester to Boston. BOSTON. BOSTON!

Dave and Austin presenting at Austin's high school in Shrewsbury. 

...for quite a large crowd!

I am SO HAPPY TO BE IN BOSTON!  There were several times when it felt like we would never get here, but around 4 PM yesterday, I drove in on I-90!  Okay, well my arrival was a little anticlimactic, but once I checked into the hotel that Dave’s parents generously reserved for us, I took off on my bike to go get pictures of Dave and Austin biking into Boston.  Their arrival was quite a bit more climactic.

A rainbow greeted us!

When I got back to the Westin on the Waterfront, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the hotel had upgraded our room to a two room suite with an incredible view of the skyline.  Apparently when Dave and Austin biked up to the hotel (I was at a bike shop getting my bike shipped back to California), Dave’s parents were there with champagne and made them ride around the hotel with glasses of champagne like they do through the streets of Paris in the Tour de France.  I wish I had been there to witness the moment.  The hotel employees that did witness it, however, decided that Dave and Austin are huge deals and deserve a two room suite.  I feel good about that decision.

JUST like that.

The view from our suite.

After I got back to the hotel, Dave and his parents, Austin and his family, and I met for dinner in the North End.  It was a wonderful way to celebrate the end of a 61-day journey.  

Today we went to Partners in Health, the organization that FACE AIDS works with, and talked to them about FACE AIDS, and about the ride.  It was so symbolic to begin from the FACE AIDS headquarters in Palo Alto and end at the Partners in Health Headquarters in Boston.  They both do such incredible work.

Austin, PIH correspondent, Julie (FACE AIDS executive director), and Dave.

I'm going home tomorrow, and couldn't be more excited.  This trip has been incredible, but California beckons.  When summoned by best state in the country, you have no choice but to answer.  

A Corner Copia

On the way to Worcester, Massachusetts, I stopped in New Haven to visit a vegetarian, organic cafe called Claire’s Corner Copia.  My dad and I ate there when we were in the area five years ago, and I remember it being quite delicious.  And I wanted to get their opinion on compost.

I spoke with none other than Claire herself, who told me about the history of compost at her corner copia.  In fall 2008, a university-funded group of Yale students, began collecting compost from the restaurant and transporting it to a larger scale compost facility.  However, when the group lost their funding, Claire lost an efficient way to compost.  Her only other option was a man who offered to pick up her compost once a week, which, in a restaurant, wasn’t viable because of the odor that decaying food tends to emit.  So now, Claire’s Corner Copia throws away their waste.  “It’s really too bad,” says Claire, “because our food is organic and would make really great compost.”

They do, however, encourage customers to compost, and continue to offer compostable cups and cutlery.  And really good blueberry muffins.

Saucy

We spent the past two nights in Fairfield, CT.  Last night, we went to famous (among Connecticut residents) wing restaurant Archie Moore’s.  They had quite the food waste problem in January, when a 200 gallon barrel of buffalo wing sauce spilled in front of the restaurant.  The sauce flowed down the street, making it impassible to pedestrians and motorists.  The hazmat team even had to come to clean up the mess.  I had not heard of the catastrophe until now, but it made national news when Stephen Colbert discussed it on the Colbert Report.

What a mess.  I'm guessing the hazard team didn't compost that.

I ♥ NY

Two new states!  Although saying that isn't quite as exciting as it was when the states were 400 miles wide...

There wasn't a "Welcome to New York" sign in the middle of the Holland Tunnel...

Well New York was wonderful.  Great food, great friends, great times.  And, great sources.

My professor, Tom Hayden, put me in touch with a master composter in the city.  While I was unable to meet up with her while I was in town, we were able to talk over email a bit, and she sent me a lot of great information.  New York City is home to the NYC Compost Project, an outreach and education program founded in 1993 by the Department of Sanitation.  The project encourages city residents to compost through workshops, demonstrations, an information hotline, and discounted compost bins.  You can read more about this wonderful program here.

Phil. a. delph. i. a!

Two new states!

Maryland...

And Pennsylvania!

In Philadelphia, we got TWO rest days because Dave and Austin decided to ride the 180 miles from DC to here in one day.  No big deal.

So we went to see the Liberty Bell,

went on a nice walk past this parking lot (look at the bottom sign closely),

and got (real, with cheez whiz cheese) Philly cheesesteaks at Jim's, a restaurant visited by Billy Joel and James Taylor.

Philadelphia also has a well-established education-based compost program.  I almost feel like I'm back in the Bay Area with the prevalence of composters in this part of the country!

The House Composts

Washington, DC to Philadelphia

It’s true, the House of Representatives instituted a compost program in their cafeteria in the fall of 2007.  After the representatives dispose of their food waste—and compostable cutlery—in compost bins, a food service worker shreds it in a large pulper.  The pulped waste weighs less, making the 25 mile trek to Chesterfield Farms much easier.  And, according to this article, composting waste is cheaper than hauling it to the landfill!  Yet another reason to compost.  Chesterfield Farms also collects yard waste from curbside pickup programs, in addition to compostables from a variety of businesses, including Whole Foods.  Lots of information here, if you’d like to learn more about them.

Washington, DC, was rich in food waste avoidance resources.  One nonprofit, Bread for the City, helps feed DC’s low income residents.  One of the ways it accomplishes its goal is through the utilization of excess produce on regional farms, food that would otherwise go to waste.

I noticed other signs of food waste prevention and compost in DC, including in my frozen yogurt, which I ate with a compostable spoon (and my friend Jackie, who’s in DC for the summer!).

Jackie and I in front of the White House—on what happened to be Obama's birthday!

Katie and Jackie in front of Old Ebbitt Grill, the "oldest dining saloon in Washington, DC."

New District!

...since Washington, DC isn't a state.

Fredericksburg to Washington, DC

This morning I stopped at Fredericksburg’s city hall for a nice little chat with Nancy, a receptionist in the department of public works.  Fredericksburg has a single stream recycling pickup, as do most of the towns we’ve passed through now that we’re on the east coast.  They also have a leaf program in the winter, in which they vacuum the leaves off of the streets.  They’ve just begun composting the leaves and other brush at the Stafford County landfill, and the finished product goes back to city projects.  They plan to sell it in the future, to pay for landfill operations costs.  

Additionally, Stafford County has recently begun offering free composting classes to the county residents.  Once the people have learned how to turn food waste into fertilizer, they can purchase a compost bin for $20!

Stafford County Landfill.  Yardwaste being recycled into mulch.

After leaving Fredericksburg, I headed to Washington, DC.  We got to our nation’s capital in time to shower and get ready for our FACE AIDS presentation at the Stanford in Washington house.  We had dinner at the house with some Stanford students who are in Washington for the summer.  It was so wonderful to see friends and people from school; I had almost forgotten how much I miss being around people my age!  Not that Dave and Austin aren’t great.  I just miss my girl friends and shopping and gossiping and pink and frozen yogurt and sushi and...

Anyway, the presentation went well!  

Commonwealth Capital

Richmond to Fredericksburg

We took a rest day yesterday and spent the last two nights with the Ashes, a family Austin knows from Worcester, Massachusetts, his hometown, who had moved to the Richmond area (Chesterfield, to be precise), several years ago.

They were wonderful, as our hosts typically are, and cooked us real southern food!  I tried (non-instant) grits for the first time, and was surprised by how much I liked them.

With the Ashe family.

We spent our off day wandering the streets of Richmond, a real city (so much authenticity in this post)!  I stopped in a grocery store, Ukrop’s, for a peach, and got so much more, including information about their lovely compost program.  They began collecting their organic waste in 2002, when they formed a partnership with Watkins Nursery, located in a Richmond suburb called Midlothian.  The actual composting process occurs at the nursery, and then Ukrop’s and Watkins both sell the finished compost product back to the community.

There was also a salvage grocery store, called Fresh to Frozen Grocery Salvage, located a few miles from the Ashes’ home.  It was quite similar to the one in Sonora, Kentucky, and sold similar products: dented canned goods, bent cereal boxes, overstock, and other foods that had recently passed their expiration dates.  They also sell a selection of non-salvage foods, such as milk, produce, and bread.  They’ve been open since 2005 and, according to their slogan, are a “Solution to Saving.”  I think they meant saving money, but saving food is quite important as well.  Check plus, Richmond.

The City of Nice People

Charlottesville to Richmond

People in Charlottesville are SO NICE!  And so helpful, too!  Here are five examples of the people I met while in town:

Last night we stayed with one Austin’s high school friends’ roommates.  Friends of the friend of a friend again, I like those.  They go to UVA and have a nice porch swing, which we sat on in the evening.  Today, keeping with the history theme, visited Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson.  

UVA—also designed by Thomas Jefferson.

Monticello

After our tour, Dave and Austin took off for Richmond, and I headed to Barnes & Noble to get a new book.  I ended up with three.  At the checkout counter, I asked if the store had a student discount.  The woman at the register told me no, but that they had an educator discount.  I told her I would be teaching science to elementary school kids as part of an after school program in the fall, and she gave me 20% off.

Then, I went to Lindt to get a bar of chocolate and chatted with the cash register attendant there for 20 minutes about college, Japan, and the Alps.  He gave me lots of samples and was wonderful to talk to.

After that, I went to Walgreens for contact solution.  I needed to use the restroom, so I asked an employee at the pharmacy where it was.  She left the pharmacy, walked across the entire store, and unlocked the door to the employee lounge for me.

After that, I went to Whole Foods.  I asked the employee sweeping the sidewalk in front of the store what they did with their compost.  When I told her, named Dawn, about my project, she practically dropped her broom and dragged me to the break room.  There, we, and several other employees, talked about the company that picks up the compost, Timber Creek Organics, for quite awhile.  Timbercreek farm began growing organic foods relatively recently, and was inspired to do so by none other than Joel Salatin and Polyface Farms!  Quelle coincidence!

Timbercreek began composting a few years ago so they could produce healthier grasses for their herbivorous animals.  They contacted local businesses and asked them to collect their compostable waste, which Timbercreek picks up several times a week.  Currently, they collect almost 5 tons of compostable material a week.  That’s insane!  What a successful program!  Timbercreek sells the excess compost product back to community residents.  One of the Whole Foods employees, Melissa, had purchased some of their compost for her garden and said it was incredible and she had never grown such healthy produce.  Timbercreek, continue spreading the gospel of compost. 

People of Charlottesville, continue spreading the gospel of kindness.

Thanks, google image search!

The Farm of Many Faces

Lexington to Charlottesville: Part Two

Today I visited Polyface Farms.  The sustainable farm was used as a case study in Michael Pollan's The Omnivore’s Dilemma, and, more recently, featured in the movie Food, Inc.  When I discovered how close we were traveling to the farm, I decided that I needed to pay it a visit, and have been quite excited ever since.  I was not disappointed.  

Located in the middle of rural southwestern Virginia, it was a bit of a trek to get out to the farm.  I felt like I had been driving one lane country farm roads for ages before I finally arrived.  As I pulled into the gravel parking lot, I spotted a woman watering her flowers on the porch of one of the two houses.  She turned out to be Lucille Salatin, mother of Joel Salatin, who was featured in Food, Inc.  Joel runs the farm, but Lucille owns it, and so she was able to tell me quite a bit about the farm’s philosophy, which is centered around the health of the grasses:

The cows feed on grass, and move to a new field every day to ensure that the grass isn't overgrazed.

The broilers, or chickens raised for meat, follow the cows feeding on shorter blades of grass and grains.

The "egg-mobile" follows the broilers, and the chickens feed on cow manure while laying eggs.

Inside the egg-mobile.

The broilers are slaughtered right on the farm.

And sold from the farm, too.

There you have it: the (overly simplified) philosophy behind one of the more ecologically healthy farms in the country.

I was also interested in how sustainable food growers dealt with food waste.  Lucille told me that they feed the chickens their leftover food scraps.  I was pleased to hear that, but what about compost?  Don’t they have a pile?

More like a mountain.

Food scraps don’t end up here in the compost pile, but after the Salatins slaughter chickens, they compost the guts, bones, feathers, and other unusable parts.  They don’t want any cannibalistic chickens running around, apparently.  Also in the compost is the farm’s yard clippings.  The chicken parts combined with the brush make a very nutrient-rich compost product, Lucille told me.  With the stench of the piles and the hordes of flies milling around, that's easy to believe.

So many flies.

History and Cookies

Lexington to Charlottesville: Part One

Here in the Commonwealth of Virginia, we are living among history.  Lexington in particular is a Civil War historical hotspot; it was home to Confederate Generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson.  This morning, we paid a visit to the Washington and Lee University campus, which is named after George Washington and Robert E. Lee.  Fun fact: Lee’s wife was Martha Washington’s great-granddaughter. 

Washington and Lee is right next to the Virginia Military Institute.

The Middle of the Washington and Lee campus.

General Lee's horse's grave. Traveller was quite the beloved animal.

Stonewall Jackson's house and garden...

...which utilizes compost!  I told you it was a big deal.

After leaving Lexington, I went to Polyface Farms.  You'll be able to read alllll about that visit in the next post.

After leaving Polyface, I met up with Dave and Austin in Afton, home of June Curry, the cookie lady.  A legend among trans-american cyclists, Curry has been providing weary riders with cookies, water, and a place to stay since the bike-centennial in 1976.  A woman who started helping riders simply by putting a hose out on the street has transformed the hilly area into a favorite cycling destination.  Over the years, Curry has accumulated a museum full of pictures, jerseys, and other memorabilia left by the thousands of cyclists who have passed through.  She was a delight to talk to, and we spent several hours with her on her porch.

Austin hanging his torn (from his fall) jersey on the wall of the bike museum.

The cookie lady feeds food scraps to her rooster!

Wytheville

Radford to Lexington

Yesterday before we got to Radford, I stopped in Wytheville, where I spoke with a woman named Donna, who is the Deputy Clerk for the Building, Engineering, and Public Works Department.  When I introduced myself and told her about my project, she stared at me in disbelief.  “A college student did you say you were?”  She asked.  “You don’t look a day out of high school.”  I’m 21 and going to be a senior in college in a little over a month.  I’ll take that comment to mean I’m going to age well.

Wytheville city hall.

Despite Donna’s initial comment, she was actually very helpful.  Wytheville doesn’t provide recycling collection to its residents, but they have a drop off point near city hall.  They also have yard waste pickup once a month, and the waste management team brings the brush to a burn site.  The town doesn’t have a formal compost program, but they strongly encourage their residents to compost.  The Virginia Tech Cooperative Extension Office in town educates residents on how to compost.  While Donna herself doesn’t participate in the practice of compost, she deals with her food waste in a different way: by feeding it to her chickens or dogs.

The Best Local Food Ever.

Damascus to Radford

Damascus is 2 miles from the Tennessee state border!  New state! 

for 2 minutes... 

The western Appalachians are known for coal mining, while the people of the eastern range are more likely to subsist on agriculture.  The book I’ve been reading for the past week, Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, describes describes Kingsolver’s goal of eating local for a year, and how the climate of the eastern appalachians made it possible for her to live off the lands.  The book takes place in southwestern Virginia, which Kingsolver seems to emphasize quite a bit.  Since we’re in southwestern Virginia, naturally, I was curious as to where Kingsolver lives.  

Ten miles from Damascus, in a small town called Meadowview.  

I was so excited to learn this, and even more excited when I found out she had a restaurant!  Specializing in local foods, the Harvest Table has been open since September 2007.  I went there for lunch, hoping to get a chance to talk to Kingsolver herself about her thoughts on food waste and compost, but, unfortunately, I was unable to track her down.  Nobody at the restaurant would give me her phone number or address (something about journalism makes me feel like a bit of a stalker), which was just so bizarre.  Anyway.  

The Harvest Table (blue) is next to the Farmer's Guild (red), a general store.

This sign posted outside the Harvest Table requests local produce from farmers.

While I was unable to get a direct quote from Kingsolver, this passage in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle speaks for her thoughts on the subjects:

I have not learned to throw perfectly good food in the garbage.  Not even into the compost, unless it has truly gone bad.  To me it feels like throwing away a Rolex watch or something.  (I’m just guessing on that.)  Food was grown by the sweat of someone’s brow.  It started life as a seed or newborn and beat all the odds.  It’s intrinsically the most precious product in our lives, from an animal point of view, (188).

Barbara Kingsolver and I would get along splendidly, I’m sure.  

After lunch, I discussed the restaurant’s food waste and compost programs with Jared, one of the cooks.  He showed me the buckets outside of the restaurant where they collect all of the vegetable peels and other kitchen waste.  While they don’t compost directly at the restaurant, Kingsolver or her husband, Steven Hopp, collect the buckets regularly and take them to their own compost pile.  I was surprised to learn that the uneaten food scraps from customers’ plates go into the trash, rather than compost buckets; however, according to Jared, “most of the plates come back fairly clean.”

Compost buckets outside in the restaurant's garden.

I don’t understand how they wouldn’t come back clean.  The goat cheese and lettuce-topped pizza, coffee, and blackberry poundcake composed the best meal I’ve had on this trip.  And that’s a bold statement, considering all of the amazing almond butter and rice cakes I’ve consumed!

So.

Delicious.