Taking A Bite Out of Food Insecurity
A new addition to the Food Lifeline campus arrived this morning as a crane crew delivered a “Chomp.” The Chomp is a biodigester unit that will turn food waste into valuable composting material for local farmers.
The South City biodigester is a partnership between the Duwamish Valley Sustainability Association, Black Star Farmers, Sustainable Seattle, and Food Lifeline. The project will introduce Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) in the South Park community to the food-to-waste-to-soil-to-food cycle and the potential for alternative energy production through hands-on, culturally and linguistically relevant engagement and education opportunities.
The South City Biodigester Collaboration project is community-owned and controlled. It will provide BIPOC and low-income communities autonomy over their waste-to-energy cycle at the hyperlocal level, reducing reliance on contaminated compost material, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and introducing immigrant and first-generation youth to STEM career pathways.
The project will also include the following community education and engagement activities:
- DVSA will deliver community education and engagement on circular economy, organic waste management, biofuel systems for youth and community, and environmental STEM career readiness for BIPOC youth.
- BSF will provide education and engagement on local food systems, using nutrient outputs to grow local organic food, the importance of clean compost and community-controlled systems, and connecting Black and Indigenous communities with anaerobic digestion technology and outputs.
- Education and engagement opportunities will be hands-on as much as possible and held on the anaerobic digestion site and at local farms, leveraging a small-scale closed system to showcase the potential for a community-controlled Food to Renewable Energy to Fertilizer & Soil Improvement.
This project is the first community digester operating under a collaborative model that includes farmers, environmental systems designers, a large-scale food bank and food diversion network, and a regional strategic organizer. This combination will lead to deeper impact, increased accessibility, and unique education opportunities for BIPOC and low-income communities. This is the first project in the area to encompass the entire waste cycle from soil to food to waste cycle, led by BIPOC organizations.