The Waste Prevention Program at WSU Clallam Extension has been busy this last year! With a new School Garden Educator position added to this funding, our staff have been able to spend a lot more time working with youth on food waste prevention and composting topics in classrooms and school gardens. At Franklin Elementary, Benji has been composting lunch leftovers with students each week – and the excitement has grown so much that now the school’s food service staff are collecting compostable waste too, saving hundreds of pounds of organics from being landfilled each month. Across the district, Farm to School Educator Amelia Depue has been designing and delivering lessons exploring soil ecology, insects and decomposers, and educating about ways we can use uneaten nutrients in our food to grow healthy soil and produce in the garden.
Together, Benji and Amelia have also been investing in composting infrastructure at schools that meets janitorial pest control needs while also making composting easy, fun and educational for students and teachers. Making composting a regular part of the school day will go a long way towards cultivating sustainable habits in this next generation and creating institutional momentum for larger-scale composting and waste reduction in schools.
Another exciting development was the purchase of a beautiful wooden apple press last autumn. This press was quickly put to work at an apple party for glean volunteers from the backyard and farm glean programs, who brought an abundance of local apples – and some very tasty potluck dishes! – to press into fresh cider together. Then, for the annual Taste Washington Day in schools, Amelia toted the apple press across Port Angeles and Crescent school districts to demonstrate how we can turn the bounty of fall into delicious and nutritious cider. For 2024, we’ll be making this cider press available to our community partners such as food banks and farms, who share our passion for waste reduction and community-building through fun, food-based education and programming.
We are now looking forward to Food Waste Prevention Week, running from April 1st to 7th this year. Benji is planning a slew of events across the community based on the success of last year’s week of offerings. Just some of the events you can look forward to include a zero-waste recipe tasting at the Port Angeles Food Bank, a night of food waste prevention trivia at a local bar, student lessons on composting and a waste audit at schools across the region, in addition to educational materials at the Port Angeles Farmers Market and tons of opportunities to learn more and get involved online.
The best way to stay tuned in to the week’s excitement is to follow WSU Clallam Extension on Facebook and Instagram for updates and a calendar of events. FWPW will also be a great time to hear about and sign up for a waste prevention cooking class and home composting workshops being offered later in the summer. To learn more about the national campaign and to get involved as an individual or organization, read up at www.foodwastepreventionweek.com!