Saving the World by Saving Food

The Nashville Farmers’ Market literally sells tons of fresh fruits and vegetables to the public each day. Generally, only the best looking items are purchased by discerning customers. Since freshness is a purchase priority, many vendors discard good food if it has blemishes, defects or even odd shapes. That means at least a ton of food is thrown away each day, piling up in landfills and taking years to break down into soil again.

Enter Hands on Nashville and Good Food for Good People, a grassroots, volunteer-driven effort that reduces the amount of solid waste in landfills by redistributing the Nashville Famers’ Market’s discarded produce.

Every weekday, Good Food for Good People volunteers collect unwanted food from Farmers’ Market vendors and sort it, separating edible from inedible items. Food that can be eaten is delivered to local food banks and family shelters, such as the Nashville Rescue Mission and Second Harvest Food Bank. During peak produce-producing months, and with Hands On Nashville’s support, 8 tons of good food can be secured and delivered to agencies that feed the community’s hungry.

Even food gleaned from the Farmers’ Market that is not edible has value. Because of the nutrients and vitamins contained, it makes for incredible compost. Compost is a natural fertilizer that is created when organic matter breaks down into soil. By mixing the inedible food, which is high in nitrogen, with some wood chips or dry leaves, which are high in carbon, the decomposition process is dramatically accelerated. A well-tended compost pile can break down vegetable matter into extremely fertile soil in as little as three months. That’s a huge difference from the years it would take to do the same in a landfill. The finished compost is then available for use in local community gardens that teach people how to produce their own fresh foods. Throughout the harvest season, up to 32 tons of organic matter can be delivered to community gardens each month for compost.

And, in perhaps the coolest turn of events, Good Food for Good People has recently been named one of 10 national finalists for the Markham Mark of Distinction, a program of Markham Vineyards that provides two, $25,000 awards to outstanding programs that spark community change. Everyday between now and August 24, you can vote for your favorite project. Good Food for Good People would use these funds to support a volunteer-driven food reclamation program at the Nashville Farmers’ Market and make it bigger than ever!

And, if you’re in Nashville and would like to serve as a Good Food for Good People volunteer, click here to register.