Farming

FARMING: CHANGING HOW WE THINK ABOUT FOOD WASTE

ARTICLE BY AMBER MORIN - PHOTOS BY CARMEN MCCONNEL

“There is no such place as away,” Zach Brooks, the owner and master planner behind the Arizona Worm Farm stated as he gave a tour of his farm.

So often people throw food waste away, but don’t very often think about where “away” actually is. The United States Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service estimates that food waste is about 30 percent of the available food supply. That’s 133 billion pounds worth approximately $161 billion. On a local level that equates to 300 pounds per year per person, or almost 1 pound per day, that contributes to Arizona landfills according to the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality. With these facts and figures on your mind, when was the last time you threw food away? Maybe at breakfast? Did some lunch meat spoil in your refrigerator? Did those bananas on your counter go bad? More importantly, how do you combat this problem in a realistic, sustainable manner?

My visit to the Arizona Worm Farm provided some much-needed options to help repurpose food waste and stop throwing sending food to that “away place” also known as a landfill! The entire farm is based on the goal of sustainability and the hope is that by 2023 the farm will be producing food, shelter, and entertainment for ten families on ten acres using only sunshine, rainwater, and other’s garbage.

Like all other farms, the beginning of the process starts with reproduction. In this case, worm reproduction or the breeding bins. In an unassuming box car transformed to an insulated 70-degree reproduction area, breeding bins are stacked from floor to ceiling. Each bin has 500 to 600 breeding worms, which produce a cocoon per week, and 4 babies per cocoon. The process takes about 3 weeks and the cocoons are screened prior to hatching. Throughout this process the breeding stock worms are fed emulsified food waste, which is the first way in which the Arizona Worm Farm repurposes disposed food.

The second step in the process is the grow out bins. For those of us in large livestock production, it would be like a feed yard. All the cocoons are placed in grow out bins each Wednesday and hatched about 30,000 to 40,000 baby worms outside. The infant worms don’t require the cool temperatures that the breeding stock requires, but the heat does still affect them. It is visibly obvious that they are much more sluggish than their much older counterparts kept inside the temperature-controlled building. Again, these baby worms are fed a mixture of food waste before being moved to the third step in the process, cultivating castings.

The juvenile worms are moved to what are known as worm wedges. The worm wedges are composed of pre-composted food waste and about 10,000 worms. One inch of food waste is added to one side of the wedge. The worms follow the food trail and eventually end up mostly on one side of the wedge. What’s left are worm castings, which are slightly dried and screened. This chocolate cake looking soil matter is, “As close to pure worm poop as you can get!” It looks like dirt, feels like dirt, but it is simply food compost digested by worms. These castings are full of good microbes and fungi which eat organic matter, like compost, and convert it to nitrogen, carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, phosphorus, potassium and trace minerals for plants to use. Which is also why Zach recommends that you put only 1 – 2 cups of castings around your vegetables and trees and then use as much of your own homemade compost to feed the microbes in your soil. This is a great example of the “garbage to food cycle” the entire farm is based on.

You might be thinking that worms are the only thing the Arizona Worm Farm grows, but that would be false. Also, at the farm, you’ll find a complete breeding facility and system for Black Solider Flies. Why? The farm has chickens and they can’t grow enough worms to feed their 110 laying hens. The answer to this was an alternative source of protein in the form of fly larvae. These flies live only 3 days. They breed, lay eggs, and die. They don’t have mouths and can’t handle our Arizona heat. They lay approximately 500-700 eggs per fly and in just one week go from larvae to worm. These growing larvae eat almost anything and thanks to contracts with local hotels, the Arizona Worm Farm feeds them a delightful mixture of leftover breakfast buffets. These worms, which provide the much-needed protein source for the hens, become breakfast for the hens who then of course lay eggs. The farm takes the eggs they need and gives the rest to St. Mary’s Food Bank, which amounts to about 35 dozen per week or 420 eggs. Impressive right? Food waste to high quality protein!

If you’re interested in learning more, the Arizona Worm Farm offers classes about worms and worm composting. They teach why you should consider vermicomposting, where you can set up worm bins, how to setup and care for worm bins, and how to utilize worm castings as a cheap and easy garden amendment to improve garden and landscaping success. In the class, participants make their very own worm bin complete with worms. Participants also get a tour of the commercial worm farm, see how to screen castings, and the see evolution towards sustainability.

Classes are also offered in basic gardening and basic composting (hot composting). They created the classes to help people succeed with worms. While the farm is a commercial operation trying to make money be selling worms, they are much more interested in teaching people to reduce waste and turn their own garbage into food. By taking their classes, you are almost certain to have a successful worm farm.

There’s certainly not a shortage of things to do and learn on this farm. From it’s worm cycle, egg cycle, garden, water systems, bee hives, and off the grid setup you will be left with more questions than when you came. Luckily, Zach and his team are very welcoming and happy to educate and help the public understand that, “An off-the-grid lifestyle can be every bit as comfortable as a wasteful lifestyle and have a positive impact on the environment.”

Find out how to re-purpose your food waste instead of sending it away by contacting Arizona Worm Farm below.

8430 S. 19th Ave in Phoenix, just off 19th Ave South of Baseline. Visit Arizona Worm Farm online at ArizonaWormFarm.com @azwormfarm on Instagram