Stop Food Waste Day is April 28

Compost!

The Eastern sun crept across the skylight, its first rays steadily lightening Annie and LJ’s bedroom. Its warm light woke her; she lay in bed, savoring the newness of the day, “This is a great day, and I will enjoy every moment.”

She heard voices coming from the kitchen and realized LJ was not next to her, “How did he not wake me up when he was getting dressed?” She decided to meditate later and got up to get dressed.

LJ poured coffee for Marvin and Kathleen, their best friends visiting from Napa, “there’s honey and a soy-based creamer over there,” he indicated with a head nod. “I’ll start the omelets as soon as Annie blesses us with her presence. I’m glad she’s been sleeping in lately. It means she’s getting more restful sleep, so I try not to disturb her.”

As he started squeezing oranges for juice, Annie walked into the kitchen, “Hey, that’s my job, sweetheart. Good morning Marvin, good morning Kathleen. I hope you slept well last night?’

“Yes, we did. The bed is super comfortable,” said Kathleen. “I started helping LJ prep the food for omelets, but I don’t see a composter for shells and scraps.”

Annie looked sheepish, “we don’t currently have one. Our old one fell apart, and we have not replaced it mainly because our garbage disposal grinds up just about everything.”

Kathleen raised an eyebrow, “Did you know April 28 is Stop Food Waste day? A 2021 United Nations report estimated that 17% of food produced globally is wasted. That is 1.03 billion tons of food. It is a shocking statistic to contemplate, especially when millions worldwide are still going hungry. A lot of food is thrown away for easily solvable reasons. For example, about 15 percent of seafood is wasted annually in the US due to spoilage. The problem of food waste can feel overwhelming, but there are numerous ways to address it, and composting is one. Composting benefits your plants; it aids wetlands, helps reforestation, and habitat revitalization. Composting can also assist in restoring contaminated soil.”

“You’re right. We’ve been lazy about getting another composter. It’s not earth-friendly to throw everything in the garbage disposal because water and electricity are used. Many municipal wastewater systems can…