About the Pilot Program

The Community Food Scrap Drop-off Program is funded by the USDA/NIFA Grant awarded to the Association of Oklahoma Governments (ACOG). Fertile Ground Cooperative is the sub-awardee of this grant. It is a two-year pilot program. It is free to the residents of Central Oklahoma. 

What is Composting

Composting is the controlled decay of raw organic materials. These include food scraps. It is done via fungi, bacteria, and other microbes. The goal is to create compost, a dark, crumbly, earthy-smelling soil amendment.

Benefits of Composting:

• Wasted food is the largest single component of everyday garbage. Composting food scraps and yard trimmings diverts waste from polluting landfills and incinerators.

• It enhances the soil. Compost improves soil when applied to it. It adds organic matter, structure, fertility, microbes, water storage, and disease resistance.

• Landfills and incinerators emit potent greenhouse gases. Compost added to soils helps sequester carbon. It also offsets fossil-fuel-intensive fertilizers. Healthy soils are an important carbon sink.

• Community composting encourages people to engage with each other. They also learn how their food is grown. Commercial sites sustain 4-8 times more jobs per ton than landfills and incinerators.