Food scrap collection begins at area farmers markets

The Farmers Market Food Scrap Collection program begins on Tuesday, June 14 at the South Madison Farmers’ Market and the Eastside Farmers’ Market, according to a release from the city of Madison. The free program, funded by the United States Department of Agriculture, aims to make food scrap collection more accessible to Madison residents. According to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, food is the largest component of the state’s waste stream, with landfills consisting of 14.5% of food that would be traditionally edible and 6% of food scraps that are not edible. All food scraps will be taken to Neighborhood Food Solutions Farm, which supports formerly incarcerated individuals in urban agriculture and teens in entrepreneurial and agricultural training. Food scraps collected at the farmers markets will help to rebuild and create healthy soil at the farm to continue growing produce.