Our December workshop was about Sustainable Food Systems. We covered food waste, organic farming, local food, composting, and food insecurity. Below are resources and links from the event!

Our Partner

Learn more about Sanitation Foundation: sanitationfoundation.org, and follow them on Instagram, @sanitationfoundation.

Don’t forget to apply for their internship! https://www.sanitationfoundation.org/work-with-us and click here for the full job description.

Our Sponsors

Huge thanks to our Title Sponsor, Con Edison!

Read more about their vision for renewable energy here:

https://www.coned.com/en/our-energy-future/our-energy-vision

and their grants programs, here:

https://www.coned.com/en/community-affairs/partnerships/apply-for-a-grant

Thanks to Farm.One for their sponsorship!

Learn more about their work here: https://farm.one/

and sign up for plastic-free weekly greens, here. Don’t forget to use code ZEROWASTENYC for 25% off!

Thanks to Royal Waste Services for their sponsorship!

Learn more about their work here: https://royalwaste.com/

Email johnr@royalwaste.com to discuss service levels for organic composting services at your property!

The Panelists

Qiana Mickie - Food Systems and Equity Consultant

Learn more about her work: https://qianajmickie.com/

Follow her here: https://www.instagram.com/ragamickie/?hl=en

Read/listen: https://linktr.ee/ragamickie

Matt Jozwiak - CEO of ReThink Food

Learn more about their work: https://www.rethinkfood.org/

Follow them here: https://www.instagram.com/rethinkfood/

Shop at their ReThink Cafe! https://www.instagram.com/rethinkfood.cafe/?igshid=18mbf5ibjgqk7

Erich McEnroe - Farm Operations Manager at McEnroe Farms

Learn more about their work: http://www.mcenroeorganicfarm.com/

Follow them here: https://www.instagram.com/mcenroeorganicfarm/

To learn more about education opportunities and programming, contact education@mcenroefarm.com

Tips for how to reduce your foodprint:

From Qiana:

Gain respect and understanding of what it means to grow your own food. And try it at home!
Support community-driven food models like CSA’s, farmers markets, or even buy direct from farmers and/or support local businesses that support local farmers (like Farm To People!)
Challenge yourself around where you donate. Are you supporting a charity because it makes you feel good OR is this charity working to dismantle the root cause of the inequity that it’s addressing?
Ask questions to farmers and restaurants! You deserve to know where your food is coming from.
Find new connections and partners in the community
Do more homework. Don’t just read the first article—push yourself to find out what’s going on in your community that you haven’t been aware of previously.
Diversify who/what you support in your community

From Matt:

When you clean out your fridge, look at what you are throwing away and then apply that to future food shopping trips so you’re not making the same “mistakes”
Buy from a farmers market!
Go directly to your restaurant to order food instead of using a food delivery app/service

From Erich:

Support local businesses
Explore cooking and preparing your own food more often
Consider food sharing with neighbors
Use a barter system! How about some fresh tomatoes from my garden for a bottle of wine?!

From us, Zero Waste NYC Workshop & Sanitation FOundation:

Have leftovers from a big meal that you can’t finish? Ask a neighbor or friend if they’d like some!
Donate food to your local community fridge
Know where your food comes from
Know the impact of the food you eat. Here is a great resource: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/04/30/dining/climate-change-food-eating-habits.html
Eat plant-based when possible (in general, beef and lamb have the biggest climate footprint per gram of protein, while plant-based foods tend to have the smallest impact. Pork and chicken are somewhere in the middle).
Shop local food. Some great options are community farmer’s markets, CSA’s, produce delivery service that works with local farms.
Be conscious of “sustainable” packaging. Compostable and biodegradable can be tricky, make sure you know how to properly dispose of them.
Avoid food packaging when possible. Key words being “when possible,” we know this is not easy!
Do a food waste audit and track the scraps you are tossing the most
Get creative with recipes using the entire fruit and vegetable! Follow @maxmaxlamanna he is amazing! Also, I love this book for more anti food waste recipes.
The sell-by-date is NOT the expiration date. It usually signifies the best time period for optimal quality and flavor, not that it’s unsafe to eat after that.
Crushed eggshells make great soil nutrients for your plants!
Saute the tops of vegetables like carrot tops. Or make carrot top pesto!
Another great resource for reducing food waste: Foodprint.org
A great resource for local compost drop-off and pick-up services: http://bit.ly/NYCdropofftracker