Composting: "Going Back"

Composting at Hollygrove Farmers' Market in New Orleans

Throwing away food waste with the rest of your trash may not seem harmful because it's "natural," but it is.  The food is usually trapped in a plastic bag of some kind, and then dumped in a landfill, where it decomposes.  When decomposition begins, methane forms, a greenhouse gas 23 times as potent as carbon dioxide in trapping heat within our atmosphere. 

Composting is different: food is dumped in a *food* pile, not trash pile, where it is further processed by hardworking earthworms, and "turned," that is, you mix it up to increase aeration in the pile.  

Composting at Hollygrove is a favorite part of our weekend adventures

So thankful for Hollygrove Farmers' Market in New Orleans because they have a city-wide compost collection program (Schmelly's, run by my friend Nico, who is working while my Beloved is composting).  Nico makes dirt farming look fun, but I know it's not easy.  I always see him either collecting compost at any of the many local businesses that contribute, working on the truck, or working in the dirt piles.  I consider him an everyday hero. 

We compost religiously in our little ashram apartment, because Krishna is also the food, and so we must treat it with respect, even the bits we don't end up eating.  We strive to remain grateful for food, which is material manifestation of Krisna's mercy, hence composting!  

Food waste back to the dirt, to become food for the worms, beetles, and microbes.  They turn it into dirt, which farmers and gardeners grow food in...to feed everybody.  So everyone--from worms to the people--wins!