Building Team Chemistry: The Bigger Picture Behind Cows & Climate
Conor McCabe
Animal Biology Graduate Student, UC Davis
University of Tennessee Receives FFAR Grant to Help Address Food Waste Challenges
Dr. Chad Hellwinckel
University of TennesseeNearly one-third of landfill waste consists of food waste matter that could be redirected to alternative waste reduction methods, such as composting.
However, addressing food waste reduction presents communities, especially cities, with significant challenges related to policy, technology and cost-effectiveness. The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture (UT) will develop and execute a food waste Decision Support System (DSS), enabling city planners to easily evaluate innovative waste reduction solutions and technologies.
Why this research is important
Communities are increasingly interested in removing food waste from the waste stream. Landfills are quickly running out of space and at current rates will be full in less than ten years. Thirty percent of landfill waste is organic matter that could be redirected and composted. Organic matter left to decompose in landfills generates methane gas, increasing greenhouse gas emissions. Initiating composting policies presents challenges related to system scale, methods of collection, various composting technologies, cost-effectiveness and other financial considerations.
Landfill waste creates many problems around land use, health and environmental concerns, especially in urban areas. This research is making it easier for communities to cut down landfill waste and reuse a significant portion of waste for beneficial purposes such as composting.John Reich, Ph.D.
Scientific Program Director Urban Food Systems
These past couple of years of shortages and high prices have shown the importance of turning local waste into quality compost to grow food with less external inputs, but it can be confusing for cities to know where to begin. Our model will help by laying out the costs and benefits of the range of available composting technologies and scales before them.Dr. Chad Hellwinckel
Principal investigator and research associate professor of agricultural economics at the University of Tennessee
How This Research Contributes to Our Mission
FFAR funds audacious research addressing the biggest challenges in food and agriculture. This research will provide data and solutions will help address food waste challenges unique to urban food systems.
Matching Funders
Thank you to our matching funders: Metro Nashville, Resource Capture, UT and Urban Green Lab.
