Why Should a Food Rescue Be a Master Gardener Approved Project?

by: Valerie Lafferty

A fair question. Here are some reasons for your consideration.

Context
First, as you are already likely aware, Michigan and the federal government set a goal to reduce food waste by 50 percent by 2030, to meet its goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.  

Second, there is the staggering environmental impact. According to Michigan’s environment department, Environment, Great Lakes & Energy (EGLE), food is the most disposed of material in Michigan. Up to 1.5 million tons of food waste reach Michigan landfills each year. The USDA estimates 30 to 40 percent of all food is landfilled. The methane that is emitted from food waste is reportedly 80 times more harmful than carbon dioxide due to its structure, which traps more heat in the atmosphere per molecule for 20 years after it is released. Food waste is significantly responsible for a large percentage of global greenhouse gas emissions.   

Third, for commercial food suppliers and anyone that eats, there are economic reasons. Food not eaten means money wasted on planting, watering, fertilizing, harvesting, transporting, landfilling, etc. Juxtaposed to the evils of waste is the alarming food insecurity and hunger existing everywhere – and growing! In 2020, according to the Michigan Food Council, 1.15 million Michiganders were hungry or food insecure; that’s about 1 in 9 Michiganders! Of that, nearly 300,000 were children. Our nightly news reminds us of the starving people around the world, when the same issue exists in our own communities. 

Fourth, our basic health. We see the topic of food as medicine more and more in the news. Obesity and diabetes are at epidemic levels. We know healthy soils produce more nutrient dense foods. We know composting contributes toward the health and resilient growth of all the plants that feed us and keep our environment healthy.   

Fifth, if you are getting a bit panicky about climate change and our environment, doing something about food waste, capturing good food and rerouting it to those who need it or for composting, is something each of us can do by making slight changes in our habits and schedules. By coordinating these changes with others, we can have a significant impact both on our environment and our community. 

Policy and Advocacy
Within this context, our state and national governments have been mobilizing! In 2020, Governor Whitmer formed a multi-disciplinary group to develop a Michigan Healthy Climate Plan to meet carbon neutrality by 2050. That plan was finalized in 2022. While food as a category was left out, agriculture, soil, and landfilling food was included in other goals. In 2023, a stakeholder group funded by Michigan’s EGLE, along with other state and national  organizations, developed a Michigan Food System Waste Reduction Roadmap that emphasized food, farmers, and food rescue. Here are a couple of their relevant findings:

1. Michigan disposes of 1.5 to 2 million tons of food waste through its municipal and commercial waste stream each year, the single largest source … [to] the state’s landfills….. Food waste is responsible for an estimated 11.1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions and $11.9 billion in lost revenue in the state. 

2. Reducing food loss is an economic opportunity for Michigan’s farms and food manufacturers. Approximately 1 billion dollars of economic value is lost each year to Michigan’s farms and food manufacturers as unharvested food, shrinkage, or other inefficiencies in the supply chain…. 

Michigan passed legislation in 2023 to specifically deal with organic waste management. This legislation mandates counties to develop a plan within 3 years to reduce waste by 50 percent. Counties can choose to plan independently or partner with adjoining counties. However, it appears the discussion centers on composting and not on reducing the source of food waste. 

In June 2024, the White House announced the first ever Interagency National Strategy for Reducing Food Loss and Waste. These agencies include the EPA, USDA, and FDA and utilize the National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition and Health (2022), which includes the following relevant (4 out of 5) “pillars”:

• Improve food access and affordability of food

• Integrate nutrition and health

• Empower all consumers to make and have access to healthy food

• Enhance nutrition and food security research

Nine states have enacted food waste bans for businesses, such as chain restaurants and supermarkets. Five of these states were recently studied by researchers, as they had the longest track record. According to that research published in Science:  [Researchers]... found that such policies can succeed, but this has not been the norm. The states with bans showed almost no change in organic waste disposal into landfills compared with controls derived from states without bans. The exception to this was the state of Massachusetts. Simplicity of regulation, sufficient infrastructure, low cost of compliance, and/or strong enforcement may have contributed to Massachusetts’ success.  

The Washington Post also reviewed this research in their September 2024 article. Although the four states (California, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Vermont) produced no discernible effect in food waste reduction, Massachusetts reduced its waste by an average of 7.3 percent. This limited success was due entirely to composting, nothing about source reduction efforts. Further, composting had a positive effect because Massachusetts had some infrastructure already in place whereas the other states did not.  

An Alternative Model
While intentions have been good, and despite widespread recognition of the issue, it appears these large-scale food waste reduction efforts have been largely unsuccessful. What gives? In my opinion, the focus on downstream effects, rather than addressing the issue at the source is to blame. Source reduction, very simply, is the best and preferred way to reduce waste! The ultimate goal is to develop a self-sustaining system, or a circular economy, where organic materials not used as food help nature regenerate. 

As such, consider the model of Food Rescue US (FRUS). Services are provided free, 7-days a week via direct delivery by a volunteer using their own vehicle to a social service, non-profit agency that serves the food insecure and hungry as part of their mission. The organization provides the necessary infrastructure and serves as the “source reducer”. Furthermore, the organization will likely provide an important contribution to Michigan communities’ upcoming, organic waste management goals – to reduce food waste by 50 percent in 5 years.   

Our site uses a direct delivery model, from donor to agency within a 10-to-20-minute drive throughout the Lansing area. The schedule is set up to accommodate the desired days/hours of the donors and of the social service agencies that serve the food insecure. Rescues are posted on the app and claimed by volunteers as their personal schedules allow. While the goal is to rescue perishable foods (produce, meat, dairy, baked items), individuals will transport any food or non-food items helpful to the receiving agencies as space in their vehicle allows. If a volunteer rescuer finds that the intended receiving agency cannot use all of the food in their delivery, they will go to a second or even a third agency until the items are placed. As such, the food is dispersed widely within the community.

The number of social service agencies we serve continues to grow. We are currently nearing 35 agencies, from community kitchens to food pantries to shelter facilities, and we’ve recently added Lansing Area Aids Network and the Karmanos Cancer Institute at McLaren Cancer Center for patients in treatment, because their food-insecure clients need a healthy diet.  

We need more donors! There are some that worry about liability, but the Emerson Good Samaritan Act provides federal immunity for donors, volunteers, and receiving agencies that operate in good faith so there should not be a concern! This free service provides a cost savings to donors who may have been paying to transport organic waste and landfill fees. A newer development is that commercial food companies are increasingly held to corporate sustainability goals that might be tied to potential salary increases. So, there are additional reasons for donors to consider partnerships with us. 

It is a very satisfying and flexible volunteer experience. Plus, volunteers have been astoundingly reliable. We are constantly getting feedback from receiving agencies about their positive experiences, and, likewise, get the same feedback from volunteers about both the receiving agencies and the donors. Many volunteers bring their husbands, kids, grandkids, and friends to help. It's social and positive. As such, I believe “enduring” will be another descriptor used for this model. For the month ending October 2023 (right after our inception), our app statistics reveal we had 10 cars/trucks full of food – 1,333 pounds or 94 meals with a computed value of $2,187. For the month ending November 2024, we had 133 scheduled rescues from donors, weighing 21,897 pounds or 18,218 meals, with a value of $42,042. Over Christmas 2024 we added 30 additional rescues on short notice, and all have been claimed. Our volunteers (almost 90 registered) still have never missed a rescue.

FRUS-Lansing MI continues to grow a network of people from a wide variety of backgrounds: social service agencies, volunteers, and commercial food donors and their staff. It appears to be having the unintended consequence of community building, in addition to all of the other benefits previously explained. Could this model present an option for other counties in Michigan, especially where there is a volunteer group ready to use the technology to organize? Is it a natural conduit for educational outreach on shared topics of interest like nutrition, home gardening, composting, and soils? It may be an overreach, but it seems that together we are advancing both a healthier physical environment and healthier personal one! Isn’t that what being a Master Gardener is all about?  

I hope I have convinced you that a food rescue is a worthy Master Gardener project. Please know I welcome any thoughts or suggestions you may have to advance our goals. If interested in volunteering with us, my contact information is below. 

Contact Information
Valerie Lafferty
Food Rescue US-Lansing Communities MI
Valerie@foodrescue.us
(517)349-6660

Member Project Spotlight: The Portage Garden Club and Recovery Garden

by: Jackie Manchester-Kempke

The MMGA’s Communications Team will feature some of our members’ MSU EMG projects in our quarterly newsletters. This article shares one of two projects started by Master Gardener Dick Hewitt who, along with his wife Patt and the Portage Garden Club, in Portage, Michigan, combine teaching science-based gardening practices with philanthropy in their Recovery Garden.

The members of the Portage Garden Club hold an annual event to raise money by selling potted perennials that were shared from their own landscapes, from donations given by commercial operations, and from gardeners who had extra or wanted to change/rehab their own landscapes. If the latter involved a sizable switch, the club would go to the site and help to remove or split the plants and use those plants for the sale. This was a successful strategy but was limited to a one-day sale once a year. Dick was able to get permission to use a utility easement at the back of his and Patt’s property, and the Recovery Garden was born. Now the perennials can stay in one place, waiting to be chosen by gardeners who come to look and donate to the Recovery Garden fund, money which is used to help neighbors and people in Portage.  

Last spring, Portage was thrown into chaos after a tornado hit, followed by a destructive “right wind” (derecho) a short time later that furthered the damage. The Portage Garden Club was able to help a veteran who could not meet his insurance shortfall. Without the funds to pay the deductible, the man would not have been able to get his house repaired. This is why the club works together to sell the plants: To help those in need! So, the Recovery Garden not only takes plants that are unwanted extras (recovering them) but it helps community members “recover” from financial stress. That is amazing!  

Dick and Patt welcome people who drive up to buy plants, walking through their yard down to the Recovery Garden through the Hewitt’s large hosta garden: 1,300 plants, interspersed by daylilies and iris. The Recovery Garden is also approachable from a well-used hiking/biking trail that runs through it. People using the trail see what’s available and may bring a wheelbarrow along the path and shop from there! (Someone even came by an e-bike pulling a small trailer!)  

A nearby nursery school visited the garden from the trail. Dick and Patt taught them not to be afraid of the pollinators buzzing around. A child of new neighbors came into the garden where Patt grows tomatoes exclaiming, “I never knew where tomatoes came from!” Education is happening. Patt and Dick are not the only MSU EMG’s in the

Portage Garden Club, and their collective knowledge has inspired other members to enroll in Foundations in Gardening (FOG). Thank you, Patt and Dick Hewitt for sharing this great project! 

Thriving Succulents: Indoors and Outdoors

by Jackie Manchester-Kempke 

I enjoyed having succulents in the house long before I added any to my landscape. Living in Michigan, gardeners have fewer species to choose from that can survive our winters; however, there are many choices of sedums and sempervivums that thrive here, which add texture and color to our perennial gardens. Many bees visit mine!

There was an unsightly area (too large!) on the upside of my circular driveway that has been in transition for five years now. It was a huge undertaking for me alone. The “grass” was sparse with several species of hardy “Do-Not-Wants” and a few nice clumps of red clover overtaking it. Add three 25-feet pine trees and a medium-sized maple. I disliked mowing it and decided to begin altering the area. I chose some different sedum and stonecrop varietals for the first section I tackled. I no longer remember their names, but their coloring and sizes were distinct and made for an eye-catching planting along with the rocks placed here and there.  

Since then I have added Angelina stonecrop, various sempervivums, and more large Stonecrop varietals. These, with grasses like Big Bluestem in the back, interspersed with Black-eyed Susan and Blazing Star, do well and look charming. A very positive aspect of succulents outdoors (as well as grasses and native wildflowers) is that once they are established they do well in times of drought. Autumn Joy is a late-season blooming Stonecrop, which is important for the pollinators. 

Whenever I see a display of indoor succulents, it’s difficult to pass by. They are “cute” or dramatic or interesting-looking, as well as easy to grow. Plants that can thrive with some neglect appeal to me. Unlike my friend Toni, who had a whole table of African violets she pampered, I prefer houseplants that add some life to a room but demand little. I also think that having an aloe in my house that soothes mild burns makes sense. Beauty and practicality. These days my only 365-day houseplants are succulents and a cactus that share some space with a couple geraniums I overwinter. When I leave for a week or so I am not worried if they will survive, even with the heat turned down to 62 degrees. I come back, give them water and a pep talk and all is well.

Succulents are easy plants to propagate. I have seen how-to videos online that show how to propagate succulents by gently pushing the edges of leaves you have removed from a plant into some prepared soil. These “DIYs” pop up now and then when I am at my computer, so check out YouTube if that sounds like an experiment you would like to try.  

Succulents do not do well in regular soil because it’s too heavy and can hold more water than a plant can tolerate, leading to rot at the roots. Before I understood that too much water can negatively affect a plant just as much as too little, I lost a plant or two. Rather than mixing soil when repotting, I now buy a bag of succulent/cactus soil at my local feed store. The work and cost of buying, then mixing the various components for my few plants is not worth the work for me, but if someone reading this would prefer to mix soil, see the two soil mixes below taken from two different websites. There is also a list of sound practices for raising succulents. I enjoyed noticing that that grower’s advice echoes our training as MSUE Master Gardener Volunteers! 

Six guidelines for beginners:

1. Pick the right plant for the space/light you have.

2. Water only when completely dry. The site suggests using a water meter or a wooden chopstick pushed into the drain hole on the bottom to see if there is still moisture there. Water until some drops come from the drainage hole.

3. Use the correct pot: porous with a drainage hole.

4. Use fast draining soil. (I’ll give two different mixes below)

5. Provide the necessary temperature and light: 60-80 degrees. 4-6 hrs of light.

6. Remove dried or rotten leaves to prevent insects moving in!  

Succulents Box Soil Mix

• 3 parts regular potting soil

• 2 parts coarse sand

• 1 part perlite or pumice

• Mix well 

The Spruce Soil Mix

• 1 part coconut coir

• 1 part commercial or garden soil (by volume not weight)

• 2 parts 1/8” pumice

• Slow-release fertilizer as per the manufacturer’s instruction

On Our Bookshelf: The Light Eaters - Review by Ilse Schweitzer

Zoë Schlanger, The Light Eaters (HarperCollins, 2024)

January and February are long months for gardeners. We may spend the short daylight hours paging through catalogues, planning our spring planting strategies; we may ward off the dark evenings by scrolling through social media accounts from the southern hemisphere, where flowers are in full bloom. In Michigan, waiting for the necessary cold of winter to end and for the long days of summer to return is a challenge. In times like this, it’s refreshing to pick up a book like Zoë Schlanger’s The Light Eaters, which provides a reminder that the green months are coming and that there’s so much about plants that we can still learn.

Though not an expert in botany herself, journalist Schlanger explains that years of writing about climate change had given her a sense of anxiety and sadness, but also a disconnection to the world whose devastation she was chronicling. She reconnects to that world in this book, bringing her considerable research experience and curiosity to the project. A key part of that journey toward reconnection is Schlanger’s exploration of the possibilities of plant intelligence. Within the first two chapters, she takes her readers on an engaging tour through the histories and philosophies that have led us to categorize humans separately from the world outside of us – what we might lump together as “the natural world.” She explains, in accessible terms, the ways that scientific paradigms like this change over time; that it might be possible very soon for us to consider what a plant intelligence might look like. As she delves into this controversial suggestion, she considers different aspects of intelligence – communication, consciousness, personality, feeling, sensitivity, hearing, sight, sociability – and in each chapter explores how researchers believe these traits might be observable in plant life.

One of the pleasures of this book is Schlanger’s ability not only to describe groundbreaking botanical studies and discoveries in plain, accessible language for her non-scientist readers, but also her lush descriptions of the different landscapes to which she travels. The first chapter finds Schlanger in the humid, green cliffs of Kaua’i, and from there, she brings us along to see a colorful sunrise over fields of sage near the San Andreas fault, and then a nighttime rainforest in Cuba, the Berlin Botanical Gardens, a cave in Peru, and even the dunes of Lake Michigan. In each ecosystem, she follows researchers attempting to understand something greater, something new about the plant world. She asks them questions, she teases out their personalities, their passions, and the stakes of their research. We hear their voices: their excitement at a new discovery, their sadness at a lost specimen.

Schlanger brings to life not only her green surroundings, but also the botanists, conservationists, and researchers whose studies are pushing at the edges of our understanding of the “secret lives” of plants. Her descriptions of far-away, flourishing environments provide a refreshing change for those of us stuck inside, as February melts into March. And as the days get longer, and we make plans to start our seeds and clean up the garden spaces in preparation for new growth, a book like this provides a fascinating new perspective on just how much we share with (and how much we know and don’t know) about our plant companions.