Washington County Commissioners heard a request to consider a compost and food waste reduction program at their Tuesday, July 6 workshop.
Gail Wiley attended the workshop, and explained that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently announced the availability of up to $2 million for local governments to host Community Compost and Food Waste Reduction pilot projects for fiscal year 2021.
Wiley presented the Commissioners with information from the USDA explaining that the cooperative agreements support projects that develop and test strategies for planning and implementing municipal compost plans and food waste reduction plans that are part of USDA’s broader efforts to support urban agriculture.
“These grants are given to counties across the state of Georgia to begin a compost and food waste reduction plan,” said Wiley when addressing the County Commissioners.
According to the USDA, the projects should span two years with a start date of September 25 of 2021, and a completion date of September 25, 2023.
“I would love for Washington County to be a leader in the state, and utilize those funds to start a program that would be a win-win for our farmers and agricultural programs as well as helping to keep things out of our landfill which prevents us from filling up landfills and needing new ones,” stated Wiley.
The USDA’s Community Compost and Food Waste Reduction cooperative agreements support projects led by local governments that generate compost, increase access to compost for agricultural producers, reduce reliance on and limit the use of fertilizer, improve soil quality, encourage waste management and permaculture business development, increase rainwater absorption, reduce municipal food waste, and divert food waste from landfills.
Wiley remarked that she would love to help the County with the grant process in order to make this project possible for Washington County.
“It’s a great program that would help us be a leader in the state, and be more environmentally friendly,” remarked Wiley.
After hearing Wiley’s presentation, Chairman Horace Daniel commented that the County is interested in the USDA’s grant for Community Compost and Food Waste Reduction.