Broadview Gets $300,000 Grant to Reduce Food Waste, Create Compost

(Broadview, IL) – The U.S. Department of Agriculture is investing more than $9.4 million in 45 cooperative agreements that support innovative, scalable waste management plans to reduce and divert food waste from landfills, including a $300,000 grant to the Village of Broadview, the only Illinois municipality to receive this funding.

Broadview’s project, working with the Cross Community Climate Collaborative Composting Initiative, is designed to support three low-to-moderate communities in West Cook County, through establishing residential curbside food scrap diversion programs.

The project will also integrate the initiative within the Seven Generations Ahead Zero Waste Schools program which will incorporate food scrap diversion systems within schools and establish food recovery protocols toward significantly reducing food waste and returning finished compost back into the communities for use in school and community gardens and landscaping, according to Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson.

“Broadview is thrilled to be one of 45 communities across the nation, and the only one in Illinois to be part of the federal government’s Compost and Food Waste Reduction initiative,” said Thompson. “Our community, and all communities, have no food to waste, and we must leverage the opportunities that our natural environment provides to recycle food waste as compost to nourish community gardens that grow food, creating a virtuous cycle.”

The Compost and Food Waste Reduction cooperative agreements, which are funded by the American Rescue Plan Act, are part of USDA’s broad support for urban agriculture through its Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production. The projects will be implemented between 2023 and 2025.

“These Compost and Food Waste Reduction projects play important roles in building resilient, local food systems, including strong food recovery networks and food waste reduction solutions that benefit farmers and communities,” said Terry Cosby, Chief of USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), which houses OUAIP. “With an estimated 4% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions attributable to uneaten food, local strategies and tools like these are important climate solutions.”

USDA prioritized projects that anticipate or demonstrate economic benefits, incorporate plans to make compost easily accessible to farmers, including community gardeners, integrate other food waste strategies, including food recovery efforts and collaborate with multiple partners.

davidormsby@davidormsby.com