PHOENIX — There's a surprising amount of discarded food that makes its way to our state's landfills. In fact, we're the worst in the nation for wasting food.
One company is changing the way we process our waste, by putting it to good use.
For 50 years, Neal Brooks, owner of Grower's Market Inc. in Laveen, has made it his mission to stop waste from wedging its way into landfills. He focuses on recycling trash, old food, and yes, discarded brews from across the Valley to help our community.
Brooks' company works with local farms to compost or recycle organic matter, turning it into enriching fertilizer. The company just received a $2.4 million grant to compost. Their efforts to combat waste in State 48 will have a lasting impact.
"Part of our passion and our continued mission is to bring back home and school gardens across the Valley. Arizona is the most wasteful state in the country, with more than 186 25-ton trucks of garbage going into our landfills," he explained.
That's why he started the composting company and partnered with Abby Lee Farms. They want to divert more organic waste this year than respective cities around the Valley.
"We take all kinds of green organic waste, we grind it up, turn it to soil, clean it then sell it, he added. These guys work so hard, and this really is a farm, it’s not industrial, we want to get this produce to farmers' markets and school gardens."
Brooks gave 12News a hands-on look at the operation, including the $9.5 billion of food waste that works its way through the process.
"We learned by accident though, that there's also 40,000 gallons of beer waste, so we have a tanker truck from Glendale with the yeast that's got good microbes in it."
After it's hammered through the grinder, all that material gets hosed down with recycled beer instead of water, which ultimately turns into soil.
"One in nine people struggle to find their next meal, so instead of wasting all that debris and old food, we're able to turn it back into something useful and that's the way it was intended."
Grower's Market Inc.'s current commitment this year is to donate $80,000 to establish and help 80 Valley schools set up their own gardens to get kids involved in the process young.
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