#FreeTheCompost
A FIRE
The Short Story
As you may know, in 2023, the county's only incinerator burned down. This is where we used to burn most of our trash. And one day, the building also burned down along with all the trash.
But a $1.5 billion problem was left behind.
Since then, the county has witnessed scores of meetings, protests, petitions, review boards, plannings... And yet, we are still not close to beginning to know what we'll do with roughly 5 million tons of trash each year.
(Meanwhile, tax payers are paying for having their trash shipped out of state, to central Florida and even as far as Georgia).
WHY THIS MATTERS TO US
Food is Never Waste
With all its water content, food is the heaviest item in the waste stream. Organic matter makes up over 50% of the total!
Farms like ours have been educating on this issue and collecting food scraps for years. The benefit is not only in keeping all that heavy weight out of the waste stream, but we have also been repurposing it all for the benefit of our community:
We feed people when the food is viable. Or we then feed animals when we can. And, at the end of our path, we feed it to our worms and microbes to turn it into compost. (aka organic soil to grow beautiful things).
Until now, we have been quietly composting alongside many great, forward-looking companies, (plus the Village of Pinecrest, and the Miccosukee Indian Tribe), and we assumed that common sense would eventually lead to county-wide expansions of these types of win/win projects found in farms like ours.
But No. Of course not
In December 2024, the Mayor’s office released a report recommending that county officials seek expert advice on composting issues. There was also a call for a one-year study to assess the issues, including Miami's unique composting requirements.
But none of that happened, and today, six months later, we learn that an ordinance is already being written behind closed doors, and farms are currently about to be slammed with crippling regulations and incomprehensible rules that are not based on science.
This “Ordinance relating to Zoning and Environmental Protection,” which was supposed to make composting safer and easier, does the exact opposite: Compost is now being labeled as "solid waste," farm land is being shrunk, farmers are being drowned with inexplicable regulations.
Our attempts at communication have been ignored, so we are now publicly asking to be heard. We have local and national composting experts ready to help.
We invite you to read and sign our petition. Please click the link to learn in more detail how this current legislation and its arbitrary rules is not in the best interest for our community.
