2023 Food Waste Solutions Summit

A Red Circle

• May 16, 1-4pm
• 15 people

A Red Circle is a local nonprofit organization combating economic segregation in the North County of St. Louis through employment, education, holistic living, policy, and the arts. Based on the idea that all blood is red and that we are all connected by humanity, A Red Circle works with state and regional partners to equip residents with the tools they need to be financially empowered. Field trip participants will tour A Red Circle and learn about their efforts to address food injustice. 

Donald Danforth Plant Science Center

• May 16, 1-4pm
• 60 people

Founded in 1998, the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center is the world’s largest nonprofit plant science research institute. During this field trip, you will walk through a native tall grass prairie, get an inside look at the state-of-the-art labs, step inside a top-tier research greenhouse, and meet scientists and innovators working to feed the world more sustainably. 

EarthDance Organic Teaching Farm

[SOLD OUT]

• May 16, 1-4pm
• 25 people

The EarthDance Organic Teaching Farm is the oldest organic farm west of the Mississippi River. Visitors will enjoy touring different types of sustainable gardens at EarthDance, including a rain garden, herb garden, and "7-Generations" garden. Guests will tour two acres of production fields, learning how this local, small-scale, one-of-a-kind organic farm operates. This includes a visit to the greenhouse and harvest house, which will provide a full picture of how food production and processing works before the fruits and veggies make it to restaurants, markets, EarthDance's "Pay What You Can" farm stand, and ultimately your plate.

EverGrain

[SOLD OUT]

• May 16, 1-4pm 
• 20 people

Introduced in 2020, EverGrain is a sustainable ingredient company created by Anheuser-Busch InBev to unlock every grain of potential in its barley to make a positive impact on people and the planet. Join them for an exciting tour through EverGrain’s brand new EverPro Facility. Building 20, originally built in 1905, and Building 270 house proprietary processes to produce EverPro, the world’s first Upcycled Certified, Non-GMO Project Verified protein at scale. The group will break up into three smaller groups for an intimate 20-minute tour through the facility. 

Local Harvest Grocery

[SOLD OUT]

• May 16, 1-4pm
• 15 people

Local Harvest Grocery is an independent grocery store focusing on sourcing at least half of its inventory from small farmers and vendors within 150 miles of St. Louis. They're always taking steps towards sustainability – minimizing food miles, increasing package-free bulk options, decreasing food waste through donations and composting, and more.  On this field trip, you'll meet with one of the managers to take a brief tour and discuss implementation, goals, and challenges of these strategies.

Mighty Cricket

[SOLD OUT]

• May 16, 1-4pm
• 10 people

Join Mighty Cricket for a tour of their urban cricket and mushroom farm! Learn about how Mighty Cricket turns waste into food and other innovative products and sample Mighty Cricket's top-selling protein products.

Missouri Botanical Garden

[SOLD OUT]

• May 16, 1-4pm
• 40 people

Missouri Botanical Garden seeds sustainable thinking and practices across its broad-spectrum work, from public education to research. Staff of the Garden's EarthWays Center will lead a walking tour of popular features and work behind the scenes, covering rainscaping, composting, biophilic design, edible and native plant landscapes, green building practices, and more. Your tour will include time to explore the Garden on your own during peak bloom season.

New Earth Farm

• May 16, 1-4pm
• 25 people​​​​​​

New Earth Farm is a community composting operation located in Old North St. Louis, just north of downtown. While at present they are more focused on hauling than processing food waste, they also maintain a small urban farm with an outdoor compost learning lab. Come see a successfully used aerated static bin 10 feet from the neighbor's window! You'll hear about the composting process and different styles of composting, and you'll learn more about the food waste composting scene in the St. Louis metro area.

Operation Food Search

• May 16, 1-4pm
• 50 people

Visit Operation Food Search for a tour of the facility and a hands-on volunteer experience  sorting food received from recent food drives. Founded in 1981, Operation Food Search (OFS) is a hunger relief organization that provides free food, nutrition education, and innovative programs proven to reduce food insecurity. OFS provides food and services to 200,000 individuals monthly – one-third of whom are children – through a network of 330 community partners in 27 Missouri and Illinois counties.

St. Louis Area Foodbank

• May 16, 1-3pm​​​​​
• 20-50 people

Roll up your sleeves and volunteer at the St. Louis Area Foodbank, a member of Feeding America. Volunteers work in the Volunteer Repackaging Center sorting and packing food for distribution into the community. This can include building various food boxes, sorting food drive donations, packaging produce into individual family size portions, or other relevant projects contributing to the Foodbank mission. This field trip will also include a brief video about their work and a tour of the facility.

St. Louis Composting

[SOLD OUT]

• May 16, 1-4pm
• 40 people

St. Louis Composting arranges for commercial manufacturers’ packaged spoilage to arrive at our depackaging facilities where we can separate the material that cannot be introduced to compost (the packaging), and reclaim the organic material (the food), and help it find a second beneficial purpose. The packaging can then be routed to recycling, disposal, or waste to energy.  Since non-compostable packaging cannot be introduced into the composting process, we utilize our depackaging facilities to minimize the waste created from material destruction and give the bulk of the organic material a second life in the form of nutrient-rich compost! Attendees must wear long pants and close-toed shoes.