Summer is here and we’re ready to celebrate! All are welcome to join us Tuesday, July 11, at 5:30pm at Macari Vineyards in Mattituck for “Slow Hour,” Slow Food East End’s version of happy hour.

Interested in knowing more about the benefits of composting and various methods for home composting?

In the five East End towns, nearly 60 tons of food scraps are generated daily, with much of it ending up as waste! Reducing food waste is crucial for reversing global overheating, nearly 40 percent of food in the U.S. becomes trash, emitting toxic methane when left in landfills. Did you know that households contribute to a staggering 70% of landfill food waste? Composting is a simple and efficient way to remove food waste from landfills and benefit the environment.   

The Long Island Organics Council has long encouraged reducing food waste and making compost as a beneficial lifestyle. We have invited LIOC, the Macari family (whose vineyard has received recognition for its composting program) and Mary Morgan, one of the founders of our Slow Food East End chapter (an expert on food waste solutions), to share in the conversation that evening.

The Macari Family’s waterfront farm, with sweeping views of the Long Island Sound, was established over 50 years ago. Since the first vines were planted in 1995, Macari Vineyards has been recognized as an industry leader in regenerative agriculture. The vineyard is home to a herd of cattle, used for composting, and grows grapes without the use of herbicides.

Although willing, many households are just not able to support a traditional compost system at their home. To help, counter compost units have been developed to dehydrate and grind food scraps to a small fraction of their original volume that is sterile, compact and usable as soil or compost amendments.   

FoodCycle Science is one company that manufactures counter composters, they are establishing pilot programs to encourage more home composting across the U.S. The East End is where their next pilot program will be launched. To help promote this effort our July Slow Hour will also feature a presentation about FoodCycle Science.  The goal of the pilot program is to track countertop-compost usage by households, the data will be used to encourage local municipalities to support food waste retention from our landfills.

The East End Countertop Recycler Pilot program is a partnership between the Long Island Organics Council and Food Cycle Science. The Pilot Program opens to the public on August 1, 2023. As a special partnership SFEE members are able to purchase a unit starting July 1st, 2023. During the “Early Snail Special” all members who purchase discounted FoodCycler units will also support Edible School Garden schools and food pantries. For every 50 participants who purchase a unit and take part in the trial survey, SFEE will donate a FoodCycler to a school or pantry.  For information contact: Mary Morgan, EastEndCountertopRecyclerPilot@gmail.com

“Slow Food East End has been actively supporting composting efforts for years now,” said Mary Morgan. “Our dream was to build an audience among our local food growers and makers, from farmers to fishers, beekeepers to bread bakers, which our SFEE local chapter has achieved so wonderfully. We all know delicious food is based on healthy soil. The composter program helps us all recycle food scraps and regenerate our soils.”  

To learn more, join us on July 11th at Macari Vineyards for our Slow Hour. Wine and snacks will be available for purchase, and joining the discussion is free.  

Together we can further Slow Food’s mission to seek good, clean, and fair food systems for all while supporting schools and food pantries and promoting policy change that encourages municipalities to establish compost drop-off centers for each town and eliminate food waste from our landfills.