Whole Food Waste to Fresh Food Future

Man, food waste is quite the big deal — and something that's always on our mind, working in food production.

The Reality of Food Waste in Small Batch Cooking

Although we don't technically waste any food, fresh produce always comes with some unwanted or unusable parts: apple cores, onion skins, chilli stems. Cooking a normal family dinner, a single onion skin or apple core doesn't seem like all that much.

But when one day of cooking our small batch smoked onion marmalade can use up to 80kg of onions, the issue really starts to rear its head. That's around 10–15kg of peel and skins from a single day's cooking, alone.

From One Worm Farm To A Full Composting System

Five years ago, back when we started out making just 5 or 6 jars per batch, one worm farm managed to keep up with barely any waste to spare. One worm farm turned into two, which were then replaced with four large inground worm farms and the addition of two hot compost bins.

This set-up works for the time being, and gives us enough compost each spring to cover and feed the entire garden — saving so much waste from going to landfill, and letting us grow veggies, fruit and flowers at home sustainably to eat and to enjoy.

What's Next? Dreaming Of A Hobby Farm

As we keep growing, what's the plan? More compost bins, maybe. But our real dream would be to get a block of land in Perth to build a small commercial kitchen, with the aim to grow all our produce on site — a mini orchard, rows of raised veg beds. Now that would really be sustainable local produce, with all the compost going straight back into growing the veggies and fruit we cook with.

Maybe a shop or café on the side, with space to teach classes to adults and have schools round to show kids how to pickle and cook from scratch. Maybe there's an angel investor out there looking to invest in a small WA hobby farm. Maybe, just maybe.

We can dream. One day, one day.