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Even Restaurants Are Starting To Compost Now


By

Rebecca Fishbein

Published Jun 22, 2013

Modified Jun 22, 2013


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Delicious compost.

 

Tien Mao/Gothamist


By

Rebecca Fishbein

Published Jun 22, 2013

Modified Jun 22, 2013


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Now that Bloomberg's trying to get us to turn all our old food into plant food, restaurants are trying to figure out how to comply efficiently. And it's not all fun and earthworms, apparently, and restaurants are beginning to worry about the practice's logistics should it become mandatory in the near future.

Luckily a number of restaurants have gotten a jump start on composting. Eateries like Blue Hill, Momofuku and Le Bernadin have already pledged to reduce their food waste through composting, and according to the Times, some, like Gramercy Tavern have been separating out food scraps for years. "If you’re going to shop at the market, and you’re supporting farmers, composting seems like an obvious next step,” chef Ginger Pierce, who composts at her restaurants Isa, Freemans and Peels, told the Times, “and it just becomes part of your routine.”

But not everyone's having an easy time of it. Some restaurants, like vegan king Dirt Candy, don't have enough kitchen space to keep 30-60 gallon bins for composting. And another big concern among restauranteurs and other New Yorkers alike is whether or not composting coupled with infrequent trash and recycling pickups will attract more rats to a city that already seems to be teeming with little clawed creatures. And it's not just rats: "We already have a lot of problems with raccoons," a Park Slope resident told the Post. COMPOSTING MEANS RACCOONS. Bloomberg will be out of office by the time composting could become mandatory, so Critter City will be someone else's problem; meanwhile, if you'd like to compost in your own home, we've amassed a few tips for you to check out.

Tagged

bloomberg

composting

dirt candy

gramercy tavern

le bernadin

rats

restaurants


Rebecca Fishbein

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