FOOD WASTE COMPOSTING WITHOUT RATS
In my family, wasting food is unacceptable. This is not new: my mother would not tolerate wasted food since, when she was a child in Germany during World War 1, she was malnourished. Fortunately, Quakers provided a Soup Kitchen where she lived, so she survived.
The need to avoid food waste is now recognised, but one third of the food we buy is still thrown away - and only two thirds of fruit and vegetables that are grown in the UK reach the shops in the first place. One third of the harvest is wasted either because it is not up to the supermarkets' standard or because it is in excess of supermarkets' need during a good harvest.
On Farming Today today (October 31st) we were told that, in the UK, 4.4 million apples and 5.1 million potatoes are thrown away every day.
A few Local Authorities put this waste food to good use. On Farming Today we were told about Wychavon District Council which collects food waste, takes it to a composting plant and then spreads it on farmland as a soil improver.
Hilary Benn tells us that "... if all the food and other organic waste that the UK produces could be harnessed ... it could provide enough heat and energy to run over two million homes."
In Birmingham we can put waste food in our bins and it is taken to the Tyseley Energy from Waste plant, along with other rubbish that cannot be recycled.
Some of us prefer to keep our dustbins odourless and prefer to compost food waste - but rats can be a real problem if we add food to garden waste in our traditional compost heaps.
I am familiar with two solutions:
We have a Green Cone in our garden.
An alternative is Bokashi, which is recommended by Lynne Jones MP.
Check the websites for explanations of their merits and details of the costs.
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Esther Boyd - Esther Boyd is a qualified architect who is dedicated to making Moseley environmentally friendly. She is secretary of local green group SusMo.
I agree, it is reaaly important to avoid feeding rats. I keep all kitchen waste indoors until it is rotten and never put fresh food waste outside. Compost should be enclosed in a green cone or similar, and have a metal mesh base, if there is any danger of rats digging in from below. Compost worms do most of the work and they will appear if the composter is on the earth, or can be brought in from an existing compost heap. Anglers' brandlings are compost worms. Food waste, rotting, should be mixed with garden waste, and even torn paper or card, to avoid it getting wet and acid.
Johns suggestion work wellprovided there are no gaps. The rats soon find the holes.
One could join with neighbours and compost in style with the gadget shown at www.Ridan.co.uk
The trick we need to pull is to re-label commodities (paper, nappies, uneaten food, sewage) with a name other than 'waste'. An ex-Biffa exec told me t'other week that nappies, currently 8% (I think he said) of landfill, would soon be a tradeable commodity as they contain valuable energy.
I cannot praise Carolyn Steel's Hungry City: How food shapes our lives highly enough. You can see her TED talk at Birmingham - Hungry City.