Turning Scraps into Soil: How We Partner with Scrap the Waste
At Love is the Source Farm, we believe nothing should go to waste. Every peel, rind, and leftover has potential to nourish life if we put it back into the right hands (or hooves!). That’s why we love partnering with Scrap the Waste Corporation — a local business making it possible for farms like ours to close the loop.
From Restaurant to Farm
Before homesteading, I spent 14 years working in restaurants and with chefs. I saw firsthand how much food waste piles up in kitchens every single day — and how little of it ever made it back into the soil. For years it bothered me, because I knew the value of those scraps.
That’s why I’m especially grateful to now see local Florida restaurants and grocery stores stepping up, working with organizations like Scrap the Waste to redirect what would have been waste into nourishment. It feels like coming full circle.
Today, instead of going into the trash, onion peels, lettuce stems, fruit rinds, and coffee grounds get rerouted to our farm, where they become resources:
Compost to feed and enrich our soil.
Animal feed for our chickens, ducks, and sometimes even the neighbors’ animals.
Worm farm fuel that keeps our vermiculture thriving, turning scraps into nutrient-rich castings.
Every delivery is a reminder that waste is only waste if you waste it.
Pineapples with a Second Life
One of our favorite scraps to work with comes from a local bar’s cocktail menu: pineapple tops. Instead of tossing them, we collect and propagate them right here on the farm. Each top has the potential to become a new pineapple plant, which not only produces fruit but also adds beauty and biodiversity to our food forest.
What was once a garnish in someone’s drink can, in just a few years, be harvested as a full pineapple in our gardens. That’s the magic of giving plants a second chance.
A Cycle of Sharing
The scraps don’t stop with us. We love to share resources:
Our worm castings go back into the gardens.
Extra scraps sometimes head to our neighbors’ animals.
The compost we build is delivered throughout Central Florida to help other families and farmers grow their own abundance.
By working together, we’re creating a cycle that connects restaurants, farms, animals, and communities — all through something most people would throw away.
Why It Matters
Food waste is a massive problem globally, but solutions can start small and local. By partnering with Scrap the Waste Corporation and local businesses, we’re able to:
Reduce waste going to landfills.
Build living soil that grows nutrient-dense food.
Teach our children and community that everything has value.
Turn a cocktail garnish or kitchen scrap into a thriving plant or a healthy animal.
✨ For me, after years in the restaurant industry, it’s a gift to finally see the scraps that once felt wasted being used to grow new life. When we work with the natural cycles of the earth, there is no waste — only nourishment, only abundance.
If you’re a local restaurant, bar, or community member who wants to connect, reach out to us — let’s keep the cycle flowing together. 🌱
