THE UPPER VALLEY SUPER COMPOST PROJECT
Growing Social and Soil Resilience
The Upper Valley Super Compost Project (UVSCP) is an innovative school composting and food systems initiative connecting students, cafeterias, farms, and communities to meaningfully reduce and divert wasted food.
Non-network schools can still take advantage of many of these benefits, including classroom support, food waste assessment, and Beyond the Classroom coordination. Individuals can also join to support Super Compost materially as well as through their time and direct participation.
We help K-12 schools in the Upper Valley to face their waste, recycle food scraps on site, and steward their community soil.
Participating schools receive support around:
Food waste assessment and separation systems
Food Recovery Hierarchy alignment
Compost system recommendations and installation
Fundraising for materials and supplies
Classroom integration
Beyond the classroom coordination
Community of practice and volunteer development
Compost testing
Finished compost application and best use
Watch students make a daily deposit of food scraps as part of a site tour!
Tending community ground
Super Compost communities extend beyond school grounds and connect students to the social and ecological ecosystem around them.
Embedded by practice in their surrounding communities, our sites support people to address problems together. Making compost, like growing or preparing food together, is an opportunity to transcend political and cultural differences and be neighbors. Super Compost communities are tending this ground and growing ties for a more cooperative future.
Securing healthy soil
Soil health is the superhero of community security. Healthy soil leads to nourishment, food security, and economic stability for communities. When soil is rich and alive, it fosters biodiversity, prevents erosion, and helps retain water, making communities more resilient against floods and droughts. In turn, thriving ecosystems support local economies, stabilize food supply chains, and reduce poverty, increasing our chances to thrive. We are investing in soil to fortify our neighborhoods and a secure future for generations to come.
Replicable by design.
UVSCP was designed with replicability in mind. Our pilot phase helped to develop a toolkit of resources and templates other communities can use to implement similar initiatives elsewhere.
Seeing is Believing
Come see for yourself! Tour a working system and hear from the students, teachers, and volunteers who sustain it. To arrange a tour or schedule a visit, please get in touch! Tours are free for participating schools and for schools and organizations with limited resources.
