Feeding the soil
Ladles of Love is to launch its Feed the Soil project in Constantia.
Initially launched in Woodstock on World Food day in October 2021 the project has spread to Sea Point, Vredehoek and on Tuesday October 18 to the Constantia Valley.
The non-profit is asking people to save their household food waste which Ladles of Love will collect every Tuesday from the parking area near the petrol station in the Old Village.
Shoppers can purchase an empty 25-litre bucket at R25 and swop it each week for a clean empty one to start all over again.
Ladles of Love will then turn it into compost to donate to food gardens to help them to grow veggies for impoverished communities.
In 2007, the provincial Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning created the Integrated Waste Management Plan for the Western Cape to get around the problem of limited landfill space.
Composting is leading the charge in this plan to divert half of all organic waste from landfills by next year and all of it by 2027 (“Composting to divert food waste from landfills”, Bulletin June 3, 2021). The department is working with the City of Cape Town and 29 other municipalities in the province to meet the plan’s targets.
Ladles of Love founder Danny Diliberto began the non-profit in July 2014 with a soup kitchen on Tuesday evenings. What started off as a single pot of soup to the homeless community has grown into an organisation providing food to about 35 000 people each day.
“I’m now focusing on the hand-up approach with the Feed the Soil project which is driven by diverting food waste from landfills, providing free compost to our community farmers and creating a route to market by selling these farmers’ vegetables at our depots,” said Mr Diliberto.
“Through a food waste bucket system we’re able to collect your food waste and through our partner, Y-Waste, it is then converted into compost which is bagged and given to selected community farmers. So far, we’ve collected almost 30 tonnes of food waste and assisted 11 farmers with compost,” he said.
Constantia Village marketing manager, Simone Chiavistello said Ladles of Love is one of the core charities they support.
The shopping centre already has a thriving recycling operation at the rear parking area collecting clean bottles, paper, cardboard and plastic and it has now become a one-stop venue by adding kitchen waste.
At the recent Friends of Constantia Greenbelts AGM, the financial statement shows that they received R155 525 from Constantia Village recycling, up from R151 612 last year.
