11 Winners of Food Waste Reduction Grants

A compost bin (right) sits alongside Milwaukee trash and recycling bins. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

Eleven organizations will receive the city’s inaugural “FEED MKE” micro-grants.

Formally called “Feed Excess, Equal Distribution,” the FEED grants are intended to reduce waste food and food insecurity.

Reducing food waste was one of “10 Big Ideas” identified in the city’s 2023 Milwaukee Climate and Equity Plan. “We are super excited about this,” said Alderwoman Marina Dimitrijevic, the climate plan’s council champion, when the Finance & Personnel Committee briefly discussed the measure on Feb. 4.

Winning organizations are expected to use the grant awards to expand food pantry offerings, purchase composting equipment and provide education about best practices. Recipients include Tricklebee Cafe, Kompost Kids, Soul Brew Kombucha and Compost Crusader.

The effort is being funded by a $400,000 federal grant secured by the Environmental Collaboration Office. According to the city’s grant summary, 15% of material going to landfills locally is edible food and Milwaukee County meanwhile saw a 14% increase in FoodShare recipients following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The effort aims to cut 130 tons of food waste in two years.

According to the city’s grant summary, 15% of material going to landfills locally is edible food and Milwaukee County meanwhile saw a 14% increase in FoodShare recipients following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. One in seven Wisconsin families are said to experience food insecurity.

In addition to the $190,000 in micro-grants, a 2024 grant summary states that the Mayor’s Office will launch a “food saver challenge” to incentivize private businesses to reduce their food waste and the Department of Public Works will establish eight community compost stations. Those stations, within two years, are expected to divert 100 tons of waste.

Food Recovery Awards

• Ebenezer Stone Ministries – $30,000 – “staff support for a dedicated food recovery and cold storage warehouse manager during one-year period while moving from transitional housing model to increased food recovery focus”
• Tricklebee Cafe – $8,000 – “hire two part-time project coordinators and provide funding for a full-time ServSafe employee to be on site for all prep”
• Jim Luther New Hope Center – $20,000 – “expand innovative co-op food pantry services to two new locations in in 53204 and 53215 ZIP codes and double number of families served”
• Tikkun Ha-Ir of Milwaukee – $30,000 – “gleaning organization that will increase staff to distribute roughly 1000 additional family meals per week from recovered produce”
• The Gathering of Southeast WI – $10,000 – “provide essential part-time staff and materials support to food pantry that has operated 6 days a week, for 51 weeks a year, for 42 years “
• Soul Brew Kombucha – $17,500 – “develop a program to recover Tier-2 produce from local grocers, growers/producers to divert waste and be upcycled as kombucha”
• Medical College of Wisconsin – $12,000 – “provide stipends to food pantries and support faculty-led program to improve donation and food recovery behaviors and outcomes”

Composting Awards

• Kompost Kids – $5,000 – “provide compost drop support and ‘bokashi’ compost education and supplies to community members for rodent-proof home composting”
• UW-Milwaukee – $19,705 – “Office of Sustainability will scale current composting with EarthCubes and add Actium Batch Compost Drum for rapid, self-contained innovation”
• Milwaukee Public Schools Harold S. Vincent High School – $20,100 – “‘Vincent’s On-Site Aerated Static Pile Composting System Project’ will provide community and on-site composting using innovative methods and compost education to MPS students and community members”
• Compost Crusader – $17,695 – “provide subscription service and/or community drop-off support to: Jewish Community Pantry, Alice’s Garden, Fondy Market, Urban Ecology Center (all locations), NOURISH MKE (Mitchell St. location only), Sherman Phoenix, TrickleBee Café, Tikkun Ha-Ir (All People’s Church site), My Soul Brew Kombucha, and The Bay View Community Center“

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