Toni’s Kitchen Announces Comprehensive Composting Initiative

Toni’s Kitchen is delighted to announce the launch of a comprehensive composting initiative to complement our longstanding food rescue program.

Toni’s Kitchen prevents food waste by doing ‘food rescue’ work with local restaurants and markets. Food that is surplus, unattractive or soon-to-spoil is sorted, trimmed and cooked in the Kitchen to ensure it is part of healthy meal solutions for struggling neighbors. Through food rescue, Toni’s Kitchen is able to keep thousands of pounds of usable food from being wasted weekly. Until now, Toni’s has been able to compost only a small fraction of any trimmings or spoiled food left over from its food rescue program.

"For years we have experimented with composting on a smaller scale,” says Anne Mernin. “After a lot of trial and error, we are thrilled to have a more comprehensive solution that allows us to receive food that might otherwise go into the waste stream, salvage what we can for our food insecure neighbors and then ensure the remainder is composted.”

Compostable waste is taken to Elizabeth, NJ, where it is turned into a slurry which helps power a water treatment plant. Each ton of processed food waste can generate enough energy to power between 8-10 homes while also reducing the amount of waste in our dumpster. Toni’s Kitchen expects approximately 1000 lbs. of food waste to be taken off site for composting weekly.

The onset of the pandemic significantly increased food insecurity in our community. Toni’s Kitchen responded quickly as demand went from 240,000 meals/year in 2019 to 1.5 million last year. The disruption caused by the pandemic impacted every step along the supply chain – from food availability, food deliveries, storage needs and packaging changes. Where the first 18 months were focused on securing the food supply and building programs to meet the drastic increase in need, this past year has been one of stepping back and evaluating all aspects of our programs and facilities, including environmental impact and waste reduction.

Food insecurity is expected to continue to destabilize families for the foreseeable future, as the same populations hit hardest during the pandemic are now struggling with inflation.