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Introduction to the Problem
Introduction to the Problem
In the world a total of 2.5 billion tons of food is wasted every year. Of this number the United States is the largest contributor with 60 million tons/ 120 billion pounds every year. This ends up being 325 pounds of food waste per person per year!
“Food waste is the single largest component taking up space in US landfills, making up 22 % of municipal solid waste”
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals:
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals:
Research
Research
During my research I used the Human Geography teacher, Mrs. Edmonson as my case study. She has chickens at her house, and she was very willing to fill out a data sheet for a week of what scraps she fed her chickens. As seen in the data the chickens and compost combined repurposed much of the organic household food waste that would have otherwise been shipped off to the landfill.
Chickens themselves eat 75-150 kilos of food which equals 165.3 - 330.7 pounds of food per year, so if a sizable proportion of that food consumed was organic household waste, then the town would be able to significantly reduce their net waste.
Global Reactions: The Belgium Experiment
Global Reactions: The Belgium Experiment
In the region of Limburg, the Belgian authorities launched an own-a-chicken campaign to cut down on household waste. Many of the neighbors in the small town of Dilsem-Stokkem had no experience with poultry or agriculture yet 2,500 families adopted hens for this experiment.
The Belgium authorities subsidized the initial cost of buying the chickens and made owners promise to not eat the chickens until after two years.
Annick De Paepe, an official with the Limburg regional authority reported that "It's been a huge success and it's proving ever more popular". She believes the boom has been fueled by the recession. "There is very much a mood of getting back to nature right now and people love picking up their own eggs from the garden. But it's also a great way to cut down on household waste as the chickens will eat any leftovers and cut organic waste by half."
What I did and What You Can Do
What I did and What You Can Do
Since I cannot end all Household Organic Waste, I thought global and acted local. I made three steps to follow:
Research and Inform
Encourage Hen Adoption
Contact local officials
After I finished my research as seen above, I taught others everything I had learned. This specifically included my peers, the Bolles Upper School, Bolles Ponte Vedra and St. Michael's lower school. The Ponte Vedra lower school class was very interactive with my project as the kids kept asking questions about the chickens. After our Global Scholars Presentations, the children filled out a survey about what they remember and what they could do, and the most common response was related to the backyard hens. I have also been emailing Mayor Donna Degan's administration, but I am yet to receive a response. I am continuing to reach out to the local officials, so hopefully I will get a response soon!
Sources:
Sources:
Mock, Vanessa. "Belgians egged on to keep chickens – but they're not for
eating." The Independent (blog), April 2010. Accessed March 7, 2025.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/
belgians-egged-on-to-keep-chickens-ndash-but-they-re-not-for-eating-1942124.html.
Amies, Nick. "Keeping chickens becoming more popular in Belgium: What to know."
The Brussels Times. Last modified April 2023. Accessed March 7, 2025.
https://www.brusselstimes.com/477507/
keeping-chickens-becoming-more-popular-in-belgium-what-to-know.
Benjamin, Chris. Interview by the author. 7400 San Jose Blvd, Jacksonville, FL.
February 21, 2025.
Chris Benjamin is the outreach coordinator for solid waste in St.Johns
county. Benjamin, Chris. Interview by the author. 7400 San Jose Blvd, Jacksonville, FL.
February 21, 2025.
Chris Benjamin is the outreach coordinator for solid waste in St.Johns
county.
Edmonson, Emily. Interview by Emerson Rae Smith. The Bolles School,
Jacksonville, FL. February 2025.
Informal Interview on the bus ride to St. Augustine.
United Nations. "11 Sustainable Cities and Communities." The Global Goals.
Accessed March 18, 2025. https://www.globalgoals.org/goals/
11-sustainable-cities-and-communities/.
City of Jacksonville, Florida. "Jacksonville.gov." Office of Mayor Donna Deegan.
Accessed March 18, 2025. https://www.jacksonville.gov/
office-of-mayor-donna-deegan.
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