When we think about recycling and the role that we can play in contributing to the reduction of carbon emissions, we seldom glance at our plates and the potential impact of what we leave on them. Are you open to a little "food" for thought? If so, consider this:-
- Restaurants waste between 4- 10 percent of the food they buy, and 30-40 percent of the food they serve to customers is never eaten;
- Approximately 30-40 percent of food that farmers around the world produce is never consumed;
- According to a recent FAO report, in Kenya, 40 percent of food is lost from the farm gate to the family table. While a majority of this food is lost after it has left the farm and before reaching consumers, this underscores the need to minimize consumer wastage in Kenya as a means of reducing its food insecurity.
At Prime Ducks we are achieving this by repurposing food by-products and surplus ingredients from restaurants. Through a collaborative arrangement with a progressive hotel chain, we are upcycling food waste by feeding it to the Black Soldier Fly larvae we breed. On a bi-monthly basis, we pick up and transport significant quantities of organic kitchen and plate waste that would otherwise - - like most consumer-level food, be sent to landfills where it would decompose and give off methane.
We take pride in this partnership. Though Kenya does not require restaurants to donate food that is at risk of being thrown out, but is still safe to eat such as France does, we are proud of the results our hauling is yielding. BSF larvae are known for their impressive ability to process a wide variety of organic waste streams and have been documented to produce 800 g of larval biomass from 4 kg of waste. This larval biomass is a high-quality source of fat/oil and proteins, which has proven to be a delicious snack and invaluable addition to our duck feed.
