Crosby’s Marketplace Food Scraps Composted at Local Farm - Bags now available for sale

In yet another Crosby’s Marketplace initiative to protect the environment, food scraps from the grocer’s Hamilton store are being composted for locally grown produce for the 2014-growing season and beyond. Through a partnership with Black Earth Compost in Gloucester, the food scraps, previously discarded in landfills, will now be composted locally at Mehaffey Farm in Rowley. 

Half the compost will be used at the farm, and half will be available for sale in cubic foot bags at Crosby’s Marketplace for customer use at home. As part of this organic and food waste program, the “Black Earth Compost” can be purchased at Crosby’s Market Hamilton store, allowing local customers to help support this growing community effort.

The food scrap program is also being tested at Crosby’s Marketplace store in Georgetown and Concord and Black Earth Compost hopes to expand the program in the future.

“We are excited about this new initiative,” said Jim Crosby, president of Crosby’s Marketplace. “We are committed to working hard with our local partners to protect the environment and reduce what is discarded at local landfills.”

Black Earth Compost collects organic material derived from food and paper products and transports them to farms for conversion to rich compost for farmers, gardeners and landscapers, rather than have it incinerated or buried in landfills.

“We are very pleased to join with Crosby’s Marketplace to provide an environmentally beneficial way to incorporate valuable nutrients back into the growth cycle” said Black Earth Compost Co-Owner Justin Sandler.

For more information about Crosby’s Marketplace environmental and programs, please contact Store Manager Kathy Larrabee at 978-468-3213.