The Traverse City Downtown District Authority is urging restaurants to participate in the SEEDS composting program, which already has composted more than 6,700 pounds of food waste in 2023, according to Program Director Jennifer Flynn. Trattoria Stella, The Cooks’ House restaurant and the assisted living community Cordia are on board now.

The food scraps go to the composting site at historic Barns Park to be used in composting demonstrations. The composted produce is then applied at the SEEDS educational farm, which grows food donated to the Father Fred Food Pantry.

Grand Traverse County generates approximately 19,000 tons of organic waste annually that creates methane in the landfill, which contributes to climate change. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency states that food waste typically creates over half of a municipal landfill’s methane emissions. Michigan sends about 2 billion pounds of food waste to landfills every year, and one goal of the state’s climate plan is to cut that figure by 50 percent by 2030.