Final Week for Food Scraps Drop-off at Farmers’ Markets

This is the final week to drop off food scraps for composting at the three neighborhood farmers’ markets.  The markets are on Tuesday, October 29, 2024 and Saturday, November 2, 2024. 

We set a goal of composting 22,000 pounds this year, which is about the weight of two adult mammoths. Thanks to your efforts, we will compost over 30,000 pounds.

Market food scraps drop-offs will return in 2025.

Final Market Drop-off Details

If you would like to bring approved food scraps to the final market this year for composting, here are the times and locations:

Eastside Farmers’ Market

• Where: 202 S. Ingersoll St (located within McPike Park off S. Ingersoll St.)
• When: Tuesday, October 29, 2024
• Time: 4:00pm to 7:00pm

South Madison Farmers’ Market

• Where: 1602 S. Park St (located at the intersection of S. Park St. and W. Wingra Dr.)
• When: Tuesday, October 29, 2024
• Time: 2:00pm to 6:00pm

Westside Community Market

• Where: 505 S. Rosa Rd (located within the Research Park parking lots near Whitney Way and Mineral Point Rd)
• When: Saturday, November 2, 2024
• Time: 7:00am to 12:00pm

Market Drop-off Context & More Food Resources

Composting 15 tons of food scraps is an amazing achievement for the limited hours and locations of our market sites.

As a community, we send approximately 10,000 tons of food scraps to the landfill each year.  This number includes food that could be used by hungry households and food scraps fit for composting.

Our market locations can take a bite out of this mammoth-sized issue of food scraps going to the landfill, but they cannot eliminate food scraps going to the landfill on their own.

The Dane County Department of Waste and Renewables is hard at work developing the sustainability campus, and part of the broader vision of the campus is to provide food scraps composting.  As the County facility becomes available, more food scraps composting opportunities will become available, too.

Composting food waste is just one part of solving the problem of food waste, though.  There are important steps you can take. And you can do it now.

Simple steps like proper meal planning and following storage techniques can save you money and keep the food you buy usable for longer so it does not wind up in the trash.  The Streets Division’s Food Scraps website has links to resources to help you.

Also, you can create opportunity for others by donating food when and where appropriate.  This helps people in need and helps prevent perfectly usable food from going to the landfill.  A list of possible donation organizations can be found on the Streets Division’s food scraps website.

The food scraps website for these resources is www.cityofmadison.com/FoodScraps.