231821
Version
SUBSTITUTE 1
Reference
221233
Sponsor
ALD. DIMITRIJEVIC AND SPIKER
Title
Substitute resolution relative to acceptance and funding of a Cooperative Agreement through the United States Department of Agriculture’s Compost and Food Waste Recovery program in support of the Environmental Collaboration Office’s FEED MKE Pilot Project.
Analysis
This resolution authorizes the Environmental Collaboration Office (ECO) to accept a $500,000 Cooperative Agreement through the United States Department of Agriculture’s Compost and Food Waste Recovery program in support of the Environmental Collaboration Office’s FEED MKE Pilot Project. $400,000 of the project cost is federally funded, and the $100,000 local share is provided by staff time from existing city staff ($55,000), $25,000 from DPW Operations for community drop-off sites, and $20,000 from ECO’s Climate Planning and Program fund to support an educational campaign. The project will coordinate and expand several initiatives among public, private, and governmental entities to address the interconnected issues of food insecurity, waste reduction, landfill diversion, and climate change. The Milwaukee Climate and Equity Plan features “10 Big Ideas” to strategically reduce the city’s carbon footprint, one of which is Waste Reduction and Sustainable Consumption. This idea focuses on feeding hungry people by redistributing edible, gleaned leftovers that would otherwise be thrown away. The key outcomes of this strategy are that residents are fed by gleaning edible food, inedible food waste is composted and less methane-causing food waste ends up in landfills. The funding supports a new a new grant-funded position in ECO to coordinate the project for two years and $190,000 that will be sub-granted to local organizations including food pantries to boost compost collection infrastructure.
Body
Whereas, the City of Milwaukee adopted a Climate and Equity Plan in June 2023 with goals of reducing communit...
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