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We're a zero waste facility. Here's how we accomplish that impressive goal.

written by

Cameron Lantzy

posted on

September 23, 2022

In case you didnā€™t know, Millerā€™s Bio Farm is a zero waste facility. I didnā€™t realize how impressive this is until I compared our business to the rest of the food industry.

Itā€™s estimated that about 30% of the food you see when you walk into a grocery store is thrown away. Thatā€™s right. They just toss it in the dumpster when itā€™s about to expire or doesnā€™t look perfect. If you combine all of the retail stores in the US, itā€™s about 16 billion pounds of food waste per year. 

Farmers do it, too. About 30-40% of food that farmers produce is never consumed. There might be a crop that turned out to be low quality. And thereā€™s market price and consumer demand fluctuation, too.

And then thereā€™s food waste at the manufacturer level. Human error alone accounts for more than 10% of food waste. And then thereā€™s the waste of developing new products and running a manufacturing line several times to make it allergen-free. [1]

I mean, wow, thatā€™s a lot of wasted food, especially considering that 10.2% of US households were food insecure at some time during 2021. Thatā€™s 13.5 million American households that didnā€™t always have enough to eat. [2]

If we recovered just half of the 16 billion pounds of food thatā€™s wasted in grocery stores (not even counting farmers and manufacturers) by the 13.5 million households that are food insecure, weā€™d have 593 pounds of extra food per household per year. I wonder how many households would be food secure if that were the caseā€¦?

Millerā€™s works hard to be a zero waste facility. Any leftover raw dairy is added back to the fields to help regenerate the soil.

When raw cream for cats & dogs is made, we have leftover skim milk. And, on occasion, we may have a batch of raw fermented pet dairy that doesnā€™t turn out right. All of that goes into the manure pit and is eventually put back onto the fields. 

Using raw dairy as fertilizer is part of what makes our farm regenerative. The enzymes and bacteria in the milk are a trigger for enhanced microbial activity in the soil. The many nutrients in milk also promote plant growth. It makes our pasture more productive and nutritious. In turn, it makes our dairy products even more nutrient dense. [3] 

When we first started with pasteurized dairy, zero waste became a challenge. But, we figured it out quickly and partnered with Blessings of Hope.

When pasteurized milk goes bad, it goes bad in very bad, very dangerous ways. Farmer Aaron doesnā€™t want this on his fields. But, he also didnā€™t want to throw away milk thatā€™s still good, but not for long enough to sell to our customers.

We partnered with Blessings of Hope, a not-for-profit organization in Leola, PA. Their goal is simple: ā€œHope, food, and the love of Jesus are shared with those in need.ā€ 

We donate any pasteurized milk (and other products that are about to expire) to Blessings of Hope, and they distribute it to those in need. Farmer Aaron says that itā€™s a very low percentage of our food inventory, well under 1%. But, weā€™re happy to give any extra that we have.

Blessings of Hope partners with churches, ministries, and shelters to sell large boxes of food for $9.95 (it would cost $100+ to purchase the same food in a store). This small fee pays for the cost to pack and deliver the food. The amount of food they give out is equivalent to 65,000 meals per day!

Do you struggle with food waste in your home? What do you do to reduce waste or help those in need?

Iā€™d love to hear from you. Click the button above to comment on the blog (no account required) or reply to this email.

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Sources:

Food Waste in America in 2022

Food Security Status of U.S. Households in 2021

Milk as Fertilizer

Opinion

Farming Practices

Raw Dairy

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Our bone broth tested negative-ish for heavy metals šŸ„³ NATURAL AND CLEAN

Over the past few months a bunch of people asked us if we tested our bone broth for toxic heavy metals. When we get the same question a lot, we of course look into it. My first question was --- Is there an issue with toxic metals in bone broth? As it turns out, yes, there "can" be an issue! Heavy metals are naturally present in our environment. We need the "good" heavy metals to thrive: iron, zinc, magnesium, copper, etc. But, we can 100% do without the toxic heavy metals: arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury, etc. Too many toxic heavy metals can lead to a host of pretty awful issues: nervous system damage, cardiovascular issues, cancer, endocrine disruption, kidney damage, and so on. Our body is designed to excrete heavy metals through urine (and a little bit through sweat, hair, and breastmilk too)... but only so much. There's a limit. If you're overloaded, your body will store those heavy metals in your bones, blood, tissues, and organs. Similarly, if an animal is exposed to heavy metals via food, water, air, dust, or soil, those heavy metals accumulate in the bones. Maybe the farm's soil or air is contaminated from a nearby factory. Maybe the pipes for the water has lead solder connecting them. Maybe the feed a farm is buying was grown on contaminated soil or processed on contaminated equipment.  And, of course, a main purpose of bone broth is drawing out as much as possible from the bones. If there are heavy metals in bones, they will make their way into the broth. This is especially true when you pre-soak with apple cider vinegar and simmer for 48 hours to make it thick and gelatinous (like our broth). And that led me to my second question --- Should I be concerned about every bone broth? Where is the fear coming from? Well... it seems it might be a little political. There was a study done in the UK in 2013 that scared a lot of people. It's titled "The Risk of Lead Contamination in Bone Broth Diets". This study found high levels of lead in organic chicken bone broth, which is quite concerning. And, in fact, this one study is still cited in articles written today! Let's dig a little deeper. Let's go farther than the short abstract. Here are the broths tested in the study and their test results for lead:  (9.5 parts per billion): Broth made from tap water plus skin and cartilage(7.01 parts per billion): Broth made from tap water plus bones(2.3 parts per billion): Broth made from tap water plus meat(0.89 parts per billion): Tap water alone cooked for the same amount of time as a control. But, they only used organic chicken from one farm. And, there's zero information about that farm, their practices, the feed, and the broth recipe. Did they use vinegar or wine in the broth? Was the chicken's water contaminated with lead? What was the quality of the feed and the soil? Were the chickens raised indoors or outdoors? So many unanswered questions! All we get is that it was one "organic chicken" that created a lead issue with broth. Another curious thing is that the broth with skin and cartilage contained more lead than the broth made with just bones. Bones are where lead is stored, so why wouldn't the broth made with bones only contain more lead? It's an odd result. Moreover, the abstract of the study specifically called out "bone broth diets" like GAPS and paleo. They even go so far as to write, "In view of the dangers of lead consumption to the human body, we recommend that doctors and nutritionists take the risk of lead contamination into consideration when advising patients about bone broth diets." That's quite curious. Why are they worried about these diets? Are the researchers anti healing through food? Who funded the research? Is it political? My opinion? This study is not comprehensive. It does not speak to all bone broths. But it does cover a potential issue if the water or animals are overloaded with heavy metals. What I glean from this study is that we need more research. We don't need fear to spread and people to stop drinking broth from this one study. Regardless of whether the fear was fabricated or legit, we tested our bone broth anyway. After all, it's always nice to validate that your food choices are as clean as you think. For Miller's, here were my concerns before testing: What if there's mercury in the fishmeal in our chicken feed?What if the soil that our animals live on is contaminated?What is the well water that the broth is made with is contaminated?What if the Celtic sea salt has lots of heavy metals? We got the test results back. I was super excited. But, I was also confused. At face value, it appeared that our bone broth tested NEGATIVE for arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury. You can find the test results right here! You'll notice that, for every sample, the results are "<0.01 mg/kg" and "<0.02 mg/kg".  I asked the lab what the "<" means. They said that it indicates their limit of quantitation (LOQ), the lowest concentration that can be accurately tested using the test procedure in that sample type. So the results simply report that none of the metals tested were found in the sample above the specific reporting LOQs. Whether or not they were present below this LOQ is information that is not provided by the test. When talking to the lab, I told them what we needed and assumed that this test would go below a 1 ppb. So, when the results came in, I assumed that a "mg/kg" was the same as a part per billion (ppb). Ummm... that math wasn't write! A "mg/kg" is actually a part per million (ppm). That means that the test we ran had results saying that the broth had less than 0.02 ppm (or 20 ppb) of arsenic and lead. And, it had less than 0.01 ppm (or 10 ppb) of cadmium and mercury. For some reference, the EPA says that less than 15 ppb of lead is safe in drinking water. Not saying that I agree, but it's a good reference point.  These results are good. It means the broth definitely isn't overloaded with toxic heavy metals. But, it's not good enough!!! We need to test again! We really need to a lower LOQ. We need to know the results with an accuracy of as low as 1 ppb. It looks like the lab we sent the original samples to doesn't have an LOQ that low. So here I am on the hunt for a lab to do it again. As soon as I can, I'll send samples in again and paying for more expensive testing to get the info you deserve. Stay tuned! I hope to have the new results in by the end of April 2025. Do you worry about toxic metals (or other junk) in your food? Where have your fears stemmed from? I'd love to hear from you. You can comment below (no account required) or contact us šŸ˜Š ----- Sources The risk of lead contamination in bone broth dietsBone Broth and Lead Toxicity: Should You Be Concerned?Bone Broth and Lead Contamination: A Very Flawed Study in Medical HypothesesBone Broth, Collagen, and Toxic Metals: A Research Review