Sure, some food waste is unavoidable—little Timmy didn’t eat the entire hot dog, the neighbor’s new puppy dragged a bag of chips across the lawn, and half the marshmallows melted into the fire—but some food waste can be avoided or redirected. On a micro scale, individual households can compost to reduce food waste. On a macro scale, Green Field Solutions works with food manufacturers to minimize excess food, reduce by-products and redirect food waste that may otherwise go to landfills.
Feed Our Food. Feed More People.
At GFS, we love a good ol’ barbie as much as the next person. When we’re not grilling, we’re developing new ways to recycle food waste and divert it from landfills. In the manufacturing of foods such as hot dogs, potato chips, beer, graham crackers and marshmallows, there’s by-products like spent grains and potato peels as well as excess resources like broken crackers and misshapen marshmallows.
By developing new ingredients and products from our favorite backyard BBQ eats, we can safely reintroduce them into the food chain as ingredients for animal feed. As we feed our food, we feed more people and reduce our carbon footprint.
BBQ: From Food Waste Disposal to Diversion
Hot Dogs – GFS manages approximately 8 million pounds of hotdog waste every year. Put end-to-end, that’s enough hotdogs to reach from mid-Missouri to Tehran, Iran.
Snacks – Working with a global snack food company, GFS works with more than 50 million pounds of chips and salty snacks every year and approximately 12 million pounds of graham crackers. By fully understanding the value of the materials, we’ve improved valuations for the company’s salty and sweet by-products. Learn more.
Marshmallows – Excess marshmallow products can be reintroduced into the food chain as an energy source for cattle and pig diets. GFS manages 4.5 million pounds of the fluffy white stuff. At approximately 7 grams per regular size marshmallow….that’s more than two billion s’mores worth!
Beer – For every 1,000,000 liters of finished beer, brewers produce an estimated 15-18 tons of surplus yeast. GFS processes over 21,000 tons of spent brewers yeast, turning a by-product problem into a powder for pet food and high quality ethanol. Learn more.
