Sorting through the many pounds of produce donated daily from grocery stores, volunteers at Community Services Agency separate unacceptable produce and expired dairy products into compost bins for the pigs at Hidden Villa. The farm has four sows and five to 10 piglets, selling approximately 25-30 pigs a year.
Since last August, the joint project has helped both organizations: The transfer diverts compost from the rapidly filling bin at CSA and meanwhile reduces a significant amount of grain Hidden Villa would otherwise have to buy for the pigs.
According to Austen Wagner, assistant husbandry manager at Hidden Villa, “The primary role of hogs in the farm ecosystem is to turn waste products into valuable human food, which creates a kind of sustainable closed-loop system. Their manure will become fertilizer offering the nutrients to grow the next round of veggies, which we’ll donate to CSA, thereby closing the loop and starting the cycle again.”
The nonprofit CSA provides services to seniors, low-income and homeless residents of Mountain View, Los Altos and Los Altos Hills.
For more information on CSA, visit CSAcares.org.
