The zero-waste-to-landfill policy at Flagstaff Family Food Center, Food Bank and Kitchen is a win-win for food donors, the environment and the animals at Bearizona Wildlife Park. The local food center that collects food and redistributes the goods to local families, individuals and community organizations is serious about finding uses for discarded materials.
“Our first priority is to feed humans, but we want to make sure all donations get used,” said Ali Coates, zero-waste program volunteer at the food center. “The message to the people who are donating is, ‘Thank you, we want you to know that we are not throwing anything out.’” Foodstuffs no longer appropriate for human consumption go into bins for redistribution to local farms and organizations like Bearizona Wildlife Park.
“We get donations from a wide variety of sources, including grocery stores,” continued Coates, who is also a farmer and owner of AR Farm near Flagstaff. “We triage the food – what we can feed to people goes into family food boxes. If the food needs to be used within a day or two, it goes to the food kitchen where it is cooked and served for the hot meals program. At the kitchen, an apple can be cut in half, the good half used and the bad half put in a bin for non-human use. In the past, the food bank would have to throw away the whole apple. Now, because of working under the same umbrella, we send it to the kitchen.”
Last year, Flagstaff Family Food Center and the Northern Arizona Food Bank merged and began operating as on entity under one name, the Flagstaff Family Food Center, Food Bank and Kitchen (FFFC:FBK). The 501(C)(3) non-profit organization maintains both the food bank warehouse located at 3805 East Huntington Drive and the kitchen that serves hot meals in the Sunnyside neighborhood.
“It’s sustainable at both ends,” explained Bearizona’s head animal keeper Kyle Alexander. “It allows us to add variety to the animals’ diets and allows them [FFFC:FBK] not to send so much trash to the landfill.” Once a week, Bearizona staff picks up from the food bank a Gaylord bin filled with more than 100 pounds of food fit for animal consumption. The variety of tastes, smells and colors of the food helps provide stimulating environments for the animals as well.
“The variety keeps the animals on edge; they don’t know what they are going to get,” explained Alexander, who helps sort the wide assortment of foodstuffs that come in from FFFC:FBK. “The green vegetables are separated from the other veggies. The bread usually goes to the bears that need 5,000 to 8,000 calories per day in the spring and fall. The javelin and white bison will eat nearly everything.” Fruits with high sugar content are divvied up between all the animals. “We want to make sure that they are staying fat, happy and warm,” said the animal expert.
“Bears love berries and melons, but they can be cost-prohibitive. We’re thrilled to get those from the food center and feed those out,” added Bob Hurlbut, Bearizona’s guest services director. “We try to take whatever they can’t use. It fits with the repurposing and reusing that we do in the park.”
Bearizona’s naturalistic enclosures were created by reusing buses and recreational vehicles as structural elements. Underlying the faux canyon walls are vehicles salvaged from Bellemont tornado damage and defunct Grand Canyon tour busses.
The variety of food provided by FFFC:FBK also adds value to the visitor experience. “It’s fun to watch a bear eat a watermelon,” said Hurlbut. “The bear sits down, picks it up like a human and eats it. I’ve stopped with a tour group to watch a 400- to 450-pound bear eat an apple off the back of his hand. We get comments on how happy our animals are. The enrichment from the food variety is a big part of that.”
“Food from the center saves us $3,000 to $5,000 each year, plus or minus, depending on how the price of fruit fluctuates,” estimated Alexander.
“From Jan. 15 to Feb. 7, 18,631 pounds of waste was rescued and sent to local farms and organizations, including Bearizona,” reported Coates, who stressed that the figure did not include food waste generated by the kitchen during cooking. Kitchen food waste is collected in smaller quantities and is given to local farmers. FBN
Bearizona Wildlife Park
1500 Historic Route 66, Williams, 928-635-2289
Flagstaff Family Food Center, Food Bank and Kitchen
1903 N 2nd St, Flagstaff, 928-774-3188