The United States of America uses approximately 50% of its land, and utilizes 80% of the total fresh water consumed for food production. Approximately 40% of total food production, however, goes as waste, which is equivalent of $165 billion each year.  While maximizing the efficiencies in the U.S. food system from the farm-to-table is necessary, equally important is to identify the best use food waste. One option is the conversion of food waste into biofertilizers. My research interests are to enhance the understanding of the safety of biofertilizers derived from food waste.

Sponsor: California Safe Soil (CSS) (http://www.calsafesoil.com/)

Schematic of lab experiment setup