A Matter of Excess // Ending Food Waste in Brooklyn
Aug 9, 2012
Hmmm. What is this, you might ask?
Think of it as a Bodega on wheels.
It started in Madrid as a commission by El Ranchito, a project by Matadero Madrid, an international commission for New York based artists, Ricardo Miranda Zuñiga and Brooke Singer, to work with Spanish artists, Jose Luis Bongore and Beatriz Marcos. A key to this project was that art is a process, a work in the making. Bongore and Marcos were noticing immense food waste and spikes in families in Madrid going dumpster diving. The question arose: how can we better salvage food, and redistribute it more humanely?
And so, a project was born, EXCESS, to test new ways to salvage and rescue food from restaurants and cafes that would otherwise end up in a landfill.
This is a project by our first 3rd Ward Fellows: Brooke Singer and Ricardo Miranda Zuñiga. Singer is a media artist who lives in New York City, blurring the borders between science, technology, politics and arts practice. Her partner, Miranda Zúñiga, grew up between Nicaragua and San Francisco, and explores themes such as immigration, discrimination, gentrification and the effects of globalization.
They'll be leading a workshop focused on urban food waste and composting with us at 3rd Ward, on Saturday, August 25. Says Brooke, "Our NYC bicycle is about food rescue, but there's another component--composting--so that "inedible food waste" --becomes energy rich soil."
Their 3rd Ward Urban Food Waste Workshop will involve building a compost station for a garden in Prospect/Crown Heights, their neighborhood.
"So much is going on in BK in terms of urban agriculture. People are thinking about how to compost despite urban density, how to grow one’s own food despite tight living quarters and how to live in environmentally conscientious ways. Our project connects with the energy and organizing that's already happening and becomes a (mobile) platform for change."
To them, it seems ridiculous to spend so much money to get rid of municipal waste. This is money that can go into other necessary social initiatives. Along with the organization 596 Acres.org, they're working to secure a vacant lot owned by the city to become EXCESSNYC headquareters. A vacant lot is a perfect location for a community composting center and eventually the compost can form the foundation of a community garden.
When asked why a bicycle became their symbol and tool for creating dynamic change, the answer is refreshingly practical. Besides the obvious cool factor and cache that comes along with a bike sculpture in Brooklyn.
"We thought a cart would be too much leg work, and too small for what we were looking to do. We looked at a trike, but finally settled on a quadcycle because it could handle our compost tumbler on the back and a “bodega” on the front," says Ricardo. "Again we are tapping into already-existing energy. With all the new bike lanes in the city (and outside our front door) we can more easily move around our neighborhood and be part of that excitement too."
