For Franco, helping people understand food systems and composting is a doorway to connecting them with nature.
Drawn by our town’s culture, community, and natural beauty, Flavia moved to Ashland from the San Francisco Bay Area in 2017. In the eight years since, she has taken up many roles in the community. In addition to volunteering for Ashland Climate Collaborative’s Community Compost Action Team, she co-founded the Community Composting Coalition and helps facilitate a free food scrap drop-off at the Tuesday Ashland Growers Market. She also leads classes and workshops throughout the valley on food systems and food waste.
Flavia is passionate about food as a climate solution because, regardless of where you live, your political leanings, or interest in nature, food connects us all to a larger system — one that includes water, soil, plants, animals, and the atmosphere.
“Everybody eats,” Flavia said. Sparking interest in where food comes from — and where food scraps go — is one step toward building a deeper connection with the natural world and involving more people in the climate movement.
Flavia first became involved with the climate movement nearly 20 years ago, after participating in a Sierra Club training that taught her how to reduce her carbon footprint. “After that, it became a major priority for me politically and in my private life,” Flavia said.
She continued that work soon after moving to Ashland, serving as bookkeeper for Southern Oregon Food Solutions, a new offshoot of the climate nonprofit Southern Oregon Pachamama Alliance.
That’s where Flavia learned that food waste, when left to decompose in landfills, generates methane, a super-potent climate pollutant. Over a 20-year time frame, methane traps up to 80 times more heat in our atmosphere than carbon dioxide. Project Drawdown — a nonprofit that compiles science-based solutions to climate change — ranked reducing food waste as among the most effective solutions for limiting global warming to 1.5℃.
Southern Oregon Food Solutions’ first planned project was a series of workshops on reducing food waste, held at local restaurants. But the COVID-19 pandemic hit just before the workshops launched. “We couldn’t do face-to-face instruction, and the restaurants were devastated economically,” Flavia said. “We barely kept the organization alive.”
At the end of 2021, Flavia learned that the Rotary Club would begin sponsoring food-scrap-collection bins at the Tuesday Growers’ Market. The scraps are donated to farms, where they are transformed into compost, a nutrient-rich soil amendment. Flavia wanted in. She immediately reached out to the project’s lead, Candace Turtle. (At the time, Candace was a Rotary Club volunteer, and she co-founded the Ashland Climate Collaborative.) “That was the start of a wonderful relationship between Candace and me,” Flavia said.
Candace agrees about their connection. “The success of the compost bins is a direct result of the passion Flavia brings to the project. In the early days, when it was especially crucial to the success of the bins, she was there week after week, greeting food scrap donors and helping them understand what does and doesn’t belong in the bins. She is amazing and beloved by food scrap donors,” said Candace. “I am so grateful to Flavia for making this program a success.”
When the first winter arrived and the Growers’ Market closed for the season, Flavia responded to the pleas of donors to continue the service year round. She worked to establish community drop off sites so the service could continue for a small fee. That first year, 50 people signed up. Participation grew the next winter and has continued to increase. This year, the for-fee winter service continues at ScienceWorks December-March. (To sign up go to Rogue Produce.)
Since that first season at the Rogue Valley Growers’ Market, much has evolved. The Ashland Food Co-op, now sponsors the food collection bins. Flavia has also built close working relationships with other changemakers in the Ashland area: Magdalena Winters of Ashland Community Composting, and Holtey of Rogue Produce and Community Compost. Together, the three advocates formed the Community Compost Coalition. This organization’s aim is to shift how food waste is perceived and managed throughout Jackson County through education and accessible composting services.
One major barrier to reducing food waste and expanding composting, Flavia says, is cost. That’s clear from the difference in participation between the free Growers’ Market drop site and the paid winter collection service. “At the Growers’ Market, we get between 500 and 700 pounds every week,” she said. “When winter comes, that will probably be cut in half.” A second barrier is awareness. “We need more public engagement,” she said. “We need to get the word out.”
The Compost crew at the Ashland Tuesday Grower’s Market – Candace, Flavia, with Maroun from Rogue Climate, and Erin, our executive director.
There is no surprise that Flavia is working on that, too. Through the Oregon State University Extension Service, and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at SOU, she has taught students to reconnect with their food systems. “Many people have become disconnected from the natural world,” Flavia said. “It’s challenging to engage meaningfully with people about the environment and climate change. Reaching people through the common-ground issue of food and composting is a way to get a foot in the door.”
Learn more about composting in Ashland.