ROB SCHMITZ, HOST:
As jack-o'-lanterns are swapped for jingle bells, many pumpkins end up in landfills where they generate climate-warming methane gas - more than 1.5 billion pounds of pumpkins in the U.S. every year. Now, there are some creative alternatives to divert this holiday waste. Montana Public Radio's Ellis Juhlin reports.
(SOUNDBITE OF DUMP TRUCK PULLING UP)
ELLIS JUHLIN, BYLINE: On a foggy morning in Missoula, Montana, about a dozen black and pink pigs at Turner Farms look on while a small dump truck pulls up alongside their pen. Slowly, the bed tips up, and smashed jack-o'-lanterns tumble onto the ground as the dump truck pours out its load for the pigs to feast.
(SOUNDBITE OF PIGS GRUNTING)
JUHLIN: The pigs dive right in to enjoy the orange bounty collected as part of the sixth annual Pumpkin Reharvest.
(SOUNDBITE OF PIGS GRUNTING)
JUHLIN: Most of the pumpkins grown in the U.S. are used for decoration. Only 15% are processed for food. So as the festivities of fall give way to winter, most of those once beloved porch pumpkins are thrown away. According to the EPA, food waste makes up 24% of all municipal solid waste in landfills nationwide. Farmer Ethan Turner is happy to accept this reharvest.
ETHAN TURNER: Pumpkins are a phenomenal feed source, particularly this time of year as we're gearing up for the winter.
JUHLIN: Pumpkins are rich in vitamins and probiotics, kind of like kombucha for pigs.
TURNER: And then on the back side, when they come out the back end of the cow or the pig, it's phenomenal soil for us next year.
JUHLIN: Reharvests like this one have popped up across the country. There's even a Pumpkins for Pigs program, where interested farms nationwide can sign up to receive local food waste. In a landfill, food doesn't decompose the way that it would outside or in a compost bin. Without sunlight and oxygen, food breaks down slowly and releases methane instead of carbon dioxide. Methane is a particularly potent greenhouse gas. A head of lettuce takes two to four weeks to break down in a compost pile. But in a landfill, it can take 25 years. For something as big as a carving pumpkin, it can be even longer.
(SOUNDBITE OF PIGS GRUNTING)
JUHLIN: Pigs devour them quickly. Missoula's reharvest so far has kept 4,000 pounds of pumpkins out of the landfill this year. Turner Farms will continue to take food drop-offs like this through the winter.
(SOUNDBITE OF PIG SQUEALING)
JUHLIN: For NPR News, I'm Ellis Juhlin in Missoula, Montana.
(SOUNDBITE OF BOB DYLAN'S "TURKEY CHASE") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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