Compost 2025: Goodr's Crowe-Houston Talks Feeding Soil and the HungryCompost 2025: Goodr's Crowe-Houston Talks Feeding Soil and the Hungry

Jasmine Crowe-Houston, co-founder of Goodr, has been tackling food insecurity in Atlanta since 2016 by redirecting edible surplus food from businesses to those in need, while also addressing food waste’s environmental impact. Speaking at Compost 2025, she highlighted Goodr’s efforts to reduce landfill emissions, improve soil health through composting, and create a sustainable food system that has already delivered 34 million meals.

Stefanie Valentic, Editorial Director

February 4, 2025

2 Min Read
food waste
Yarvin Market Journeys / Alamy Stock Photo

From hunger to harvest, Jasmine Crowe-Houston has been working to bring meals to food-insecure Atlanta residents since 2016.

The co-founder of Goodr, a sustainable waste management and hunger solutions company, spoke to Compost 2025 attendees about her work to feed the 47 million Americans who are worried about finding their next meal.

"Here's the problem right now in this country. We waste 78 million tons of perfectly good food every year," she told the audience.

Goodr began in Crowe-Houston's kitchen, where couponing was her main focus. However, she quickly realized that restaurants had tons of edible food disposed of daily. Over time, she began to connect the dots on the logistical issues that redirected produce, meat, and other items from the landfill to the plate.

Furthermore, Crowe-Houston wondered what about inedible waste - the stuff restaurants scraped off plates at the end of the night that was at its expiration date? Once a platform was set and rolling, connecting businesses to donation resources, Goodr began to focus on diverting those inedible goods to compost facilities.

"What do we all know that happens as good sits in landfill and gradually rots? It produces methane," she stated. "And then 58 percent of U.S. landfilll emissions come strictly from wasted food. This is a big issue."

About 75 percent of the world's agricultural lands are degraded, and the nutritional content in soil has declined as much as 70 percent in the past 80 years, she added. With the ability of compost to filter out between 60 to 95 percent of the pollutants in water, filling this logistic need between businesses was a no-brainer.

"Incorporating as little as 10 percent compost into soil can increase crop yields 30 to 100 percent," Crowe-Houston further commented.

Overall, Crowe-Houston's logistics-minded approach has helped distribute 34 million meals and counting since Goodr filled its first plate, and Crowe-Houston has plans to further "empower the community through composting and circular solutions."

Learn more about Goodr and food waste on this week's Waste World podcast.

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About the Author

Stefanie Valentic

Editorial Director, Waste360

Stefanie Valentic is the editorial director of Waste360. She can be reached at [email protected].

 

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