08/17/2026
At The Wild Life, we believe that being good stewards of the land means looking at waste a little differently.
One of the things we’re able to do on the farm is feed appropriate food scraps and expired grocery food to our animals. Instead of perfectly usable food going straight to the landfill, some of it can become part of a very different food system — helping feed our animals and returning nutrients to the farm.
And before anyone thinks, “Wow, that must save you a fortune on feed!”… honestly, not really.
There is a LOT of work involved.
Someone has to pick it up.
Someone has to sort it.
Someone has to unwrap it.
Someone has to remove packaging and anything the animals shouldn't eat.
Someone has to separate out things like avocado pits, citrus peels and other inedible waste.
Then it has to be fed — and afterwards, the leftover waste still has to be cleaned up and disposed of properly.
By the time all of that work is done, we're certainly not getting rich from free food!
But that's not why we do it.
We do it because every little bit that can be diverted from the landfill is worth the effort.
We believe farms can play an important role in creating a more circular food system — where food doesn't necessarily go from the grocery store → garbage bin → landfill.
Sometimes it can go:
Grocery store → farm animals → manure → soil → crops → food. 🌱🐴🐑🐔
It's not perfect. It's not effortless. And it certainly isn't a replacement for commercial feed. Our animals still receive the appropriate balanced nutrition they need.
But if we can responsibly turn something that would otherwise be considered waste into something useful, we're going to do our part.
Because farming isn't just about producing food.
It's about stewarding what we have, reducing waste, caring for the land, and finding better ways to use the resources available to us.
And if it means spending a few extra hours sorting through bins of food to keep another load of waste out of the landfill?
We'll take the extra work. 🌎💚
Video of Squishy the kunekune pig enjoying a bowl of perfectly good tomato soup for breakfast.
