Chris Pieretti and Steve Linvill are expecting a lot of garbage from the Democratic National Convention – political hyperbole aside. The two Delaware County businessmen are experiencing the historic event from the unglamorous perspective of food scraps collected daily from the Convention Center, one of the main venues along with the Wells Fargo Center, for the four-day political extravaganza that gaveled to a start Monday.
Beginning early Tuesday morning and continuing each day through Friday, an expected two tons of food and other dining-related waste will be trucked to Pieretti and Linvill for composting. “The DNC called so I’m happy to answer,” said Pieretti, 39, co-owner with his wife, Timi, of Kitchen Harvest Inc., a composting business they started in 2010 in their Drexel Hill home that also sells food the couple grows.
In a partnership they’ve had for about two years, Kitchen Harvest does its composting at the 350-acre Linvilla Orchards in Media, a farm in Linvill’s family since 1914 where high-carbon items such as dried straw and shredded leaves essential to converting materials into nutrient-rich fertilizer are plentiful. Much of what Kitchen Harvest produces is used by Linvilla around its extensive crops. The rest is sold to residential and commercial customers.
Neither Pieretti nor Linvill would disclose the terms of the DNC contract, which does not include compost materials from the Wells Fargo Center. Where that is going was not immediately available Monday. They said only that the publicity will prove more valuable than the immediate financial impact to their respective bottom lines.
Linvill, 55, president of his family’s business, said his DNC cut will “pay for some tractor fuel.” Pieretti said: “It feels great to have this sort of publicity. Anytime composting is mentioned, it helps me.”
Started as “a residential hobby, picking up from neighbors,” Kitchen Harvest now handles about 500 tons of food scraps a year, 80 percent from commercial enterprises such as schools and breweries, Pieretti said. A short video about its operations is at www.mykitchenharvest.com.
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