Highfields Center for Composting

Highfields Dissolution and Assets
After undergoing an attempt to restructure the organization and develop new partnerships to overcome financial challenges, the Board of Directors of the Highfields Center for Composting made the difficult decision to dissolve the organization in December 2014. Working with the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund, and using funding provided by the Vermont Community Foundation, between August 2014 and April 30, 2015, Highfields sold its food waste recycling assets–including hauling routes and virtually all capital equipment. The Vermont community wishes to thank the Highfields Center for Composting for its years of outstanding leadership in the service of community composting and universal recycling in Vermont

Preserving Highfields Intellectual Property
With funds from the Block Foundation VSJF contracted with John Antonucci to locate, inventory, and provide electronic copies of all relevant educational materials associated with the Close the Loop Program. On January 5, 2015, the Vermont Community Loan Fund transferred all of Highfields’ intellectual property to the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund. Access to this website was included in the transfer, and VSJF currently provides website administration services to the site.

What to Look for in the Months Ahead
VSJF is committed to making materials developed by Highfields freely available to the public to advance organics management initiatives in Vermont and elsewhere. With guidance from the Food Cycle Coalition, a Cross-Cutting Team of the Farm to Plate Network focused on connecting organics management and Universal Recycling implementation with the food system, VSJF is updating and rebranding resources developed by Highfields. Over the course of the next few months, these materials will be re-uploaded to the website. Additionally, the website will be rebranded as the Food Cycle Coalition website, and organics diversion resources related to source reduction, food rescue, feed for animals, and anaerobic digestion will be added to complement the composting resources developed by Highfields. In doing so, the site will act as an important organics diversion information and resource hub for food system stakeholders and the general public interested in learning more about how they can turn food scraps that would otherwise be wasted into a valuable resource that supports our communities and local food system.