Cork Urban Soil Project: Turning food waste into fertile compost 

By looking at leftovers as an opportunity rather than a problem, the award-winning Cork Urban Soil Project — CUSP — is modelling a new way of turning would-be waste into a valuable commodity

Virginia O’Gara and Wayne Dunlea from the Cork Urban Soil Project at the modular, movable garden they use to grow vegetables with compost from a biodigester. Picture: Eddie O’Hare

CORK Urban Soil Project is leading the way in food waste. “We were pioneers, figuring it out as we went along,” says Texas-born, Cork-based Virginia O’Gara, one of the founders of CUSP.

This inspiring project has been winning awards for its closed-loop recycling system, most recently the Community Food Award from the Irish Food Writers’ Guild and Innovator of the Year at the 2023 Food & Wine Restaurant of the Year Awards.