PRESS COVERAGE

Don’t toss your pumpkin after Halloween. Do this instead.  When pumpkins rot in landfills, they release planet-warming methane. This year after Halloween, try composting, pumpkin smashing or donating to a farm or zoo.

Every year, Americans buy tens of millions of decorative pumpkins to carve, paint and display for Halloween. When you throw those pumpkins out, they wind up in the landfill, where they rot and release methane, an extra-powerful planet-warming gas.

This episode features Jennifer Seifert, Founder and CEO, Pumpkins for Pigs Foundation. Jennifer shares her courage journey of starting the non-profit, Pumpkins for Pigs Foundation. Pumpkins For Pig’s mission is to reduce food waste in our communities by diverting viable foodstuffs including pumpkins to farms, animal sanctuaries, and rescues for feed or compost.

Jennifer shares her journey from one pumpkin to filling the gap between human-consumable food and compost by redirecting viable foodstuffs to animals. They build a growing network of donation sites – farms, animal sanctuaries, and rescues – that accept a variety of food they can feed to their animals

Today, we’re excited to share a profile of Pumpkins for Pigs, an organization that began with a goal of directing discarded pumpkins to pig farmers eager to give their animals a healthy treat. Today, the group’s mission has expanded; they now work with farms, animal sanctuaries, vineyards and other organizations to find uses for foods and items, especially seasonal goods, that consumers might otherwise trash. Think Christmas trees and wreaths, discarded kiddie pools and plastic playhouses (goats love climbing on them), backyard vegetable garden surpluses and more.

In the US alone, over a billion pounds of uneaten pumpkins end up in landfills after Halloween each year, where, as they decompose, they release methane gas, a greenhouse gas much more potent than carbon dioxide. Jennifer Seifert saw a better way. She founded Pumpkins for Pigs to bring post-Halloween pumpkins to hungry pigs on farms, animal sanctuaries and rescues. I recently chatted with Jennifer about the initiative.

Before you pick up that crooked-toothed jack o’ lantern from your porch and toss it in the trash, why not explore four different ways you can keep the spirit of that wily, round thing around. If you have more than one pumpkin to get rid of, try all four ideas. You might discover a new, fun annual fall tradition to look forward to each year.

If you have a friend who farms, ask them if you can feed some of their animals for a festive fall adventure.

If you are looking for something different to do with your leftover pumpkins this holiday season you can donate them to be recycled as food for porkers. Pumpkins for Pigs is a nationwide organization that connects those who choose to donate large gourds to pig farmers.

The organization began with 4 donation sites and now has over 500 across the US. There is a list of 153 Virginia farms and sanctuaries that will be thankful to receive your uncarved and non-painted pumpkins as feed because they are a great treat for the animals and also are great for compost.

Farm to Fork is a nationally-syndicated radio program dedicated to the agriculture and food sectors and to the people who are connected with them. F2F airs on more than 225 radio stations across the United States, making it one of the larger ag broadcast channels in the country.

On this site, you can find out more about the program and about the host, Darrell Anderson. You can hear current examples of the show and learn more about show topics and guests. And we love feedback.

A software developer by day, Jennifer Seifert has spent her life farm-adjacent — living in rural areas and frequenting farmers markets but never owning a farm.  That changed in 2017.

“So every year, I would buy pumpkins and decorations, like everybody else, and they would still be in perfect shape by Thanksgiving,” Seifert said. “When everyone was switching over to winter decorations and I’d see them sitting out for the trash, and I just thought there had to be a better option.”

AUSTIN, Texas — The trick-or-treaters are gone, but that doesn’t mean your jack-o’-lantern has to be sent to the trash after Halloween. To help the environment, a conservation group is encouraging Texans to recycle them instead.

Pigs also love pumpkins, and Texans can recycle theirs at local farms and animal sanctuaries. The “Pumpkins for Pigs” program lists locations across the state to bring fresh or already-carved pumpkins, so hogs can have a post-Halloween feast.