Each Halloween super markets stock their shelves with mountains of candy. This year, pillow sacks may be lacking a bit in the candy department this year, as Hurricane Sandy put a damper on trick or treating.
Even more so than other years, where does all of the unsold candy bars, lollipops and chocolates go? Aside from ending up in the tummies of children, how about in the belly of a cow or pig.
AG Choice in Andover collects and recycles candy, pies, breads, pasta, rice, chips, coffee grinds to turn into a feed additive for animals. All of the expired and out-dated dry ingredients are dropped into yellow bins, set up outside the stores, by retailers, such as Shoprite, for free. AG Choice then picks up the goods and recycles it into feed.
"We are not eliminating live stock feed we are just making a supplement to it," says Jay Fischer, President and Founder of AG Choice. "Live stock feeding is very complex, not many people realize that about 100 years ago people were taking buckets of food waste and dumping it into the slop pile and letting the pigs have at it. Those days are long since gone. And its actually gotten very highly technical."
Bruce Kreider, who serves as a nutritional consultant for cows, and his company — White Oaks Mills in Elizabethtown, Penn. — work with farms in Pennsylvania and Sussex County to determine the right combination of hay, corn, grain and other additives such as candy to create the most efficient diet.
"Most of the cows are fed these recycled products from AG Choice, they are fed what is called a grand casserole with a bunch of ingredients that are mixed together," says Kreider. "This is just one of maybe eight major ingredients in that mix. ... The biggest ingredient we get out of the recycled stuff is sugar and there's really not a lot of natural sources for sugar."
Sugar is not a requirement for cows, but formidable carbohydrates are and the sugar and starches can be used interchangeably in their diet.
"The real key to AG Choice is these products are available at an attractive price," says Kreider.
Right now, Fisher says corn is up to between $200 and $250 a ton and farmers can buy alternative feeds from AG Choice from anywhere between $100 and $150 a ton.
"It’s a significant cost savings for them and they are getting a lot of the same nutrition."
Another benefit is the reduction of waste to the environment.
"For society’s benefit its about recycling and cutting down on waste stream," Kreider says. " For the agriculture story it’s the cost of ingredients."
Heaven Hill Farm in Vernon feeds their livestock corn and pumpkins. Phyllis Emmerich, spokesperson for the farm, says she doesn't think the recycled use of candy is far fetched for farmers as her farm does serve up expired pies and baked goods to the animals.
"I think that recycling is interesting and worthwhile if you do it right," Emmerich said.