Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is teaming up with a nonprofit organization to help farmers across the county improve soil health and foster partnerships between local farmers and restaurant owners.
The initiative is called Unfork the Planet. Cal Poly will work to connect local farmers with interested restaurant owners, while Zero Foodprint, the nonprofit partner, will offer grants of up to $25,000 to farmers and ranchers who adopt regenerative soil practices.
Participating restaurants will be asked to feature a climate-smart dish on their menu.
Kalea Conrad, Strategic Initiatives Coordinator for Cal Poly, explained that a "climate-smart" dish minimizes waste.
"By climate-smart, we just mean a low-waste dish, utilizing an ingredient with no waste or ensuring composting of all scraps if that's not happening already," she said.
Restaurants can either source ingredients from local farms or contribute $1 per featured dish to the grant fund.
"We are an agricultural county, and there's so much opportunity for collaboration here, keeping those funds directly circulated to our local growers," Conrad said.
Farmers and ranchers in San Luis Obispo County interested in regenerative practices can apply for the Restore Grant through Zero Foodprint's website.
