Press & Vermicomposting Information

International Vermicomposting Symposium

The International Vermicomposting Symposium will take place at the StarHotel – Michelangelo in Florence, Italy, on 8-9 November 2023. The Symposium will feature vermicomposting experts from around the world who will share their knowledge and the benefits of vermicomposting.

What is Vermicomposting?

Vermicomposting is a method of composting — recycling organic matter like food scraps, animal waste, and leaves into nutrient-rich fertilizer that supplements healthy soil and plants — using worms and other microbes. Worms feed on the organic matter and break it down as it passes through their gut. The result is called vermicompost (vermi = worm) or specifically “vermicasts”.

The species of worms most used in vermicomposting is Eisenia fetida, or the “red wiggler”. The vermicasts (ie. worm feces) reduce soil contaminants while producing a high quality, water soluble organic fertilizer. This powerful organic fertilizer is quite potent and can used as soil amendments (on large scale farms) or as a simple, safe fertilizer for your houseplants. Vermicasts can also be mixed with water and applied to plants as a “vermicompost tea”.

How Does Vermicomposting Benefit the Environment?

When organic material go to the landfill, it is generally buried under all the other debris and begins to decompose anaerobically (that is, without the presence of oxygen). When this happens, the greenhouse gas methane is produced, which is a major culprit in global warming.

When organic waste is allowed to decompose in an oxygen-rich environment, like composting or vermicomposting, it has the potential to divert millions of pounds of materials away from landfills and into the soil, as a highly desirable fertilizer. Large-scale vermicomposting has the capacity to prevent millions of pounds of carbon from entering the atmosphere, thereby reducing the emission of greenhouse gases.

There are mountains of empirical evidence demonstrating how this simple-to-produce “worm poop” can improve water infiltration and retention, fertilize crops, increase the soil microbiome, boost crop yields and improve overall soil health.

Why Italy?

Italians have always had an intimate connection with the earth that is either undervalued or missing in many of the more industrialized countries. Because they put such a high value on the soil and their agricultural products, often it is easy to trace this care for the environment from “farm to fork”. (Or “farm-to-glass”, as the case may be).

Because of Italy’s rich agricultural heritage, there are tremendous opportunities for breweries, vineyards, winemakers, olive mills, schools, hospitals, restaurants, and municipalities to convert their post-production by-products (such as animal manure and bedding, spent grains and hops, grape seeds and skins, olive leaves, pits, food waste and mill wastewater) into vermicasts. This valuable by-product of vermicomposting,  often referred to as “black gold”, can save farmers a lot of money because they are producing their own fertilizer (instead of buying costly and/or dangerous inorganic ones) or provide an often much needed revenue stream, through off-farm sales.