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The EM1 is mixed with some kind of carbon it can stick to, such as bran or sawdust, as well as molasses or another sugar the microorganisms can feed on. Practitioners then layer the concoction on newly disposed food and seal it in an airtight bucket. Weeks later, it's taken out of the bucket and buried. There's little smell with properly done bokashi because the microorganisms that break down the food produce amino acids and small amounts of alcohol. Those don't stink like the ammonia and hydrogen sulfide produced by other microorganisms when food is left to rot, said Joshua Cheng, an associate professor of earth and environmental sciences at Brooklyn College. Cheng is doing research on bokashi, some of it funded by TeraGanix, to better understand the chemistry behind how the food breaks down, the quality of the soil produced and to document the claims about a lack of odor. He's also trying to make sure there are no pathogens produced
-- a concern in any composting process. "There are not supposed to be, but we need to make sure that there is not," Cheng said. Bokashi advocates believe the practice will see wider adoption if people can get word about it, just because the amount of food wasted in the U.S. is so staggering. According to the EPA, the U.S. generated more than 34 million tons of food waste in 2010, accounting for 14 percent of all the solid waste that reached landfills or incinerators. Vandra Thorburn, who runs a business in which she provides and collects bokashi buckets from about 50 customers around Brooklyn, said she's making it her personal mission to get bokashi listed by the EPA. Contrary to concerns that cities don't have space for bokashi, she said the unobtrusive method produces soil that could fill community gardens or revitalize worn or contaminated soils around the city. At Ferncroft last week, Baloy surveyed his new herb and seasonings garden, which he'll fill with the soil produced by bokashi. He said he's liked what he's seen from the process. But it's early. "It's still pretty new," Baloy said. "We're seeing how it goes."
[Associated
Press;
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