Light Forager builds circular, community-centered food systems by diverting organic waste, using bio digestion to recover valuable nutrients, restoring soil health, and equipping people through practical education to grow nourishing food.
Light Forager advances food security through a circular model of waste diversion, bio digestion, soil regeneration, and community education. We transform organic waste through bio digestion, return recovered nutrients to the soil, and equip growers, families, schools, and community organizations with the knowledge and resources to grow healthier food and sustain the cycle.
Food scraps and other suitable organic material are collected before they reach the landfill, so the nutrients in them stay in the community.
Black soldier fly larvae break the scraps down. Dried larvae are used as an animal feed supplement, and the frass they leave behind returns to the soil.
Recovered material goes back to garden beds as a soil amendment, handled carefully and studied alongside compost, biochar, and other inputs.
Workshops, school sessions, and plain-language guides teach people to run the cycle themselves and keep it going.
We are raising funds to build Light Forager’s first black soldier fly production box in Houston. It is a small pilot: collect scraps, run the digestion, record what goes in and what comes out, and share the results.
Support the buildA two-session community soil course and a grant concept for a citywide network of public growing spaces that measure and improve their soil over time.
See the curriculum and grant conceptHands-on sessions on compost, frass, biochar, and how to tell whether an amendment is doing anything. No background in soil science needed.
Host or join a sessionMost of what a garden grows gets eaten, and most of what is left gets thrown away. That is a slow leak of nutrients out of the neighborhood. Bio digestion is the piece that closes the loop: it turns the leftovers into something a garden can use again.
We work in Houston first, with community gardens, schools, and families, and share what we learn with rural partners and other cities.
Small, carefully run black soldier fly systems that process food scraps and produce material we can study and use.
Used as a supplement, dried black soldier fly larvae contribute to healthier animals and to the habitats those animals depend on. They reduce reliance on wild oceanic sources of fishmeal, and they support gut health and immune function in chickens, fish, and dogs.
Field and bench observations of how frass, biochar, and compost behave in local soils and what that means for plants.
Getting recovered and donated amendments to gardens that need them, with instructions on how to use them.
In-person and online sessions for growers, families, students, and teachers.
Working with gardens, nonprofits, and schools in Houston and nearby rural communities, and with partners in other cities.
Writing down inputs, outputs, and lessons learned so other communities can adapt the model.
Volunteer at a workshop, partner as a school or garden, or help fund the first production box. Every part of the cycle needs people.