Sometimes we forget about food or just don’t get to it in time, and it starts to grow mold. Bread is a particular culprit here, but you’ll also see it on fruits, vegetables, and even other foods like pasta. Of course, we don’t want to eat mold. It can be very bad for humans, but can you compost moldy food?
Yes, for the most part, you can.
Mold is one of the ways that nature breaks down compost. It’s actually decomposing the food and therefore is usually safe to add to your compost pile without a problem. The mold is actually getting a jumpstart for you.
Foods More Likely to Get Moldy
Some foods are more prone to getting moldy. You could probably name them without too much trouble but, just in case, here they are:
- Soft Cheese – This includes all types of soft cheese, including cottage cheese, sliced, shredded.
- Soft Fruits and Vegetables – Foods like strawberries, tomatoes, and cucumbers, which are also high in moisture, are likely to get moldy first.
- Baked Goods – These tasty confections are some that you will often see with mold.
- Cooked Foods
- Jams, Jellies and Preserves – Once opened, or if not properly sealed, these will get moldy.
In addition to these, there are a few foods that will tend to get moldy when added to your compost:
- Rotten Fruits and Vegetables
- Rice – Dry rice tends to carry bacteria that can even survive cooking. This bacteria makes an environment that’s ripe for mold growth.
- Coffee – This tends to come with its own moisture when we throw it in the compost.
- Watermelon
- Spaghetti
- Cereal
- Bread
You will most often see mold on foods that are high in moisture. This creates a breeding ground for mold spores, especially when kept in the dark space. Refrigerating items can help, but it’s not a cure.
Composting Moldy Food with Worms
One potential exception to being able to compost moldy food is when you are using worms, called vermicomposting. Some molds that grow in cooler temperatures, like your refrigerator, have some antibiotic properties. (Remember, penicillin comes from the mold.)
This could harm your worms. So, you want to be careful. Typically, mold on vegetables is okay, but bread and fruit can have harmful mold, especially if they were in a cooler area. If in doubt, you can always add a small amount and give it a couple of days. If the worms are avoiding it, then throw it out or add it to a traditional backyard bin.
In general, it’s usually safe to add moldy food in moderation. You don’t want to bury your worms in moldy food but doing it occasionally or in moderate amounts is fine.
How to Compost Moldy Food
Composting moldy food is easy. The best strategy is to add it into the middle of your pile. Cover it with brown material so that it gets warmer. Then turn it every few days to keep aerated.
It’s always a good strategy to break up food, including moldy food. If this is just too gross for you, the world won’t end if you don’t. It will just take longer to compost.
You can also try to wrap the moldy food in newspaper, paper, straw or other brown material. This will trap the moisture and soak up some of the moisture. That will help to decompose it faster.
Can I Compost Moldy Food?
Generally speaking, it’s safe to add moldy food to compost. Mold is actually the beginning of the decomposition process. In rare cases, mold that grows in cool places like the refrigerator, especially on fruits and bread, can be a problem for vermicomposting when we use worms to compost. Even then, it’s rare. Those molds just don’t survive in the warm environment of even a backyard compost bin.
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