Luis Chen-Aguilera is turning Kent County’s food and yard waste into fertile soil, with the help of 166 million worms. He’s also changing hearts and minds about agriculture in the process.
While Wormie’s specializes in vermicomposting, its roots are in sustainable and organic farming, with a priority on helping the planet. “Composting is basically recycling,” Chen-Aguilera says, “and the worms are really good at it.”
But first, Chen-Aguilera has had to convince his township that Wormie’s is a good neighbor, a process that has taken more than two years, with no income. “Traditional banks wouldn’t give me a loan,” he said. “This is a new industry.”
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) awarded Wormie’s a reimbursable grant in 2022 … but reimbursable means coming up with the money first.
Three mission lenders – Northern Initiatives, Rende Progress Capital, and the Fair Food Network – are helping Wormie’s with capital and resources as he spends down his grant, applies for reimbursement, then pays back his loans.
The money is funding constant improvements on the 13-acre farm. Wormie’s held an old-fashioned hoophouse raising this winter, aided by Chen-Aguilera’s legion of farming friends. “Farmers can do everything,” he said. Another hoophouse will house the bins that spin and sift the compost. A pad is in place to hold cement block bins for food waste. A filtration system the township asked for will result in a recirculating pond with plants and fish. The long-term plan calls for using four acres for composting and the remaining nine acres for regenerative agriculture, including orchards, trees, flowers, and permaculture gardens. Biochar and compost tea (“life tea”) are also in the works.
A grand opening will be held in July 2024.
Wormie’s is based on cooperation – worms are one of nature’s great co-ops – and the business revolves around it as well. There’s the trifecta of mission lenders, as well as a robust network of fellow farmers. (He drops off food waste at other farms when his own farm’s construction gets in the way, meaning the compost process is uninterrupted.) He’s talked and listened and cooperated with the local, state and federal governments, educating and learning along the way. As he follows the regulations, which continue to evolve, Chen-Aguilera errs on the side of doing too much. “We want to do it properly,” he said. “We don’t want to contaminate anything.”
Services at Wormie’s go beyond recycling discarded sandwich crusts. One option is a Community Supported Compost (CSC) service. Drivers pick up compost (cute bins supplied) from homes and businesses four days a week. Back at the farm, it undergoes a three-step process. (The worms are part of steps 2 and 3.) On every 8th pickup, customers receive a bag of compost. And, because Wormie’s is rooted in cooperation, Chen-Aguilera is happy to set up plans between neighbors and neighboring businesses. There currently are 650 customers – residential and commercial – on the pickup service.
And then there’s the compost. Kathy Koch, Lead Agriculture Specialist at the Mary Free Bed YMCA in Grand Rapids says, “We had planted eight cherry tomato plants and they were struggling. Within four days of applying Wormie’s Vermicompost, the cherry tomato plants in that bed had miraculously sprung to life as if they had never had an issue!”
