The Top Organic Waste Recycler is

South Korea! Did you guess that right?

I visited Sanan Village in Hwaseong City. The village is a Yamigishi-style chicken farm that produced over 20,000 chicken eggs a day. What attracted me to the farm was their unique use of a deep litter system. The chicken houses which were comprised of 20 rooms with 100 chickens each were filled with 4-6 inches of rice hulls coated with lactobacillus bacteria, the same kind used in yogurt making. The chickens were periodically moved as they aged. When they were moved, the rice hulls with chicken manure were removed and composted and fresh rice hulls were added for the new batch of chickens. This compost was then used to grow grass onsite. This grass was fermented with lactobacillus and added into the chicken feed--a circular system. On the farm, I learned their basic procedures: collecting and sorting eggs, processing the eggs, and cleaning the chicken rooms. Even though I only spoke a few Korean phrases, everyone at the farm was very kind to me. I didn't get to eat turkey on Thanksgiving, but they taught me how to make Kimchi and did the best they could to make conversations with the little English they had. I was also yet again warmed by the kindness of people, initially strangers, in making me feel like I belonged.