Ana Maria Quintero
When she began writing her honors thesis at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg, Ana Maria Quintero didn’t know she was going to fall in love with worms. But somehow, they wiggled their way right to her heart.
Precious Poop and Vermiculture in St. Petersburg
“They are like little alchemists!” says Quintero, founder of Laica Worms & Vermicast, of the amazing earthworms who power her business.
And how true it is. These creepy-crawly critters are powerful biodigesters that can turn waste such as food scraps, yard waste, or even shredded paper into high quality organic fertilizer. Vermicast (the technical term for worm poop) boasts higher nutrient content than conventional compost and can improve aeration, porosity, and water retention in soil. All without environmental costs of chemical fertilizers, which require an energy intensive production process and increase water pollution through run off.
It’s no wonder that worm castings retail for up to $4 per pound.
Closing the Circuit
But Quintero wasn’t thinking about worms when she set out to study Geography at USF St. Petersburg in 2016. She was more focused on the complex issue of waste management, which she was researching for her honors thesis. What she discovered was alarming: With a patchwork of varying regulations across counties and states, there was little regularity in processes for dealing with food waste. And a whole lot of food waste to be dealt with.
Then a vermicomposting project with the campus Garden Club, where Quintero was Vice President, suggested one way to close the circuit. Feed domestic or commercial food waste to worms, create a supercharged natural soil input, and grow more nourishing organic food.
Laica Worms & Vermicast was born. The business now focuses on processing food waste from client households as well as a few commercial partners, including coffee grounds from Pineapple Espresso and overripe vegetables from Rollin’ Oats. It also helps clients start their own household worm farms.
“Laica teaches people how to be good stewards of the planet,” Quintero explains.
Ana Maria Quintero
Good Food for Everyone
But the lessons didn’t end there. Quintero soon found herself joining the board of Sustainable Urban Agriculture Coalition (SUAC). SUAC is a St. Pete-based organization that sees urban agriculture as a means to provide better access to healthy food, create jobs, and stimulate the local economy. First, she donated a class on worm farming; now, she serves as the group’s secretary.
“SUAC’s focus is to bring healthy food to everybody,” she recalls, “including Title I schools and marginalized communities.”
That got her thinking: How might she bring the lessons she’d learned from her worms to kids in South St. Pete, where, according to the 2020 U.S. Census, “low income, low access” areas (formerly known as “food deserts”) had more than tripled since 2015?
What are Their Names?
Do they have eyes? Can they eat candy? What are their names?
These are just some of the questions that students at John Hopkins Middle School have asked Quintero when she brings the worms in to meet them. Quintero now visits the school one-two times per week to help students create and manage classroom worm bins. Kids can bring food waste from home to compost. They also sell the castings to fund enrichment projects, learning not only worm farming, but entrepreneurial skills.
Laica Worms is planning to expand this program in coming months, setting up new worm farms at Lakewood Elementary School, Lake Vista Recreation Center, and St. Pete Housing Authority.
There’s something magical that happens, Quitero says, when students get to know the worms, hold them carefully in gloved hands. Something gets unlocked.
“When you find sensitivity, love, and care for something as vulnerable as a worm, it touches your tenderness, your empathy.”
Ana Maria Quintero
The Real Wealth of Student Vermiculture in St. Petersburg
The season of gratitude and plenty is coming, and in that special time, it is so important to remember that real wealth doesn’t just accumulate – it grows. It grows in the ideas that inspire students, and the encouragement and support provided by caring teachers; it thrives in the strong bones and thriving energy of a well-nourished community. It flourishes in healthy soil, in the guts seemingly unremarkable decomposers that slowly, oh-so-patiently, recharge our forests and fields.
These are the fruits that Ana Maria Quintero, worm farmer, cultivates.
And of course, she grows the worms themselves. I can’t resist asking her how many I might find busily working away in her home and garden.
“Thousands,” she smiles. “Thousands and thousands of them.”
Readers who are interested in learning more about SUAC are invited to attend the group’s regular meeting from 6:30-8 p.m. on the first Friday of each month. See suacstpete.org for more information.
