Author: Sam Stewart

 

From my First to Last Co-op: Stewart ’17 at EnviroFlight in Maysville, Kentucky

Sep 18, 2017
 

I began working at EnviroFlight for my first Co-op in the Spring of 2014. After I finished my Co-op I stayed on as a part time employee, until I began my Final Co-op which started on July 11th. Through the years I have worked there I have watched the company grow and have worked in multiple departments there, starting in the production department to the cooking and packaging department.

EnviroFlight aims to be a leader in Sustainable Animal and Plant Nutrition, they believe that they can produce Black Soldier Fly Larvae in an efficient and environmentally friendly way to feed (fish, chickens, reptiles and sugar gliders). Black Soldier Flies have high levels of fat and protein and can eat almost any food waste, so they are perfect for dealing with our global food waste problem and offer a healthy diet for many animals. After the Black Soldier Fly Larvae absorbs most of the nutrients from the feed (food waste) EnviroFlight separates the larvae from the remaining solids which is call Frass. The Frass can be used as fertilizer for farms and gardens, so this type of insect farming produces little to no waste.

In my current position at EnviroFlight, I start work at 6am and harvest the Larvae from the production area (where they are fed) and take them to the cooking area where I load them in a big commercial dryer. The Larvae and Frass is cooked for about 6 hours and then is separated to be packaged and sold. During my day I am responsible for tracking the weights of the unfished Larvae and Frass as well as the finished Larvae and Frass, while also tracking the moistures and temperatures of the drier as they go through the cooking stage.

I wouldn’t say that this job is aligned with my educational goals as a visual artist, but it has provided a reliable work place that has helped me achieve the goal of finishing a Bachelor’s degree in the Arts. My experience at EnviroFlight has been a lot like my educational experience at Antioch, both have gone through a lot of transformation in the past few years. It has been hard at times to cope with the changes, but I have grown so much from both of these experiences and know that the skills I have learned will assist me in my artistic future.

Photo credits: EnviroFlight (https://www.enviroflight.net/)