The Vitamix Foodcycler Is a High Tech Composter for the Impatient
This $400 gadget is worth it if you want to processes food waste without stinking up your kitchen
When I first read about the Vitamix Foodcycler while researching a piece on achieving zero-waste, it kind of blew my mind.
The Foodcycler FC-50 is a breadmaker-sized appliance that you place on your kitchen countertop and fill with organic waste: eggshells, potato peels, paper towels, and the like. You then press a button, and in a few hours, the Foodcycler transforms your waste into nutrient-rich, garden-ready fertilizer for your plants. It’s like a high-tech compost pile for the impatient.
The fact that such an appliance exists in the first place delighted me. But the fact that the Foodcycler came not from some tiny, hippy-ish startup but instead by a prominent brand like Vitamix — known for their super high quality, flamboyantly expensive blenders--made it even more intriguing. (The company appears to license the tech from an independent company). Here was a device that feels like something out of Back to the Future, but positioned and marketed as a mass-market appliance you might place in your kitchen alongside your coffee maker and microwave. I knew I needed to try the Foodcycler out, so I reached out to Vitamix. They…
