In a hospital the food waste is usually sorted right at the source—perishable scraps go into a separate bin from the regular trash. Most big hospitals now feed that perishable stream into a food‑waste‑to‑compost system or a donation program if the food is still safe to eat. They’ll keep the kitchen debris in a sealed container and send it off to a local commercial composter or a municipal program that can turn it into mulch or animal feed. If your community garden could handle a little extra volume, you could set up a dedicated bin for the food scraps from the hospital cafeteria. Just make sure you keep it sealed, separate from dry waste, and coordinate with the hospital’s waste manager. That way the kitchen waste gets turned into useful compost instead of piling up in a landfill.