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Posts tagged with “Food” (All posts)

  • The Farm is A Growin'

    July 6, 2010 at 11:59 am

    An update from the summer 2010 farm interns!

  • Farm House garden

    What's Up with the Carleton Garden?

    July 14, 2009 at 7:54 am

    The Carleton Farm Interns gave us an update on the gardens near Farm House!

  • LDC Bon Appetit

    The Case for Trayless

    March 1, 2009 at 11:54 pm

    (Note: John Kraus has updated his February article about Trayless Dining at Carleton, and the updated version has been reposted here.)

    According to Food for Thought (A Carleton student group), the Carleton dining halls produce about 2,700 pounds of food waste per day.  Colleges, in an attempt to reduce waste and save money, have experimented with various ways to reduce food waste.  Going to tray-less dining has generally shown a reduction in food waste of 25-30%; Hamline College recently implemented this step and expects to save $25,000 a year.  In the following article John Kraus ('10) outlines a well researched case for trayless dining at Carleton.

  • Somalian Piracy Linked Directly to Foreign Overfishing in the Gulf of Aden?

    February 16, 2009 at 11:49 pm

    The growing rash of piracy off the coast of Somalia has been consistently present in international news for the past several years, and has had a major impact on the security and economy in the region.  Western nations have stepped up anti-piracy patrols in an attempt to re-establish key shipping lanes, as well as to make the gulf and its highly productive fishery safer for fishing vessels.  However, little press has been given to what role these international fishing vessels may have played in the development of Somalian piracy in the first place.

  • Garden Internship Advertisement

    Get back to the land.

    February 6, 2009 at 9:31 am

    Applications are now available to be a student farm intern for the 2009 growing season of the Carleton Student Farm.  Two student interns will be accepted for the position this summer. The season will begin with a farm-planning independent study this spring, continue with experiential education every day in the Carleton garden and in field trips to surrounding farms through the summer, and end with fall harvest.

  • Global Food Movements, Local Connections: Terra Madre 2008

    November 10, 2008 at 12:32 am

    Terra Madre Food ConferenceVera Chang and I presented about our experiences at Terra Madre last week, but I’ll elaborate here as well. We attended the Slow Food international Terra Madre conference in Torino, Italy October 25-28. The conference was a gathering of the world’s food communities—thousands growers, producers and eaters all converged to discuss the issues facing our food system, learn from world leaders, and celebrate our unique but interconnected food cultures and traditions.

  • Goodhue Composts!

    April 7, 2008 at 11:33 am

    As of Monday, April 7th, the dorm across the lakes will be embarking on a student-run pilot composting project, with the idea of possibly expanding the compost program throughout all of the residential halls on campus. Each floor in Goodhue has a compost receptacle in the middle of the floor hall near the trash and recycling bins. Students are encouraged to separate all food waste, paper, light cardboard and snack bar compostable packaging in the designated bin. Student volunteers on each floor will be disposing of the compost in a communal bin behind the dorm.

  • The Garden Begins

    April 3, 2008 at 9:25 am

    Planter Box 1 Planter Box 2 Planter Box 3

    Contrary to what the white frosting on the campus around us may indicate, spring has sprung, and that means it’s time to plant. After pouring over pages and pages of catalogs full of well-illustrated, enchantingly-described vegetables during the dark of winter, the little seed packets have actually arrived, the sun is beginning to shine, the earth is getting muddy, and it’s time to get excited.

    The history of farming at Carleton is a long one, from the days of yore as photographed in those cow-filled frames in the Burton Dining Hall to the more recent Celestial Donut Garden, and finally the current garden incarnation in the backyard of Farm House. Interest in the farm has waxed and waned, as with all things, but is currently on quite the upswing. After an enthusiastic evaluation of possible farm plans by David Hougen-Eitzman’s Agroecology class this fall and the general increased interest in agriculture and food production throughout society today, two students have jumped on board to guide the Carleton farm to greatness through farm-focused internships this summer, in coordination with Farm Club activity this spring. They plan to revitalize the current garden with general maintenance and upkeep of the current land and infrastructure, while focusing heavily on creative planting techniques to maximize harvests in the fall, when Farm House and campus are full of hungry students. Additionally, students are hopeful about making connections with the new Dining Services provider, Bon Appetit.

  • Carleton to expand compost program

    February 29, 2008 at 1:00 pm

    A new and exciting composting projects is currently in the works on campus and will be up and running this spring.  Catering services will begin new composting programs when students return from spring break this year.  Sustainability Assistants met with Joe Winegardner, the General Manager of Dining Services several weeks ago to pitch the plan.  Joe eagerly agreed to train staff and obtain the proper bins in order to make composting happen.  As a result, all food waste generated at catered events will be composted and event organizers will be encouraged to select compostable plastic-ware, napkins, and plates that will also be sent out to the compost piles in Rosemount. 

  • Weighing in on Waste

    January 24, 2008 at 9:56 am

    Responsible waste management programs are especially important when one considers the volume of waste generated by a residential college of Carleton’s size during a month of school. In October, Carleton college produced approximately 60 tons of recyclables, compostables, and trash in total, all of which would be destined for a landfill had Carleton not invested in composting and recycling.

    Promising Numbers
    The new waste management improvements including one-stream recycling and campus-wide composting made by Carleton College during the summer of 2007 have proven successful. According to recent data collected by Carleton College Facilities Department, Carleton diverted 56 percent of its waste stream from the landfill in the month of October alone. This estimate is even larger if one considers the amount of waste generated by students who live in off-campus or college-owned houses who compost. In the fall, 100 students (approximately half of the student body) living in privately-owned houses in Northfield were given supplies of biodegradable bags from the Facilities Department in order to use in their homes. The weigh data does not include their contribution because they use separate compost receptacles.

    Continued Improvement and Expansion
    Weigh data from the month of October shows a small, yet significant improvement from recycling and composting efforts during the month of September in which only 52% of Carleton’s waste stream was diverted. It is important to note, however, that recycling data from September is skewed by a large influx of cardboard generated by students moving back to campus in the fall. Continued improvement is to be expected as current students, faculty and staff learn to navigate a seemingly complex new sorting system. Participation may be enhanced further by a first-year orientation program which highlights sustainability efforts at Carleton and educates new members of the community on how to properly dispose of their waste. This orientation program is currently under discussion.

    For more information on composting initiatives at Carleton College, contact Karen Lawson (Custodial Services Supervisor), Shaun Sawtell (President of SOPE and Compost Task-Force Leader), or Laura Oxtoby, Ben Barclay, and Becky Dernbach (Sustainability Assistants).
    Graphs taken from Facilities Compost Report (prepared Jan. 10, 2008) .

    WDsepWDOct 

  • Food subsidies vs. food pyramid

    Why a Salad Costs More than a Big Mac

    November 1, 2007 at 6:05 pm

    Via Good Medicine Magazine, this figure demonstrates the disparity between what food we should eat and what food the U.S. government currently subsidizes.

    To see the image click the "read more" link below

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