A local initiative that aims to persuade the Minnesota Legislature to lift a 2001 Legislative Moratorium on state discussion/study of the Northfield-Minneapolis ‘Dan Patch’ Passenger Rail Line, an extant rail line between Northfield/Fairbault and the Twin Cities. (Web site under development: February 2014).
Tag Archives: Civic Engagement
Antibiotic Alternatives for Healthy Growth Promotion in Broilers
March 5, 2013
Project description:
Partnering with Main Street Project a team of students from Debby Walser- Kuntz’s Immunology class at Carleton College researched the effectiveness of alternatives to antibiotic treatment in raising chicken broilers. They then researched what other farmers in Minnesota are doing in order to access the practicality of such alternative treatments. For each alternative treatment, they attempted to highlight both the pros and cons. This included side effects, limitations to environment, as well as cost effectiveness and present their findings to Main Street Project.
Student researchers: Brian Rhodes, Tony Daza, C.J. Dale, Sarah Rempel, Lydia English, Nick Haradhvala
Project Contact: Regi Haslett- Marroquin, reginaldo@mainstreetproject.org
Northfield Food Hub
Project Description:
Organized by the U of M extension service, over twenty members of the Northfield community (including six Carleton students) toured 5th Season Co-op in Viroqua, Wisconsin last November. From this day long event formed a food hub working group that began investigating the feasibility of creating a Food Hub in Northfield. A group of dedicated students researched the project for their senior comps and presented the material to the community last April. The group plans to start meeting again in October of 2013 to discuss next steps.
Student Research Food Hub Comps Report
Student researchers: Sophie Daudon, Kristen Dooley, Casey Silver (Carleton College)
Contact: Marcea Frazier, marcea5@northfieldwifi.com
City Compost Pilot Program & Statistics Project
General Project Description:
The City of Northfield and Dick’s Sanitation, Inc., conducted a test of food waste composting over a six month period in 2013. DSI provided 148 households with weekly pick-up of their compost which was taken to a commercial composting site from June through November. Data is being reviewed by the Northfield Environmental Quality Commission (EQC) and will be presented to the City Council in early 2014, for consideration of expanding citywide. Separation of organics would help extend the life of the County landfill, reduce methane generation, produce usable compost for residents and city use, and has a possibility of reducing overall expense to Northfield of solid waste.
Additional Project Outcomes:
Data from the pilot program was analyzed by Carleton College statistics students led by professor Laura Chihara in hopes of informing City decisions based on quantitative program outcomes. Analysis opportunities included organics weight data, percent of waste diverted, and customer survey results.
A summer 2013 internship position focused on increasing participation in the pilot program through community outreach and education. Carleton College student Caffi Meyer created educational materials, raised awareness for the program, collected data about organics bin usage, analyzed waste weight data, and projected city-wide financial cost/benefits.
Project Reports:
Cows, Colleges and Composting Poster
2013 Internship Report (Caffi Meyer)
Project Contact: George Kinney geokinney@gmail.com