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: Volunteer Opportunity
Farm Bike Tour
Project Description:
The Farm Bike Tour is an annual celebration in September of Northfield food, farms and community. There is an abundance of sustainable agriculture in the immediate Northfield area. The bike tour aims to get students, local businesses, community members, and college alumni connected with healthy lifestyles and local farms. This bike tour is a free event that raises awareness of the local food scene and build bridges between different areas of the Northfield community. The entire route is usually around 18-20 miles and visits local farms, as well as both Carleton and St. Olaf campuses.
Want to get involved? Join the planning committee. Volunteering is a 10-20 hour commitment over 7 months (March-September), it is a wonderful way to be a part of the event!
Additional information: http://farmbiketour.wordpress.com/event-information/
Contact: Kelly Scheuerman (kscheuer@carleton.edu)
Northfield Young Chefs
Project description:
The Young Northfield Chefs program, run by Carleton’s Firebellies student organization, aims to inspire and empower underprivileged teenagers through the universal language of food. The program, which is partially funded by grant from the Statewide Health Improvement Program and supported by the Center for Community and Civic Engagement at Carleton College in partnership with the Northfield Middle School, connects youth not only with inspiring role models, but also to their community, their land, their food and each other. The project started in the winter of 2013 and has continued to grow and be successful.
Each week Carleton students teach cooking as an art, nurturing an environment where the children are the artists and the ingredients their working material. You cannot define art for an artist. As a result, the workshops are not focused on strict adherence to recipes. Instead, participants are guided to go step-by step in order to define and get familiar with the art they are creating. The lessons are designed to be interactive, presenting hands-on activities for students to gain a more comprehensive understanding of cooking and nutrition. One week might focus on knife skills and salsa making, while another focuses on simple stove top cooking through roasting nuts. Gradually, the program introduces more complex activities such as cooking meals. We hope to raise awareness about the importance of cooking as a great medium to promote not only sustainability and health, but also to emphasize food as a social event and the profound cultural role it plays in society. In addition, the participants learn basic cooking skills, food-related games, field trips, and lectures that enhance participants’ learning experience.
Additional Resources:
Carleton’s Firebellies Cooking Club has been featured in many publications such as this article in the Chronicle for Higher Education.
Learn more about the Firebellies group at their website: http://firebellies.wordpress.com
Project Contacts:
Vayu Rekdal (mainirev@carleton.edu), Emily Pence (pencee@carleton.edu.)
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
RENew Northfield Projects
For the last several years RENew Northfield has partnered with Three Rivers Community Action to provide household energy efficiency upgrades for several mortgage rehabs in the city. The upgrades have included solar hot water supply, energy efficient furnaces and hot water heaters, insulation and even a rain garden! RENew in partnership with the Northfield Public Library has also provided a fleet of Kill-a-Watt energy appliance monitoring meters available for check-out to anyone with a Northfield library card. The monitors can be used to record electricity usage of any household appliance with a plug and project weekly, monthly, and annual costs. Particularly revealing can be the cost information provided about electronic devices (e.g. computer monitors), that even when nominally “off” are still drawing current. The original funding for both projects came from a Northfield Area Foundation grant to RENew.
Transition Youth Composting Project
Transition Youth – a sub-group of Transition Northfield – is currently working with the City of Northfield’s pilot composting project, raising awareness, promoting, and making the practice of composting more accessible to people in the community.
CRWP Watershed Wide Cleanup
This annual event is held the third Saturday of September at locations across the Cannon River watershed to remove trash from the shorelines and water bodies.
Organized by: Cannon River Watershed Partnership
Partners: Churches, 4-H clubs, school groups, Cities, lake associations, Muskies Inc., Waste Management
Get It Out of the Gutter
An urban stormwater reduction project that includes the following activities: Stormdrain stenciling, educational material distribution, rain barrel workshops, rain garden workshops, school poster contest, neighborhood stormwater pond education. Partners: Cannon River Watershed Partnership, City of Northfield
Northfield Rain Barrel and Rain Garden Incentive Program
In 2012 the City of Northfield started providing incentives for city property owners to enhance stormwater collection and infiltration. The Rain Barrel and Rain Garden incentive programs are reimbursement programs rather than grants.