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Publication Date

2017-5

Document Type

Capstone

Study Type

ENV 312 Sustainable Solutions

Department

Environmental Science and Policy

Advisors

Alex Barron

Abstract

The Environmental Science & Policy capstone course “ENV 312, Sustainable Solutions” allows students to connect skills built throughout the course of their academic career by engaging in a local project, designed to be environmentally and socially sustainable. Our capstone project for the Environmental Science and Policy major facilitated the creation of Northampton Food Rescue, a food redistribution initiative to rescue food that would otherwise be thrown away and bring it to communities with a self-identified need by bicycle and bike trailer.

The program we designed seeks to address the issues of food waste and food insecurity in Northampton. We collected and analyzed quantitative and nonquantitative data gathered from a series of interviews with Casa Latina (a non-profit organization serving the Latinx community), the Director of the Northampton Survival Center, and surveys collected by Healthy Hampshire, a local initiative examining the depth and breadth of food insecurity in Hampshire county.

From our research, data analysis, and implementation process we have found that the Northampton community has the organization and capacity to address the environmental and social burdens of an inequitable food system. We recommend that Smith College and the Jandon Center for Community Collaboration and Engagement show support for the sustainability and longevity of this program by collaborating with Casa Latina to create a work-study position for a student volunteer-coordinator.

Rights

©2017 Alyssa Johnson-Kurts

Comments

This project report summarizes the semester-long efforts of group members to identify a problem in sustainability; gather background information; collect data through surveys, interviews, or experiments; analyze results, and report findings to the public in an oral presentation. Each member of the group was required to submit a separate written report. This student’s report was selected by the course’s professor to represent the project.

Project group members:

Alyssa Johnson-Kurts

Misha Ritoch

Lily Carlisle-Reske

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