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A MiddLab Project

Sustainable Television 2011

In Spring 2011, nine students enrolled in FMMC 285 Sustainable Television: Producing Environmental Media, collaborating to produce a 50-minute television program on environmental issues. Watch the entire episode below, or scroll down for individual segments:

People

Related Links

Downloads

Full Episode: (expand to full screen to fully enjoy)

Selected Stories:

A group of students capture the activist energy of Power Shift 2011 in Washington, DC:

Can a group of kids teach you about the science of climate change?

A profile of Vergennes farmer Erik Andrus and his sustainable agriculture and energy strategies:

Where does food in Middlebury dining halls come from?

Emeritus Professor John Elder reflects on his relationship to nature and place through the words of poets:

What happens when the oil party comes to an end?

Learn how two Vermont business people installing solar panels changes their environmental impact:

How do small choices you make everyday impact your carbon footprint?

A student takes a challenge to go vegetarian for a month to learn about the environmental impact of dietary choices:

Middlebury College President Ron Liebowitz proposes some sweeping changes to reach carbon neutrality:

 

A MiddLab Project

Millborne Farms: A Case Study of Modern Dairy Farming in Vermont

Learn more about Economics at Middlebury College.

As times and consumer preferences change, how is a traditional Vermont dairy farmer to make a decent living? Is it worth their time to simply continue producing traditional products (milk, yogurt, cheese, butter) in a heavily saturated market, or should they branch out into kefirs, smoothies, or probiotic shots? Should they stay local and maintain the integrity of the farm or ship products around the country in order to avoid financial ruin? Gert and Arda Schute of Millborne Farms in Shoreham, VT deal with these concerns on a daily basis. This presentation will be the culmination of my personal research on profitability and dairy farming. It will also critically analyze the business issues currently facing Gert and Arda and offer solutions that will maintain the vitality and increase the profitability of their farm.

People

Anne Bogert
Researcher

Jessica Holmes
Sponsor & Associate Professor of Economics

Related Links

Millborne Farms

MiddCORE Student Project

Downloads

Symposium Presentation Slides

A MiddLab Project

21st-Century Global Challenges: The Promise of Social Entrepreneurship

Learn more about creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship,  MiddCORE, and Education in Action at Middlebury and MIIS.

In a January 2011 Winter Term Class, “Twenty-First Century Global Challenges,”  21 Middlebury students studied great challenges of our time – including wide-scale poverty, climate change, and the struggle for human rights. They then analyzed how social entrepreneurs – individuals and groups who are developing new ways to attack systematic problems – are taking on these challenges.  For example, Nina Cameron ’12 studied how the Global Network is trying to reduce the prevalence of neglected tropical diseases; Erin Kelly ’13 studied how the University of the People is providing tuition-free higher-education throughout the developing world.  The students also spend much of the course developing a vision for a new center for social entrepreneurship based at Middlebury College.  On this MiddLab, we report the ongoing results of this work.

People

Jonathan Isham, Jr.
Professor of Economics

Wahid Ahmed
Catherine Brown
Nina Cameron
Brian Clow
Thomas Crocker
Matthew Engel
Stuart Fram
Allison Grant
Mark Hannah
Paul Hildebrand
Aaron Kelly
Claire McIlvennie
Olivia Noble
Bradley Osborn
Devin Perkins
Hilary Platt
Jeronimo Riefkohl
Martin Sweeney
Rhidaya Trivedi
Kenneth Williams
Nicole Williams

The Ripple Effect in India

Related Links

Social Entrepreneurship in the Liberal Arts – Jonathan Isham (The Middlebury Campus, January 20, 2011)

The Development Project Management Institute (DPMI) at MIIS

Careers in the Common Good

Old Stone Mill

The Alliance for Civic Engagement

Fred Kropp’s course on social entrepreneurship at MIIS

Downloads

Reducing the prevalence of neglected tropical diseases – Nina Cameron ’12

Increasing access to tertiary education in the developing world – Aaron Kelly ’13

A vision for the Hassenfeld Center at Middlebury College – the students of ES380

A 2007 paper on social entrepreneurship at Middlebury – David Hopkins ’07.5

Social Entrepreneurship Collaboratories – Gordon Bloom (Harvard ’82)

A recent talk from Bill Gates on Education for the Real World

A MiddLab Project

Fall 2010 Student Symposium: American Poverty in Context

October 21st- 29th will be the Fall Student Symposium, “American Poverty in Context.” We aim to build awareness and encourage discussion of poverty-related issues on the local and national level. The symposium will tackle issues such as hunger and local foods, social determinants of health, labor legislation, community action, and homelessness. In addition to inspiring intellectual discourse on poverty, we hope to motivate more students to participate in volunteer activities and to consider pursuing careers in non-profits.

Please click on the posters below in the downloads section for more detailed information about each event!

People

Joel Berg

Executive Director of the New York Coalition Against Hunger

Harlan Beckley

Director of the Shepherd Program for the Interdisciplinary Study of Poverty and Human Capability at Washington and Lee University

Robert Prasch

Middlebury College Professor of Economics

Samantha Marder

Project Manager, Project Health  Providence

Hannah Nichols

Talent and Technology Coordinator, Project Health National Offices

Hal Colston

Founder and Director of Good News Garage and Neighborskeepers

Doug Sinclair

Co-Founder of Middlebury Community Care Coalition

Ingrid Pixley

Property Manager for Addison County Community Trust

Jeanne Montross

Executive Director of HOPE (Helping Overcome Poverty’s Effects)

Yuan Lim

Student Organizer

Veronica Muoio

Student Organizer

Dan Murphy

Student Organizer

Related Links

To Learn More and Take Action, check out these links

First Stop:

Alliance for Civic Engagement (ACE) !

Hunger and Food Justice Issues:

VT FoodBank

Vermont Campaign to End Childhood Hunger

New York City Coalition Against Hunger

Health Equity:

Project Health

Unnatural Causes: Documentary on Poverty and Poor Health

Housing Issues:

National Coalition for the Homeless

Vermont Committee for Temporary Shelter (COTS)

Middlebury Community Care Coalition (MCCC)

Helping Overcome Poverty’s Effects (HOPE)

Feel Free to Post your own links below as well.

Downloads

Full Symposium Schedule

Information about Individual Events:

Harlan Beckley

Joel Berg

Hal Colston

Ingrid Pixley and Doug Sinclair

Professor Robert Prasch

Samantha Marder and Hannah Nichols

A MiddLab Project

Gastronomic Hierarchies of Value: the Market for French AOC Wines

Learn more about International Studies and Sociology & Anthropology at Middlebury College.

The business model of the food industry, as it stands today, is unsustainable.  To counter these negative trends, organizations like Slow Food International have begun to champion the importance of “quality” for health, the environment, and the art of gastronomy. But what does quality mean and what will be its impact on the global food industry? An analysis of wines produced in France and labeled with the government-sponsored quality certification system, Appelation d’Origine Contrôlée, reveals that an emphasis on quality and geography, rather than brand, makes the food market more monopolistically competitive, more inclusive yet hierarchical.

People

Emily Gullickson
Researcher

Thierry Warin
Sponsor and Associate Professor of Economics

Lynn Owens
Sponsor and Assistant Professor of Sociology

Related Links

Spring Student Symposium

Downloads

Presentation Slides

Watch the Presentation with the Slides (RealMedia)

A MiddLab Project

Slow Food’s Contribution to a Shift in American Food Culture

Learn more about Italian and Undergraduate Research at Middlebury College.

My research looks at the success of the Slow Food movement in the United States, and how it was a contributing factor to a mental shift from fast unhealthy food to local healthy ones in a portion of the population. The movement was started in Italy, and while support for the movement has grown at the grass roots level, new pro-fast food elements have become present in Italian politics. Since its arrival in 2000 to the United States, the movement encouraged a process of education that promotes an understanding of the food industry. This study focuses on the changes in the food culture that were spurred by the Slow Food movement and have led to educational programs across the country and how this compares to Italy’s current situation.

People

Darcy Mullen
Researcher

Sandra Carletti
Sponsor and Professor of Italian

Related Links

Let’s Move

Community Supported Agriculture

Downloads

Watch the Presentation with Slides (requires RealMedia player)

Presentation Slides
Blogs DOT Middlebury: the Middlebury blog network.