Archived Articles

https://collections.carli.illinois.edu/digital/collection/aug_observer/id/27814/rec/1

Title: We can save the dying earth

Container: Augustana Observer (Vol. 119 - No. 1, pp. 4)

Author: Stuart Lombard

Publication Date: September 26, 2019

https://collections.carli.illinois.edu/digital/collection/aug_observer/id/27629/rec/1

Title: Augustana College holds another Green Week

Container: Augustana Observer (Vol. 117 - No. 17, pp. 1)

Author: Shalena Ranaraja

Publication Date: April 26, 2018

https://collections.carli.illinois.edu/digital/collection/aug_observer/id/27417/rec/1

Title: The stories behind your meal swipes

Subtitle: From tuition to Augie Acres: four steps in the life and death of the Gerber Center food

Container: Augustana Observer (Vol. 117 - No. 17, pp. 1)

Authors: Sophie Reid, Brady Johnson, Thea Gonzales, and Collin Schopp

Publication Date: December 12, 2017

https://collections.carli.illinois.edu/digital/collection/aug_observer/id/27314/rec/1

Title: Augustana students go green

Container: Augustana Observer (Vol. 116 - No. 19, pp. 1)

Author: Natalie Spahn

Publication Date: April 27, 2017

https://collections.carli.illinois.edu/digital/collection/aug_observer/id/27270/rec/1

Title: Campus Kitchen serves hot meal

Container: Augustana Observer (Vol. 116 - No. 8, pp. 2)

Author: Katelyn Miller

Publication Date: December 1, 2016

https://collections.carli.illinois.edu/digital/collection/aug_observer/id/26912/rec/1

Title: Augie Acres buys 2k bees

Container: Augustana Observer (Vol. 114 - No. 20, pp. 1)

Author: Chloe Dale

Publication Date: April 30, 2015

https://collections.carli.illinois.edu/digital/collection/aug_observer/id/26519/rec/2

Title: College recycling program collects more trash

Container: Augustana Observer (Vol. 114 - No. 6, pp. 1-2)

Author: Emily Cassity

Publication Date: October 9, 2014

https://collections.carli.illinois.edu/digital/collection/aug_observer/id/27027/rec/1

Title: Student opens first seed library

Container: Augustana Observer (Vol. 113 - No. 20, pp. 5)

Author: Kyle Soyer

Publication Date: May 1, 2014

https://collections.carli.illinois.edu/digital/collection/aug_observer/id/26465/rec/1

Title: Senior Erek Bell spends summer harvesting corn and spirit

Container: Augustana Observer (Vol. 113 - No. 1, pp. 5)

Author: Shylee Garrett

Publication Date: September 5, 2013

https://collections.carli.illinois.edu/digital/collection/aug_observer/id/26413/rec/1

Title: Augustana's Farm2Fork program rallies to help keep student involvement high

Container: Augustana Observer (Vol. 112 - No. 17, pp. 6-7 )

Author: Emily Margosian

Publication Date: April 11, 2013

https://collections.carli.illinois.edu/digital/collection/aug_observer/id/26994/rec/1

Title: Small choices can lead to lasting 'green' impact

Container: Augustana Observer (Vol. 112 - No. 11, pp. 3)

Author: Verena Baier

Publication Date: December 13, 2012

https://collections.carli.illinois.edu/digital/collection/aug_observer/id/26162/rec/1

Title: All talk, no action? Something missing from "green campus"

Container: Augustana Observer (Vol. 111 - No. 8, pp. 9)

Author: Beth Weiner

Publication Date: October 20, 2011

https://qconline.newspapers.com/image/547246731/

Title: Funds 4 Farm2Fork

Container: The Dispatch (Moline, Illinois)

Author: Unknown

Publication Date: May 7, 2011

Transcription:

“Kyle Kappler and Jane Nagle examine cloth bracelets that were on sale as part of a fundraiser for Farm2Fork on Thursday at Augustana College, Rock Island. Music, games, healthy food and eco-friendly merchandise were on site. Proceeds will go toward a biodiesel truck for Farm2Fork and Augie Acres."

https://qconline.newspapers.com/image/547245580/

Title: Augustana hosting Farm2Fork fundraiser Thursday evening

Container: The Dispatch (Moline, Illinois)

Author: Unknown

Publication Date: May 1, 2011

Transcription:

“Augustana College is hosting a fundraising event titled “Keep on truckin’!” 5-7:30 p.m. Thursday outside the Thomas Tredway Library to benefit Farm2Fork, a program designed to bring faculty, students and local farmers together to implement Augustana’s sustainable movement.

Farm2Fork has developed an acre of land known as “Augie Acres” on Augustana’s campus, run by students, letting them grow their own organic produce. The Thursday event will raise money for a biodiesel truck that will run on fuel made in Augustana’s chemistry department using cooking oil left over from the cafeterias on campus.

The truck would transport compostable materials from campus cafeterias to Wesley Acres Produce, a local organic farm, and the fresh produce grown by students on Augie Acres to the farmer’s market.

The event will feature a healthy meal available for purchase, organic T-shirts and live music. For more details contact Moselle Singh at [REDACTED]; or via email at mosellesingh09@augustana.edu.”

https://qconline.newspapers.com/image/547152539/

Title: Augie goes green with planting event

Container: The Dispatch (Moline, Illinois) (Page 7)

Author: Unknown

Publication Date: April 9, 2011

Trascription:

“Augustana College will run the second annual Planting of Augie Acres from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. today at 6th Avenue and 32nd Street.

Reynolds Ford, East Moline, has donated a truck for the collection and distribution of compost, biodiesel, and grease removal around campus and to other schools and farms."

https://collections.carli.illinois.edu/digital/collection/aug_observer/id/25771/rec/1

Title: Augie Acres celebrates success

Subtitle: Cookout showcases growth of Augie initiative

Container: Augustana Observer (Vol. 109 - No. 19, pp. 1)

Author: Matt Hallberg

Publication Date: April 15, 2010

https://qconline.newspapers.com/image/546915424/

Title: Local food goes to school at Augustana

Container: The Dispatch (Moline, Illinois)

Author: Sarah Gardner

Publication Date: January 10, 2010

Transcription:

“This should be a question at a local trivia night: What are the only two frozen vegetables you will find in the dining halls at Augustana College in Rock Island?

The answer is peas and kernels of corn. Everything else has to be fresh, and increasingly, those fresh products are locally raised.

It is part of a program called Farm to Fork, initiated by Garry Griffith, director of dining at Augustana. It began as a way to get fresher fare into the dining halls and to support local, sustainable agriculture. Farm to Fork partners with local farmers to transform the way students and faculty eat.

Farm to Fork is no small potatoes for the people involved. In fact, Mr. Griffith can explain the program's impact in terms of potatoes -- all 600 pounds of them. That’s how much is needed on any given day when mashed potatoes are on the menu. But instead of paying someone to ship potato flakes from a factory, Mr. Griffith pays a local farmer for what he or she has grown close to home.

“If you give your money to a local grower, I will guarantee that 80 percent of it is going right back into the community,” he says. That ends up being good for the farmers, the diners, and the local economy.

Now in its second year, Farm to Fork has grown to include partnerships with several area suppliers, including Wesley Acres Produce, Illinois Crown Beef, Cravers Little Red Barn, Happy Hollow, and Barb’s Pantry. The program has also partnered with classes in environmental conservation and environmental literature at Augustana. Students from these classes visit the farms as part of their curriculum.

“Augie is not an ag school, but these students have bonded with our growers and producers because they are able to partake in planting, harvesting and eating,” Mr. Griffith says. “It has been an amazing transformation.”

Since Farm to Fork’s inception, he says, dining hall complaints have gone down, and students take a more active role in what is being served.

Of course, starting such a program was no small task. Mr. Griffith had to work with his staff to change the way they prepared food. Gone were convenience items. In order to use fresh, local produce, everything would need to be made from scratch.

Then Mr. Griffith had to get area farmers on board, many of whom were understandably cautious when he first pitched the idea at the meeting of the Quad City Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association.

But not everyone was a skeptic. Jim Johansen, owner of Wesley Acres Produce in Milan, attended that meeting and scheduled an appointment soon after, excited to discuss Mr. Griffith’s plan. “As we talked in his office, I realized there was a vision for a local food system which was nearly in line with my own,” he says.

Their collaboration has grown ever since. Now, in addition to selling produce to the college, Mr. Johansen converts used cooking oil from Augustana into biodiesel to run his farm machinery. He composts vegetable waste from the dining halls and uses it to fertilize his crops. And when Mr. Griffith is invited to speaking engagements where Farm to Fork is held up as a model, Mr. Johansen goes with him to offer a farmer’s perspective.

“I would like to see other businesses develop a similar relationship with other farms,” Mr. Johansen says. “We have the blueprint.”

As the program evolves, Mr. Griffith continues to extend Augustana’s commitment to sustainability. This year he introduced a reusable-container program for students who need to grab a meal on the run. As a result, 260,000 fewer plastic containers have ended up in campus waste bins.

Also new this year is Augie Acres, in which Augustana students have the opportunity to raise food on two lots leased from the city of Rock Island. The produce is used in campus kitchens, and next year the goal is to grow enough to help supply fresh food to city residents in need.”

https://qconline.newspapers.com/image/338610465/

Title: Augustana College signs Illinois Sustainable University Compact

Container: The Dispatch (Moline, Illinois)

Author: Nicole Lauer

Publication Date: December 27, 2009

Transcription:

“Augustana College recently joined Black Hawk, Western Illinois University, and 75-plus other Illinois schools in signing the Illinois Sustainable University Compact.

The compact, created by Gov. Pat Quinn, asks colleges and universities to adopt 12 environmental goals by Dec. 31, 2010. According to Augustana president Steve Bahls, the Rock Island college’s version of the pledge includes three additional goals and puts in writing the green initiatives adopted by the school in its 2007 environmental action plan.

Augustana’s version of the compact is available at www.augustana.edu/documents/president/Sustainability_Compact.pdf [Transcriber’s Note: This webpage is no longer available].

Mr. Bahls said the compact is intended to motivate and challenge campuses to reach sustainability goals, but Augustana has already set the bar high on environmental issues.

“Augustana has already achieved most of the compact’s goals,” said Mr. Bahls. “I am grateful for the leadership of our students, faculty and staff both in what we have done and will continue to do to make Augustana a more sustainable college.”

Farm2Fork, Augustana’s award-winning program, meets and exceeds three of the goals outlined in the sustainability compact — dependence on local farms and vendors to provide at least 25 percent of food to dining services, composting 5,000 cubic yards of organic food waste and recycling waste cooking oil for biodiesel fuel.

Other Augustana green initiatives include reusable to-go boxes and disposable tableware made from potatoes and “Augie Acres,” a distinctive student-operated garden that provides food to campus dining services.

Augustana also exceeded the goal of promoting sustainable transportation options with its carpooling system, use of electric and hybrid campus vehicles and its partnership with Metro, which allows members of the campus community to ride the bus for no cost throughout the Quad Cities.

Student organization Global Effect also promotes environmentalism by distributing 1,000 compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs to students in the residence halls and encouraging students to make eco-friendly choices, such as using reusable water bottles instead of disposable ones and taking the stairs instead of the elevator.

The 2007 environmental action plan also created Augustana’s Sustainability Committee, comprised of faculty, administrators and students, to analyze environmental issues and guide the college toward sustainable decisions including encouraging increasing the amount of recycled waste, reduce carbon emissions and utilize renewable energy sources.

Geology professor and committee chair Jeff Strasser aims to reduce the college’s carbon footprint and institutional sustainability is a big job.

“It require not only accounting for our fossil fuel usage in campus buildings for electricity, heating and air conditioning, but also an assessment of commuting practices of college employees and students, botanical surveys of our campus and field stations, and even extends to our food services,” he said.

“We can adopt new institutional practices and policies, but the effectiveness of our efforts to reduce our environmental footprint and conserve natural resources depends ultimately on the individuals to be aware and to make conscientious decisions,” he said. “Actions as simple as turning off lights or recycling can make a big difference.”

According to Gov. Quinn’s office, Western Illinois University’s green initiatives include installing a vegetated roof on the school’s Multicultural Center in Macomb, becoming a member of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, working to expand the campus fleet of hybrid vehicles and including native plants in campus landscaping.

Green measures at Black Hawk College include composting 800 cubic yards of solid waste annually, encouraging the use of 10 percent ethanol fuel in all college vehicles, constructing rain gardens and swales to reduce erosion and improve drainage and creating a rain water retaining pool at the Community Education Center.”

https://collections.carli.illinois.edu/digital/collection/aug_observer/id/25979/rec/1

Title: Farmers' Market offers sustainable alternative

Container: Augustana Observer (Vol. 109 - No. 2, pp. 1)

Author: Lindsay Hutton

Publication Date: September 3, 2009

https://qconline.newspapers.com/image/338581530/

Title: Fresh produce for sale at Augie

Container: The Dispatch (Moline, Illinois)

Author: Brandy Welvaert

Publication Date: June 5, 2009

Transcription:

“Fresh fruits and veggies are going to school at Augustana College in Rock Island.

Every Tuesday, from 3 to 4:15 p.m., local produce growers will set up shop in the College Center just east of Old Main.

“At this point, it’s just been asparagus, strawberries, rhubarb, lettuce, spinach, and radishes,” said Jim Johansen, who sells produce from his farm, Wesley Acres in Milan. Other sellers have included Cravers’ Little Red Barn, Taylor Ridge, and Happy Hollow, East Moline. All three sell produce directly to the college for use in its dining halls.

The new market provides the growers with income to replace what they lose when students leave for the summer, said Mr. Johansen, who came up with the idea for the market with Garry Griffith, the college’s director of dining.

“It’s a huge success already,” said Mr. Johansen, adding the market is open to the public. From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. today, students will also sell produce from Augie Acres, their nearly one-acre garden near campus. This market is open only to Augustana faculty, staff and administration, according to Kamy Beattie, director of public relations.”