Carls focus on food and community during 2025 Alternative Spring Break

Food is on a constant journey through any community, and the specific route it takes has a far greater impact than many people realize. This spring, Carleton students on the Alternative Spring Break program run by the Center for Community and Civic Engagement (CCCE) explored the way food cycles through Northfield in particular. This Food and Community Cohort, co-lead by Theo Borowski ’25 and Aurora Juarez ’26, was made up of seven other students: Eileen Park ’26, Io Harris ’26, Reese Huynh ’28, Samantha Chan ’28, Christine Gichimu ’26, Malcolm Parnall ’26, and Lihan Huang ’28. 

Following a student’s day-in-the-life on this trip would pose some difficulty, as every day was unique, so let’s follow the food. It begins with a seed planted at Sharing Our Roots Farm, just a nine-minute drive from Carleton’s campus (if you catch the correct turn). Starting with a leaning tower of empty flats, students transformed this pile of plastic into future food and flowers. The group filled each flat with hydrated soil before adding seeds from a variety of plants. Filling over 72 flats, the seeds were then left in the greenhouse to germinate, safe from the cold.

Beyond planting seeds, Carls were able to learn more about food further along in its life cycle. Nic Nelson, natural lands manager for Sharing Our Roots, gave the cohort a tour of the farm where they saw cows, fields for farming, lakes, and natural habitats preserved on the farmland. 

Once these farm products get transformed into meals, they have the great power of bringing people together. Students first got to be part of that power when they helped the CCCE host a Dacie Moses community brunch. Attendees included College Chaplain Schuyler Vogel ’07 and his family, members of the Dacie Moses committee, and other students staying on campus over spring break. As the break continued, members of the Alternative Spring Break trip cooked delicious meals for each other. From bahn mi to curries and stews to fish tacos to Portuguese chicken and rice, they continued to exercise the communal force of a shared meal. 

The students’ time volunteering at the Northfield Community Education Center (NCEC) food shelf run by the Community Action Center (CAC) further emphasized how community is forged through food. Serving members of the community on Thursdays, the NCEC welcomed students to help set up the food pantry, sign in guests, and weigh guests’ food on their way out. Through their guided tour of the CAC, students also learned that food banks offer much more than simply food. Through Birthday Bags, legal assistance, and even a simple smile, CAC and the NCEC food bank create community around the food they distribute. 

After this food is used, its life cycle is not over. Through organizations like Curbside Compost, the people of Northfield are able to give their food scraps a second life. When visiting Curbside Compost, Carls were able to assist their efforts by washing dozens of compost buckets to be given out to new members of Curbside Compost. Once all the compost is collected, it can find its way to the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC) Organics Recycling facility.

When students made their way to the SMSC facility, they engaged in hands-on learning through measuring the temperature of compost piles and sorting through waste to determine its compostability. After waving goodbye to the herd of bison in the neighboring plot of land, students left the composting facility with a fuller understanding of how waste can be transformed into a new beginning.

Through this Alternative Spring Break trip, Carleton students were able to gain a deeper understanding of the journey food takes through Northfield from a variety of perspectives.