CRLS students aim to solve food waste, win a trip to Italy

Italia/Enero de 2017/Autor: Will Whelan/Fuente: Wicked Local

RESUMEN: Once estudiantes de Cambridge Rindge y Latin School se dirigirán a una cumbre mundial en Italia en julio debido a sus enfoques innovadores para reducir los desechos de alimentos en Cambridge. Durante los últimos dos meses, 70 estudiantes de CRLS trabajaron en equipos para desarrollar propuestas de reducción de desperdicios de alimentos como parte del quinto desafío glocal anual EF Education First. Este es el quinto año EF, una empresa de educación e inmersión cultural ubicada en East Cambridge, se ha asociado con CRLS y la ciudad para enfrentar el desafío. «Una de las cosas que hace a esta ciudad realmente especial son las asociaciones que tenemos con las corporaciones y negocios de nuestra comunidad», dijo el vicealcalde Marc McGovern. «Esto no sucede en otras ciudades y en otros lugares».

Eleven Cambridge Rindge and Latin School students are heading to a global summit in Italy in July because of their innovative approaches to reducing food waste in Cambridge.

For the past two months, 70 CRLS students worked in teams to develop food waste reduction proposals as part of the fifth annual EF Education First Glocal Challenge. This is the fifth year EF, a global education and cultural immersion company located in East Cambridge, has partnered with CRLS and the city to put on the challenge.

Seed money for winners

Each year, students work on a Glocal Challenge topic that reflects the global leadership summit EF holds annually. Past topics have included environmental sustainability, social responsibility in a global economy and the future of energy. This year’s topic was the future of food.

Out of the 15 CRLS teams that competed, three who had the most innovative and compelling projects and project pitches were chosen as winners. In addition to winning a trip to Italy, the top teams were also awarded paid summer internships with the city and $2,500 in seed money to get their projects off the ground.

«I’m proud of the students who participated in this year’s challenge. The city is excited to invest in you and your ideas,» said City Manager Louis DePasquale. «The work you’ve done over the past months and the work you’ll continue to do has the potential to make a difference not just here in Cambridge, but the world.»

Bourdain to speak

All 15 groups delivered presentations at the EF building at 2 Cambridge Circle Thursday night. Four of the finalists were selected at an earlier date and one group was chosen by popular vote during Thursday’s presentations. The five finalists were revealed Thursday night and the teams only had a few minutes to prepare their pitches to the panel, which included judges from EF, city officials and members of partner organizations such as Food for Free and Youth CITIES.

The judges selected three groups instead of the normal two to make the trip to the summit in Italy, featuring Anthony Bourdain as a keynote speaker.

EF Vice President Kate Berseth said the three projects were chosen because of how they complement each other.

An app, data-driven compost and power from waste

The team of Luka Kukan, Nitant Rimal, Helina Mekonnen, Fatima Akter, Bernardin Senatus was chosen for their «Food Fanatic» app that would provide users with healthy recipes and explain the fallacy around expiration dates that leads to food waste.

The team of Anna Albright and Kyla Friedan was chosen for their data driven approach to the already established city composting program and their idea of participation stickers to foster competition and a sense of community.

The team of Nusrat Jahan, Fosca Bechthold, Michael Naughton and Samuel Somerdin was chosen for their idea to install anaerobic food digesters in city schools to produce biogas that could power schools kitchens.

«I can’t believe it. I wasn’t even expecting to be one of the final teams,» Bechthold said.

«I couldn’t hear. I was squeezing [Bechthold’s] arm so much,» said Jahan, explaining her excitement when she was announced as one of the winners.

«I’m excited to meet lots of other students from around the world,» Bechthold said

The students will have the opportunity to learn more about the future of food and hone their project at the summit before coming back putting the project in motion with the startup money from city hall.

«If these young people, whether they won or lost, leave this experience thinking they can see a problem, identify a solution and impact that by taking their solution forward, then we are in for a wonderful future,» said CRLS Principal Damon Smith.

Fuente: http://cambridge.wickedlocal.com/news/20170123/crls-students-aim-to-solve-food-waste-win-trip-to-italy