Duke University
ER-T2-5: Sustainable Enterprise

There are several student enterprises at Duke that achieve the objective of education in sustainable business skills: DukeFish DukeFish is a student organization whose mission is to promote sustainable fishing and consumer practices by reaching out to our peers, community members, and local industry. In 2009, DukeFish organized a community-supported fisheries (CSF) pilot project called Walking Fish. Walking Fish is a community supported fishery (CSF) that links fishermen on the coast of North Carolina to consumers in the Triangle. Walking Fish is entering its third CSF season. The CSF involves pre-payment by consumers for a 'share’ of fresh, locally harvested seafood (i.e., a set amount of seafood generally picked up by the consumer on a weekly or bi-weekly basis). Just as CSAs can encourage sustainable and profitable farming practices, CSFs have the potential to do the same for fishing. http://www.dukefish.org/ http://walking-fish.org/ Duke Campus Farm Duke Campus Farm is a 1-acre vegetable production farm located close to campus in Duke Forest. The vision for the Duke Campus Farm was born in a classroom. Students in Dr. Charlotte Clark's "Food and Energy" course, put together a feasibility study that assessed the potential for a farm at Duke. After graduating, one of the students, Emily Sloss (Farm Manager), began tilling the dirt and started what is now the Duke Campus Farm. Today the farm operates as a vegetable production farm and sells produce to Duke Dining. The farm could not function without student labor, and every year 4 work-study students are hired to help with maintenance of the farm. Work-study students and volunteers learn valuable sustainable business skills at the farm. They learn how to manage crops, prepare them for sale, and sell produce, among a variety of other skills. http://sites.duke.edu/farm/ Duke Community Garden The Duke Community Garden is a collaboration between Duke students and Durham residents who are passionate about slow food and sustainability. Students have created a large vegetable garden on a tract of land adjacent to the Duke SmartHome. Students work with other Durham residents and garden professionals to grow organic foods, as well as to explore the sale of produce to on-campus eateries and organize donations to local shelters. Students have gained valuable entrepreneurial skills through obtaining grants to fund the project, maintaining an operating budget, and exploring the potential of obtaining a business license and liability insurance to sell produce to our main food provider on campus, Bon Appetit. http://dukegroups.duke.edu/stars/projects/duke-community-garden/ Farmhand Farmhand began in fall 2006 as a volunteer effort geared toward building awareness of sustainable agriculture throughout the Nicholas School community by providing physical labor for local small-scale farmers that produce healthy food for the Durham/Triangle community through sustainable agriculture. In addition to the organization of an annual Fall Festival and Spring Sustainable Dinner, for which the group collects revenue, students also maintain a program selling local food boxes, providing local farm food to the Duke community. https://wiki.duke.edu/display/nickipedia/Farmhand