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BY AMELIA POSSANZA

In print | Published October 1, 2009 — Updated October 07, 2009 17:04

Sarah Scheub ’12 and Nick Vogt ’12 want to bring free-range chickens to the Swarthmore campus, but the pair has not found a prescribed method for setting up their project.

Their proposal, which was submitted to Director of Grounds Jeff Jabco on Monday, involves housing 15 hens in a solar-powered coop in the area adjacent to Dupont parking lot near the Science Center. The coop, as well as the electric fence around the chicken’s pasture, would move to a new area each day. “They’ll act like a lawnmower but at the same time they won’t destroy the land,” Scheub said.

The eggs produced by these hens would then be sold to dining services and served in Sharples and in the Kohlberg and Science Center coffee bars.

“I think the big idea behind it for me was coming from a very rural, agricultural community it was a very big realization to come here and know that my food wasn’t coming from somewhere I knew anymore,” said Scheub, a native of Grand Rapids, Ohio. “If I don’t know, how can any of us know?”

She explained that her family raised chickens, grew vegetables and bought beef from a producer down the road.

“It’s also about knowing that the money you paid for that food is supporting a family that you trust and care about, not just going to some corporation,” she said.

Not only does Scheub want to bring local food to Swarthmore, she also wants to bring a greater agricultural awareness.

“No one here knows anything about chickens or agriculture or raising livestock,” she said. “There are some classes that relate to food in economics and history and things like that, but nothing physical, nothing right now.”

Vogt, who comes from an urban background, illustrates Scheub’s point.

“I’ve never really been in direct contact with that sort of livestock animal until I’ve gone to Sarah’s house and seen the chickens and seen how practical, useful and educational it really is and how that can be brought back to Swarthmore,” he said.

“Hopefully it will start a lot of discussion on where our food comes from and how it got there and how it’s produced,” Scheub said.

To begin the process of bringing free-range chickens to the college, the pair created a proposal over the summer, but were initially unsure of what to do with it.

Citing a lack of project-planning resources, Scheub added, “That’s our biggest disappointment. There isn’t a route for students to take with their ideas.”

They sent a preliminary proposal to Jeff Jabco, who forwarded it on to the biology department. The biology department then passed it on to the Swarthmore Sustainability Committee.

None of these groups were able to approve the proposal; they were only able to give recommendations.

“We weren’t qualified to judge the logistical merits,” said Carr Everbach, engineering professor and sustainability committee co-chair. He also explained that since the chickens would produce a negligible number of eggs — one to two dozen, as compared to hundreds used by dining services in a week — the project didn’t significantly add to the college’s sustainability.

The new committee also decided that supporting student projects was not a part of its mission.
“The sustainability committee didn’t want to formally recommend our proposal or formally endorse it because they didn’t want to set a precedent of helping student groups with their projects,” Vogt said.

Although none of these organizations could approve the proposal, they did offer advice. The sustainability committee suggested that Scheub and Vogt add educational elements such as curricular tie-ins or a lecture series to their proposal since, according to the committee, their project provides an educational rather than functional benefit.

“What I tried to do is anticipate the questions there would be from other people and the type of information the college would like to know in considering their proposal,” Jabco said.

Other groups made recommendations as well. For example, since the chickens are being housed on a college campus, they would be under the same regulations as chickens used for scientific research. The biology department helped the pair research these requirements.

Scheub and Vogt also met with Everbach as a representative of the engineering department. His class, “Solar Energy Systems,” will create the plan to provide solar-power to both the coop and the electric fence. He is also writing a letter of recommendation to be submitted along with the final proposal.

“I think it would be really cool if this campus had a chicken coop. It would set an interesting tone; it would be unusual,” Everbach said. “There are a lot of logistical objections that would have to be overcome.” He listed the concerns of neighbors and the danger of disease killing the hens as examples.

Jabco echoed Everbach’s statements. “I think there’s still some issues that need to be worked out,” he said. “It’s a strong proposal, and it would be a unique thing for Swarthmore.”

One thing that still needs to be worked out is funding. Scheub and Vogt expect start-up costs to amount to $1,800 dollars. After that, maintenance costs will be virtually zero because of the use of solar power to provide electricity and Sharples kitchen waste to feed the chickens.

They initially planned to apply for a Swarthmore Foundation grant, but due to budget constraints, this money is only being offered to projects that directly assist an impoverished community.

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