Simplot
Submitted by Brian Zuber on Fri, 2016-07-15 00:00
Today is our last day of "adventure learning", and it is bittersweet. Lots of fantastic activities and learning experiences, meet a bunch of awesome people and new friends, but I'm so, so tired!
Today we visited the Deer Flats Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center on Lake Lowell in Nampa. Very close to where I teach, but I've never been there before! It was nice to see what's available at the visitor center and what educational programs the staff make available. We also visited the new Simplot potatoe processing plant in Caldwell. This plant processes potatoes trucked in straight from the farm and processes them all the way into french fries and hash browns in the packaging that is then sent directly to grocery stores and restaurants. The plant is extremely automated with lots of robotic processes and a relatively small workforce. Huge building, insanely complex . . . . All to save me the trouble of slicing and frying my own potatoes at home. I understand that on the scale of today's society the plant makes economic sense, but it certainly seemed to be.a lot of effort in processing just to save me some work in the kitchen. Ah, well.
It was cool to see the different automated processes and how much engineering went into the plant operation. It was also interesting to learn about how the plant treats all of its own waste water and recycles it, being a zero discharge facility. Simplot is a company that realizes eliminating waste and pollution and re-using resources in their processes makes good economic sense.
Comments
The Plant and Lake Lowell
At the end of last year's water shed tour I thought we had seen and done most of the activities that were possible but after reading about the opportunities this year I wish it was possible to continue going to this event each year. There were a lot of questions about Lake Lowell last year and as Brian pointed out we teach only a couple of miles away so a visit over there must have been a very informational trip. Each time I visit a new lake in a different area I make the comment and wish that Lake Lowell could get cleaned up and be as awesome as the other natural lakes in the local mountains. Have they made any progress towards eliminating the algea blooms and curbing the fertilizer run off from the local farms?
The Simplot factory sounds like you just walked into the taping of the TV show "How it's Made." What cool idea to take the water shed group to a high tech factory that uses water in a very efficient manner. Such a simple product but such an advanced sounding opperation. I would have never known that Simplot is a Zero emitions opperation without this blog and I think those "hidden" features are the type of information I enjoy passing on to my students.