Current:Home > FinanceHow hydroponic gardens in schools are bringing fresh produce to students -Aspire Money Growth
How hydroponic gardens in schools are bringing fresh produce to students
View
Date:2025-04-12 22:41:09
Inside the cafeteria at Ashwaubenon High School near Green Bay, Wisconsin, past the tater tots and fried chicken sandwiches, students have access to a salad bar filled with home-grown produce.
The vegetables were planted and picked just down the hallway, where a no-soil indoor hydroponic garden runs on circulating water, special nutrients and LED lights.
"Fresh food can be grown easily in Wisconsin in the middle of winter," said Kaitlin Taurianen, nutrition coordinator for Ashwaubenon School District.
Taurianen says the indoor farm produces around 850 pounds of produce per month, which is enough to feed up to 2,000 students throughout the district.
"A lot of our kids aren't exposed to fresh foods at home, just because it's financially hard for the families to purchase those kinds of things," Taurianen said.
The innovative system stemmed from the imagination of Wisconsin native Alex Tyink. Trained as an opera singer, he got into rooftop gardening in New York City between gigs. Then he decided to use what he had learned to start a company called Fork Farms, with the aim of helping people grow their own food.
"Food is already having to travel further and further to get from seed to plate. Our food system is failing us," Tyink said.
That's why Tyink sees the 2,500-year-old technique as the water-and-land-efficient farming of the future.
As nearly 1 out of every 8 households faces food insecurity, according to the USDA, Tyink says units like the ones made by his company can get people fresh food faster.
Mark Geirach received grants to buy two of the $5,000 devices for the food bank he runs near Milwaukee.
"As the cost of food continues to rise, it becomes more valuable than anything else," Geirach said. "If you have the opportunity to have fresh produce on the table, versus something canned or processed or nothing at all, how much better is life for you? And that's what we try to do. We try to make life better."
In Milwaukee Public Schools, where officials say more than 80% of students are economically disadvantaged, 80 flex farms have sprouted.
"That's where it gets really exciting, because now you have a community of people that are doing this together and they're learning from each other," Tyink said.
- In:
- Milwaukee
- Gardening
- Food Insecurity
- Wisconsin
- Education
- Food Banks
Roxana Saberi is a CBS News correspondent based in Chicago. Saberi has covered a wide range of issues for CBS News in the U.S. and beyond. Before being deployed to Chicago, Saberi served five years as a foreign correspondent based in the network's London bureau.
TwitterveryGood! (754)
Related
- Trump suggestion that Egypt, Jordan absorb Palestinians from Gaza draws rejections, confusion
- Will Tiger Woods play in 2024 Masters? He was at Augusta National Saturday, per reports
- Beyoncé drops 27-song track list for new album Cowboy Carter
- $1 billion Powerball jackpot winner from California revealed
- Which apps offer encrypted messaging? How to switch and what to know after feds’ warning
- 2 killed, 3 injured during shootings at separate Houston-area birthday parties
- Dozens arrested after protest blocks Philadelphia interstate, police say
- Lizzo speaks out against 'lies being told about me': 'I didn't sign up for this'
- A South Texas lawmaker’s 15
- A River in Flux
Ranking
- DoorDash steps up driver ID checks after traffic safety complaints
- Jodie Sweetin's Look-Alike Daughter Zoie Practices Driving With Mom
- LA Times updates controversial column after claims of blatant sexism by LSU's Kim Mulkey
- Inside Paris Hilton, Victoria Beckham and More Stars' Easter 2024 Celebrations
- Where will Elmo go? HBO moves away from 'Sesame Street'
- California man convicted of killing his mother as teen is captured in Mexico
- Pope Francis washes feet of 12 women at Rome prison from his wheelchair
- 'Unlike anything' else: A NASA scientist describes seeing a solar eclipse from outer space
Recommendation
Finally, good retirement news! Southwest pilots' plan is a bright spot, experts say
LA Times updates controversial column after claims of blatant sexism by LSU's Kim Mulkey
AT&T says a data breach leaked millions of customers’ information online. Were you affected?
A River in Flux
Israel lets Palestinians go back to northern Gaza for first time in over a year as cease
11-year-old shot in head in St. Paul; 2 people arrested, including 13-year-old
Trump’s immigration rhetoric makes inroads with some Democrats. That could be a concern for Biden
Oklahoma highway reopens following shutdown after a barge hit a bridge