Current:Home > InvestHow hydroponic gardens in schools are bringing fresh produce to students -Prime Money Path
How hydroponic gardens in schools are bringing fresh produce to students
View
Date:2025-04-12 10:38:31
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! (2652)
Related
- Stamford Road collision sends motorcyclist flying; driver arrested
- Fired Google workers ousted over Israeli contract protests file complaint with labor regulators
- The Best White Dresses For Every Occasion
- Gypsy Rose Blanchard Rekindles Romance With Ex Ken Urker Amid Ryan Anderson Break Up
- Who's hosting 'Saturday Night Live' tonight? Musical guest, how to watch Dec. 14 episode
- Lawmakers and advocates make last-ditch push to extend affordable internet subsidy
- Barbra Streisand Shamelessly Asks Melissa McCarthy About Ozempic Use
- Zendaya teases Met Gala 2024 look: How her past ensembles made her a fashion darling
- Nearly half of US teens are online ‘constantly,’ Pew report finds
- Japan Airlines flight canceled after captain got drunk and became disorderly at Dallas hotel
Ranking
- Will the 'Yellowstone' finale be the last episode? What we know about Season 6, spinoffs
- Wally Dallenbach, former IndyCar driver and CART chief steward, dies at 87
- Sister Wives’ Meri Brown Details Her Dating Life After Kody Brown Breakup
- Walmart is launching a new store brand called Bettergoods. Here what it's selling and the cost.
- What do we know about the mysterious drones reported flying over New Jersey?
- Ralph Lauren delivers intimate, starry fashion show with Jessica Chastain, Glenn Close, more
- Hawaii's 2021 Red Hill jet fuel leak sickened thousands — but it wasn't the first: The system has failed us
- Organic bulk walnuts sold in natural food stores tied to dangerous E. coli outbreak
Recommendation
Appeals court scraps Nasdaq boardroom diversity rules in latest DEI setback
Annuities are key to retirement. So why are so few of us buying them?
Bird flu risk prompts warnings against raw milk, unpasteurized dairy products
Trial begins for financial executive in insider trading case tied to taking Trump media firm public
Woman dies after Singapore family of 3 gets into accident in Taiwan
Iditarod says new burled arch will be in place for ’25 race after current finish line arch collapses
Neighbor describes bullets flying, officers being hit in Charlotte, NC shooting
Homeless families face limits on shelter stays as Massachusetts grapples with migrant influx