Freight farm provides students with fresh food and community

Students at Vernon Hill School in Worcester, Mass., are growing a variety of fresh foods thanks to a new hydroponic freight farm installed at the school. 

The farm, provided by local nonprofit 2Gether We Eat, not only allows students to learn more about where their food comes, but also provides them with access to produce that they can bring home. 

“We hear that statistic, one out of seven kids goes to bed hungry,” says 2Gether We Eat Executive Director Charles Luster. “We have [students] at school, but once they leave school, what are they leaving school with? So, our organization said, “Let's let them leave school with food that they can possibly use to help feed their siblings or their family.’”

Overseen by Luster and several 3rd-, 4th- and 5th-graders as part of an after-school program, the freight farm has given students the chance to learn new skills while helping feed their community. 

Growing a salad bowl 

2Gether We Eat received $265,000 in grant funding to purchase the freight farm, which can hold 12,000 plants. 

Over the past few months, the students have been working to grow a variety of produce, including romaine lettuce, collard greens, onion, beets, basil, parsley, oregano, tomatoes and cucumbers. 

“By utilizing the different vegetables that we have, we can turn a free farm into a complete salad bowl,” says Luster. 

Along with teaching kids about hydroponics, the farm allows students to gain confidence and feel like they’re part of a team, says Luster, adding that the group has even come up with a handshake that they do when they see each other in the halls. 

“Now, it's going throughout the school … and the other kids are like, ‘I want to do that,’” he says. 

The students will continue to practice their leadership skills later this month when they invite the kindergarten class to learn more about the farm and how it works. 

Reaching students at home 

The farm’s benefits also extend beyond the school day. After a harvest, the food is placed inside the school office, where students, parents and faculty can take home what they want. 

Currently, students are on their own when deciding what they want to make with the food, but Luster is working to provide recipes that incorporate the produce in the future.

Another goal of his is to secure more funding for 2Gether We Eat to expand its reach to more schools and hopefully hire more staff.

In the immediate future, however, Luster is focusing on getting a second freight farm in the district up and running. 

“They're putting in the electricity, and so next week, we'll be able to take some of the plants out of our nursery at Vernon Hill School and put it right on the walls and start to grow food immediately to fight that battle of hunger,” says Luster.