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Students growing their lunch in San Jose schools
In student-led elective class, about 40 students are growing lettuce and snap peas for the cafeteria.
OAKLAND, Calif. - Students are growing what they eat in San Jose as part of a nutrition program at Evergreen School District where students learn to farm produce, harvest it, and serve it for lunch.
It’s part of a nutrition program called Fork Farms that encourages healthy eating in students and gets them more interested in STEM learning.
Students at Quimby Oak Middle School are benefitting from an extension of that program with a new hydroponic system.
‘Salad machine’ brought through grant funding
Shan Gao, supervisor of the Child Nutrition Services at Evergreen School District, said she brought the program to the schools last year, and got a grant to expand equipment this year.
She said she calls the hydroponic farm "the salad machine."
The hydroponic farm is already set up at more than a dozen other Evergreen District Schools, harvesting and serving the produce at lunch.
At Quimby, the device is helping students grow up to 28 pounds of lettuce in one month, serving hundreds.
Student-led farming
"In the machine there’s a bunch of pipes that flow water up into the roots of the plant so it grows more naturally," said Tiko Pham, an eighth grader.
The elective class is run by two science teachers, Jason Neiser and Cathy Doan but the actual activities are student-led, teachers said.
"Seeing it come to fruition and seeing something grow to something edible, it’s nice to see the look on their face," said Neiser.
"They come in and they’re so excited, ‘Ms. Doan, we’ve already watered the seedlings and when can we put the rock wall into the hydroponic system,’" said Doan.
Miley Nguyen, one of the student leaders for the class, said seeing the lettuce leaves now has made her proud of what she’s accomplished.
"I thought it would die at first, but then I learned how nutrients can connect to the lettuce to make it grow," said Nguyen.
It’s a group project that addresses critical thinking and problem solving and it also promotes healthy eating.
"Eating is the best part for the students," said Gao.
They also have an outdoor garden helping them steward the earth.
"When they learn conservation, when they learn utilization of water and so forth to grow food, that is really really important for them to long term sustainability and to be gentle and kind to our planet," said Superintendent Dr. Antoine Hawkins.
The produce currently being grown at Quimby will soon be served in the cafeteria.
What's next:
The school district is hoping to expand the program and bring a hydroponic farm to all 16 schools in the district by the end of the school year.
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