Hydroponic Garden Will Address Food Insecurity, Promote Careers In Denver Public Schools
DENVER (CBS4) - Access to healthy, fresh produce, is a big issue in some underserved communities. One Denver public school is about to change that.
Denver City Council unanimously approved $529,350 to create a hydroponic farm at Bruce Randolph School in the Clayton neighborhood. Accompanying curriculum will help ensure students recognize food justice and insecurity, understand health and nutrition, and provide fresh produce to students and their community through urban farming, food preparation and food preservation.
The goal is to expose kids to agriculture in the hope it will lead to careers in that field. Another big part of this is to teach students just how important healthy eating is.
"This is a food desert. Our community does not have access to fresh fruits and vegetables. There are not a lot of grocery stores in this area at all. So yes, we are teaching our students how to grow food for themselves and their families," said Melissa Boyd, Principal at Bruce Randolph School.
The food students grow will also be used in school lunches. School officials hope the project will be done by September, and they will have their first round of food about a month after that.
