At log lunch on December 2, Laurie Shoeman laid out an inspiring model for connecting students with agriculture through hands-on learning. Shoeman is the director of NYSunworks, a non-profit that promotes sustainability in schools by building greenhouses that double as classrooms and school cafeteria food suppliers. But these are not just any greenhouses. They are hydroponic greenhouses, meaning that seeds grow not with soil, but rather with water and nutrients from fish waste. Sound weird? “I tell people you can grow food in your shoes if you have enough support,” said Shoeman. Water filled with life-giving nutrients must be cycled through the plant root system twice a day: “In hydroponics, we give the food to the roots.” A hydroponic greenhouse of 800-900 square feet can produce up to 5,000 pounds of produce every twelve weeks. NYSunworks uses hydroponic agriculture because 1. New York City soil is not ready to use, 2. Soilless greenhouses weigh less on rooftops, and 3. As an innovative, efficient new agricultural process, in which students engage with the nutrient cycling process, hydroponics act as a valuable teaching tool.
NYSunworks has already established greenhouses on the roof tops of 8 different schools in New York City, but they want to create a model that will expand exponentially: “essentially we want this to scale and we’re trying to figure out a way to make that happen.” They hope that future projects will implement greenhouses within the classrooms, rather than on the rooftops, in order to reduce the amount of time spent negotiating with neighbors, lawmakers, and builders. “We want to make this happen quickly,” said Shoeman.
Shoeman pointed out that Brooklyn holds 596 acres of vacant land. Though some would reject these plots for growing food because the soil is not arable, NYSunworks pushes people to be more imaginative about sustainable solutions. “How can we get creative about using our spaces?” she asked. NYSunworks imagines placing “pop-up greenhouses” throughout Brooklyn. These buildings can be erected in 4 days and will be able to provide produce to communities that will highly benefit from fresh food and job training. NYSunworks offers an inspiring example of how we can actively turn our hopes for a greener world into productive and educational spaces.
Written by Claire Lafave, CES Research Assistant