Macon teachers learn about tower gardens
The COVID-19 pandemic has made it clearer than ever how important it is to make sure that kids are healthy and safe at school. However, infectious diseases aren’t the only health concern that can be alleviated in the classroom. It’s also important for kids to understand the significance of a nutritious diet, and right now, an idea is blooming among Macon County educators to teach that lesson with the help of in-classroom Tower Gardens.
Tower Gardens are vertically oriented planting structures that grow plants using aeroponics, a system that utilizes nutrient-rich air and mists to replace the benefits of dirt. Because they don’t require soil and take up minimal floor space, Tower Gardens can be operated in a variety of indoor settings. The system was invented by Tim Blank, who thought Tower Gardens could be the key to helping ordinary citizens provide themselves with healthy, sustainable food supplies.
“The idea was that every single crop that a homeowner could want to grow could be done right in the comfort of their own backyard,” Blank said in a video presentation to the teachers.
Vertical farming has revolutionary implications for the entire agricultural industry, especially given that current projections show that future generations may struggle to find enough farmable land to feed rising populations.
However, in practice, Tower Gardens are perhaps most effective on a small scale. Schools have become popular hosts for Tower Gardens because of the opportunity they present to learn about plant biology and even their potential to provide food for hungry students.
“Food is non-negotiable,” said Stephen Ritz, a teacher from the Bronx who helped popularize the national movement to introduce Tower Gardens in schools.
At his school, Ritz said, “We are 37 percent food insecure in this community; 99 percent of the kids in this school qualify for free and reduced lunch. To think that food is the entry point for public education, for reading, for writing, for literacy, for math, for aspiration and inspiration is incredible.”
On Friday, Oct. 30, Macon County teachers gathered at South Macon Elementary School to hear about Tower Gardens from nutritional advocate Beth LeQuire. LeQuire learned years ago that her daughter was allergic to high fructose corn syrup and was overwhelmed when she learned that virtually everything her family ate had the sweetener added for one reason or another. She believes that Tower Gardens are a gateway to teaching children the value of natural and minimally processed food for the sake of both their health and their education.
“The effects of this much sugar weigh heavily on students and adults,” LeQuire said. “It lowers concentration. It suppresses their immune systems, lowering their immune systems affects their attendance, which affects graduation rates.”
Macon County STEM coordinator Jennifer Love also feels that the gardens can be an asset for classrooms. She expects students who take care of an indoor garden will take more ownership of their science lessons because they’ll get to see the principles that they’re learning about in action. There’s even potential for Tower Gardens to help feed students and remind them of the power of plants whenever they have lunch.
“When I talked to David Lightner, who’s the child nutrition director, he said that we could serve the food that we grow in our classrooms, but we can’t necessarily serve it in the cafeteria unless we go through the steps, but he said that he would partner with us,” Love said. “He said he would be more than happy to partner with us for whatever they create on their menus.”
Teachers are excited about the prospect of introducing Tower Gardens to the curriculum. Maci LeQuire, Beth’s daughter and a fourth grade teacher at Highlands School, said students at her school need to be more engaged when it comes to healthy eating, and she hopes Tower Gardens could be the entry point that they need to show more concern for their health.
“Now that we eat in the classroom, I watch them more than I’ve ever watched them before and how little they eat and how terribly they eat,” she said. “I’m hoping that with the Tower Garden that if they can see it grow, they’ll have an attachment to it and will want to eat what we grew.”
South Macon Elementary School third-grade teacher Kelsea Youmans agrees. She’s wanted to try gardening with her students for a long time, but the limits of outdoor gardening have made it too difficult to institute. With space-efficient towers that can be rolled around to different classrooms without making a mess, she thinks this will be the class garden she’s been waiting on.
“I’ve wanted to do something like this for our plant unit for a long time, but we haven’t been able to yet,” she said. “This makes it very accessible.”
For more information on Tower Gardens in Macon County Schools, contact Jennifer Love at 828-524-3314 or jennifer.love@macon.k12.nc.us, or go online to towergarden.com.