In the near future, students and staff at Fresno Unified high schools will be able to harvest their own lettuce, bell peppers, and tomatoes from a very non-traditional farm located on their own campuses. But this farm is like no other in the central San Joaquin Valley of California, arguably the most productive growing region in the world.
This is a hydroponic farm system that can produce 25 pounds of leafy green vegetables every four weeks — and all without soil, tractors or pesticides. The self-contained system known as a Flex Farm is about the size of a refrigerator. A light source sits in between two large panels that circulate nutrient-rich water to as many as 288 plants. And it's all portable.
Fresno Unified plans to buy about 20 of these systems over the next two years, from the Wisconsin-based Fork Farms, one of the leaders in the hydroponic industry.
The company has about 3,500 Flex Farms installed throughout the United States, mostly in schools wanting to serve more nutritious foods while also teaching students about ways to grow food with less impact on the environment.
Read more at The Fresno Bee.