(WXYZ) — 1.9 million acres of Farmland disappear each year: that's the size of Indiana, three times over. So some experts are looking for ways to supplement our food supply with alternative means of farming, and passing it on to the next generation.
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Sixth-grade students at Hilbert Elementary School are helping their cafeteria staff cut back on food costs this year by growing some ingredients in their school lunches.
“We know it’s ready to harvest right about now when there is no longer any white behind the lettuce," said STEM teacher Angela Maggioncalda.
Maggioncalda and her students are taking on a newer form of farming: vertical hydroponics.
“It’s pretty self managing, outside of making sure that there’s enough nutrients for the plants, because they are not in soil where they normally get their nutrients from," Maggioncalda said. "And that the pH of the water is correct for the plants.”
Contrary to traditional farming, this method takes no dirt and a lot less ground space.
“This is where the seeds are placed in. They are place in the individual holes in a tray with water," Maggioncalda said.
The little blocks are then placed into the growing tower, where they are constantly being watered and fed.
This is put into the water in order to provide nutrients for the plants," she said, referring to the nutrients in the photo above. "I like to describe it as putting flavor packets into a bottle of water...Once every cycle we update how much nutrients is in it or if the water is still for too long, we’ll do a full dump out and then of course we’ll re-up it.”
And then they sit back and watch them sprout.
“This took very fast," said Javier. "Like two days and when you’re at home gardening it takes weeks.”
The students I spoke to say they love watching their lettuce and herbs grow.
"(It) grew faster than I expected," said Sean.
“It was very quick compared to my garden," said Hunter.
But when it comes to vertical farming on a larger scale, there are still some kinks that need to be worked out. Fay Hansen, assistant professor of Biological Science at Oakland University, says there are some Phytonutrients that plants growing in the ground build up that those grown indoors can't.
"They might get the same nutrients, but we’re only talking about minerals," Fay said. “Especially if they are under attack, they produce these defensive chemicals but they’re like antioxidants.”
So on a large scale, there might be some work to do. But for now, it's a great lesson on the future of farming.
“Overly simplifying, it’s just been a mood boost," Angela said.
