During the 2023-2024 school year, the ABC25 Foundation launched our first district-wide fundraising effort: “Growing Together: A Fork Farm Initiative!”
ABC/25 raised sufficient funds for TWO additional Fork Farm Flex Farm Hydroponic units for School District 25. Community donations, including a very generous donor who gifted a $2,500.00 check, came to $3,998.00; our partnership with A Mindful Kitchen fundraised $430.00, and the Arlington Heights Council of PTAs gave us the final boost of $572.00 that allowed us to reach our $5,000.00 goal. The ABC/25 Foundation matched every donation made up to $5,000.00, bringing our total raised to $10,000.00 and effectively doubling the impact! These two additional units bring the district’s total to three Fork Farm Flex Farm Hydroponic units to be rotated through each of the 9 schools throughout the school year.
What is the Fork Farm Flex Farm?
The Fork Farm Flex Farms are mobile, indoor, vertical hydroponic systems that use 98% less water and land than traditional agriculture and advertise to be 40% more energy efficient than hydroponic competitors. As you may know, hydroponics is an approach to the cultivation of plants without using soil. The Fork Farm units use a water-based nutrient solution rather than soil and can grow around 25 lbs of produce every 28-day cycle.
Why Fork Farm?
Fork Farms is a mission-first agriculture technology company based out of Green Bay, WI. Their mission is to unleash the power of fresh food production for happier, healthier people. Fork Farms is working to empower schools and nonprofits to provide a nurturing, consistent, and validating experience for everyone who interacts with the Flex Farm and, through specialized curriculum, aim to increase student interactions with and consumption of healthy foods.
One of the biggest benefits of choosing Fork Farm products is their online hub called Farmative. This hub not only has a shop for what is needed to grow, like seed bundles, but also has self-paced lessons on how to assemble, plant, transplant, and harvest the hydroponic farms. Farmative also includes an education hub that engages audiences in hydroponics-based education centered around the Next Generation Science Standards curriculum with access to a K-12 curriculum with 30-day instruction plans, activity guides for more bite-sized lessons, and a badge program catered to grades 3-5 and 6-8.
Patton Pilot Program
In the spring of 2023, the Food & Nutrition Department partnered with Patton Elementary to pilot a program using a Fork Farm Flex Farm unit at the 3rd-grade level utilizing the Patton Garden Club. The students had the opportunity to participate in the entire process of growing plants, from planting seeds to harvesting the greens, in just four weeks. This hands-on experience not only deepened their understanding of plant growth, nutrition, and sustainability but also instilled a sense of pride and accomplishment among the students. The harvest from the pilot program was even used for a salad party during the lunch hours at Patton, allowing the Garden Club to share their harvest and excitement with their peers.
ABC/25 Foundation 