Taking a bite of the BIG Apple
First off, apologies for not posting for some time. A lot has happened since the team left Boston, so let’s catch up.
On Thursday 26th, the whole team headed to New Jersey to explore two very important initiatives. The first one was Aerofarms, an initiative that has taken farming to a different dimension and space, so to speak. A typical farm brings to the mind greenery stretching across the horizon in open air, but Aerofarms has created indoor vertical farms, using aeroponic technology and LED lights. Under such conditions, plants are well protected from airborne and soilborne diseases and insect pests, which omits the need for synthetic pesticides and subsequently makes the produce safe to consume. Another advantage of this system is the dramatic reduction of water consumption systems is reducing water consumption dramatically (ca. 95%) in comparison to traditional farming systems and higher productivity per square foot (up to 130 times higher than traditional farming). Aerofarms have successfully disrupted the traditional supply chain, by creating farms in urban centers, an attempt that can potentially put an end to malnutrition in what is known as food deserts.
Their passion for fresh and nutritious food brought to the world eight of such farms, and now they are building the 9th farm that is meant to be the largest indoor farm in the world. There are other farms under development not only in other US states but also on four continents.
The team visited both the operating commercial farm and the new commercial farm in New Jersey before they headed to the St. Philips Academy Charter School for the second important initiative.
St. Phillips Academy is where the ECOspaces initiative was born. We can never over emphasize the centrality of food to the human experience. The evolution and design of the ECOspaces program made an astounding use of this fact to teach children how food is grown, how it is prepared, and how it affects their health and integrated this education into their curriculum. This kind of education that gives the young generation the knowledge and tools to make informed choices about the food they eat at least three times a day is very empowering. The program goes further to improve the relationship with the child and his own family around food, emphasizing the role of conviviality in eating.
It didn’t come as a surprise that AeroFarms and ECOspaces have been cooperating since 2010 where the academy provided the location for the first aeroponic farm in New Jersey, built by AeroFarms. The team saw the rooftop garden that was already homed in the academy, and spoke to the director of the ECOspaces program Mr.Frank Mentesana and the executive chef Rob Wallauer and saw for themselves the great potential of food centered education. And if all that was not enough, read about Michelle Obama’s visit to to the indoor farm last year. This is an example of how technological innovation and social innovation together can educate and empower young students through food.
Once again, the day was concluded with a personal tour by Executive Director of MOFAD the food and drink museum, a place that brings history and culture to the table, for an unforgettable and enriching dining experience. The CHOW exhibition showed our team how Chinese-American gastronomy evolved over a century and half of migration, bringing new meaning to the sense of belonging and integration. We have seen in our work with food education how migration waves continued to shape cuisines, food habits and agricultural landscapes over the centuries, and inevitably culture and intellectual life.
The next post will bring more food culture and important questions to ask, and attempt to answer…
