Instructors at Joseph City School District are teaching kids the importance of working the land and growing nourishing foods. At the Joseph City Elementary School the students are in their second year of growing a garden and at Joseph City Junior/Senior High School, students are busy refurbishing a 60’ x 23’ greenhouse that is being placed over unused tennis courts. The students are learning what crops grow best under what circumstances. For example, Superintendent Bryan Fields said that the students have been experimenting with an aquaponics system in a tank in the corner of the school’s cafeteria to see what grows well and have found out that Ruby Red Lettuce does very well. “Aquaponics is where they use fish, such as Talapia to fertilize the water and the plants grow in gravel in the water. The Ruby Red Lettuce only takes about five weeks to reach the point where it can be harvested. They have plans to experiment with different plants such as, different peppers, strawberries, tomatoes, several types of spices and flowers,” Fields explained. The students are also going to try to grow and harvest tilapia, catfish and crayfish (typically called crawdads). Eventually they hope to grow items to participate in local farmers’ markets. According to Fields, leading the charge with this group of pioneering students in this new program is Principal Eric Miller and Maintenance Coordinator Brad Neal, who co-teach the class and work with the students daily in the greenhouse. “Everyone seems to easily understand the value of this program and it has received ample support,” said Fields. According to the Association of Arizona Food Banks, one in six Arizonans face food insecurity, meaning that they are without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable nutrition. In Joseph City, the hope is to not only become a source for nutritious foods, but to also educate students on how to grow their own nutrition creating healthier families.
