Freight Farms are fully-functional indoor vertical farms built out of shipping containers that utilize hydroponic food-growing technology. ‘Hydroponics’ refers to a method of growing plants in which the roots are submerged in a liquid nutrient solution instead of soil. Freight Farms can easily be established in urban areas and are capable of growing lettuces, leafy greens such as chard, arugula, kale, and spinach; herbs, brassicas, certain root vegetables, and edible flowers. Freight Farms are equipped with the technology to produce a climate-controlled environment, meaning that food can be grown at any location and at any time of the year—regardless of weather and growing season. Additionally, Freight Farms grow food without the use of pesticides, fertilizers, herbicides, and fungicides, meaning that all of its produce is 100% organic. 

Establishing a Freight Farm at one of the schools within the Montgomery County Public School system would benefit our community in two key ways.

First, students attending the school would gain access to critical STEM learning opportunities through the maintenance of the Freight Farm. This could include learning how to operate climate-controlled agriculture technology, perform routine maintenance of the garden, experiment with planting different kinds of crops, and harvest crops from the garden. Such meaningful STEM activities can illuminate career pathways into the fields of agriculture, horticulture, public health, environmental science, and more.

Second, once harvested, the produce grown in the Freight Farm could be used to feed students attending the school, allowing students to incorporate additional servings of fruits and vegetables into their diets. Alternatively, the student’s Freight Farm harvests could be donated to food rescue distribution sites, successfully increasing access to nutritious produce within our local community.

Food Grown Home is a project of the nonprofit organization Family Learning Solutions, Inc. that aims to address the issue of nutritional food accessibility and promote sustainable urban farming options across Montgomery County. Two of our staff members are certified Freight Farmers who have completed a rigorous training program to learn how to operate and manage Freight Farms. With less than 1,000 people with this certification worldwide, Food Grown Home is prepared to help manage the Freight Farm with Montgomery County students to support their farm's success!

10 Reasons Every School Needs a Freight Farm on Campus: https://www.freightfarms.com/blog/vertical-farm-on-campus