Aggressively Organic CEO Jonathan Partlow jumped at the chance to present to Brooks School Elementary in Fishers and turn 5-year-old students into farmers for a day.
Students learned how to plant lettuce seeds and after germination. They placed the plants in Aggressively Organic systems to grow during their Christmas break.
“All the stuff they grew, besides learning the science, agriculture and math, all of that food will then be donated to food banks,” Partlow said.
Students planted different varieties of nutrient-rich lettuce. In Aggressively Organic systems, lettuce is harvested by plucking only what is needed. The plant continues to grow. As a result, one lettuce plant can produce for four to six weeks.
“It’s about nutrient-rich diversity in your diet,” Partlow said. “It’s all fresh and there’s no waste because we don’t cut and kill and put in a bag and ship. They cut what they need when they need it but let the plant keep growing.”
Aggressively Organic’s mission is to end food scarcity.
Erin Nornberg, a kindergarten teacher at Brooks School Elementary, emailed Current about the experience.
“Every year, our six kindergarten classes at Brooks School participate in a service project that directly impacts our Fishers community,” she wrote. “When we heard about Aggressively Organic’s mission, to end food scarcity, we were excited about the connection it had to the Global Goals we are targeting and direct correlation to our kindergarten learning standards. After talking to the company and recognizing the service and learning opportunity for the kids in planting and growing the produce themselves, we couldn’t be happier with our choice. With Aggressively Organic, the kindergarteners were able to start and continue the germination process of the vegetables, watch them sprout, then assemble the hydroponic chambers and place their sprouts inside to continue watching the growth on our indoor greenhouse before donating them to local food banks. The kindergarteners were able to learn about plants and the growth process first hand while, more importantly, experiencing the joy that giving back to our community brings.”
For more, visit aggressivelyorganic.com.
