TFFJ Helps Students Continue Hydroponic Farming and Food Justice Education at Home During the Pandemic

By: Matthew Horgan

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, TFFJ has distributed more than 450 at-home hydroponic growing kits to our curricular day and after-school Food Justice Collective students, enabling them to construct small hydroponic systems that grow microgreens and lettuce in their homes. In this way, students who would otherwise engage with TFFJ’s school-based hydroponic farms can still receive a hands-on learning experience, connect the growing of food to food justice, and share what they learn with their families.

“During these times, we have been successful at capturing the kid’s interest in our hands-on growing programs. Some teachers have even experienced kids turning on their cameras for the first time during the online home growing kit lessons,” said Matthew Horgan, TFFJ’s STEM Programming & School Partnership Manager.

Click here for Matthew’s instructions for how to build your own at-home hydroponics kit as well as his questions to help students share what they learn from their growing experience with their families.

Matthew Horgan is the STEM Programming & School Partnership Manager at Teens for Food Justice.