The Winona Senior High School cafeteria is no longer just a place to prepare and eat food -- it's a place to grow it, too. Each month, about 200 pounds of lettuce is grown in the cafeteria's six hydroponic flex farms from the company Fork Farms.
The school's new farming system was introduced this school year and is the first flex connect growing system in the state and matches a growing trend in the region focused on hydroponic farming. Across the river in Wisconsin, Tomah School District also offers students a fresher choice in veggies with its hydroponic practices.
The Tomah School District's entry into hydroponic food began two years ago, when the district agreed to purchase lettuce from Superior Fresh in Hixton for its lunch program. District food service director Jesse Bender said students and staff noticed an instant upgrade in quality. He said the bright green color appealed to students, who suddenly were throwing a lot less lettuce in the trash.
"We were getting lettuce from California and Florida, and we found a lot of the lettuce we were bringing in was brown and rusted … it would last only a few days when it got to us," Bender said. "Kids just threw it away. They didn't want to eat it."
Read more at The Chippewa Herald