Truro Middle School

Grade 7 & 8 students at Truro Middle School in Nova Scotia are addressing food sustainability in their school and community by expanding their aeroponics system.

Truro Middle School

Grade 7 & 8 students at Truro Middle School in Nova Scotia are addressing food sustainability in their school and community by expanding their aeroponics system.

The Problem

Grade 7 & 8 students at Truro Middle School in Nova Scotia began growing food for their school using three aeroponic towers in 2022. They did research and workshops with the local agricultural university to determine what growing techniques would be most beneficial with their system and were able to feed 50 students three meals that year with their successful crops. However, there were still many other students and community members who were food insecure in Truro that they weren’t able to support.

The Solution

The students wanted to build on their success and expand their aeroponics system to even more classrooms! They bought three more towers and the older students began training the younger students on how to take care of the systems and grow produce so that the program could continue after the older students moved on to high school. While continuing to build their community partnerships, the students were able to double their output, feeding even more of their school community and growing awareness about the importance of local food systems in supporting economic and climate resilient communities.

48

students in the grades 7 & 8 classes worked directly on the project

32%

increase in correct answers when students were asked “What do greenhouse gases do” in a post-program quiz

Lessons Learned

Like many of our other school grantees, the teacher lead at Truro Middle School had to figure out a way that the project could be fit into the school’s science curriculum so students could work on it during class. She ended up creating her own multidisciplinary unit on food security, environmentalism, and energy so that she could get the project approved by administration. While every province has different requirements, check to see if baseline curriculum-aligned lesson plans already exist on the topic of your project. You can find a list of ones we think are great here!

Check out this student-made Padlet resource to hear first hand reflections from the students and lead educator.

“The experience showed us that growing food isn’t just for large farms - it’s something that can be done in schools and communities with minimal resources. These towers make fresh, nutritious food accessible to everyone, reducing the reliance on expensive groceries.”

Renisha Bhandari, Student

“I know that this project is little but I do hope that it makes a big difference with food insecurity and money issues and just helping people live a happy life.”

Jayla Mumford-Wilson, Student

Aeroponic lettuce harvest at Truro Middle School.

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Related Resource Guide

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