Negaunee High School brings hydroponic greens to the lunchroom

NEGAUNEE, Mich. (WLUC) - A Marquette County high school has been awarded a $5,000 grant that will help bring more fresh food into the lunchroom.

The grant comes from a health endowment fund by the Marquette-Alger Regional Educational Services Agency.

Negaunee High School Environmental Science Teacher Todd Backlund says the grant will be used to expand its agriculture program.

“My students chose to allocate $2,000 for purchasing local foods from local farmers at the beginning of the school year when it’s plentiful,” Backlund said. “And as the growing season winds down the $3,000 would be used to purchase another hydroponics system.”

Backlund also says hydroponics are perfect for a place like the U.P.

“Hydroponics, we know, can be used all-year-long, of course we know, during the school year, most of it is during winter,” Backlund said.

Junior Amara Rasmussen says the project provides a beneficial learning experience.

“I feel like I get a lot more out of it because if you just sat down and taught me about it in class, I would probably take a test and forget about it,” Rasmussen said. “But getting out of the classroom and actually getting to do it, you get the experience and make connections and memories with it.”

Not only has the project provided an educational opportunity, but Senior Will Rosten says the project has also expanded his diet.

“I’m usually not a person who likes to have lettuce and stuff like that in my meals, but this is really healthy food and it’s actually pretty good compared to store-bought food,” Rosten said.

Backlund said that he hopes that projects like the hydroponics lab will expand to other school districts.

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