In addition to encouraging kids to adopt and maintain healthier eating habits by supplementing the school’s food service offering, the small working farm provides hands-on opportunities for lessons in science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics.

Following its debut, the program created such a buzz that it caught the attention of former First Lady Michelle Obama, who visited the school in April 2016 as part of her Let’s Move campaign tour.

The success of its early work with Philip’s Academy led AeroFarms to partner two-and-a-half years ago with the World Economic Forum to bring community farms to Jersey City through the country’s first-ever municipal indoor vertical farming initiative. The program consists of 10 vertical farms throughout the city, located in senior centers, schools, public housing complexes and municipal buildings, growing 19,000 pounds of vegetables annually provided to the community at no cost.

Earlier in January, AeroFarms announced an expansion of its Community Farms program, saying its patented and proprietary aeroponic technology is being added at nine new locations, including public schools in Newark and the Bronx, New York. As a result, the indoor farms will ultimately provide an additional two tons of local, fresh food to 4,500-plus students (about 50,000 servings), as well as STEAM learning opportunities, according to AeroFarms.

Jason Ginsberg, AeroFarms’ chief of staff and director of the community farms program, said, “We are excited to bring new partners into the AeroFarms network as we expand our efforts to bring healthy food and STEAM education to communities where this can best make a positive impact.

“This is just the beginning and we’re eager to work with prospective sponsors and organizations as we further scale our Community Farms program in the United States and abroad,” he added.

Earlier this month, in partnership with Newark Public Schools, AeroFarms completed installations at several schools throughout the district, including Central High School, George Washington Carver Elementary School, Sir Isaac Newton Elementary School, Thirteenth Avenue School and Michelle Obama Elementary School.

According to Newark Superintendent Roger Leon, the program will help advance STEAM education for students, as well as continue the district’s efforts to prioritize health and wellness. “We are so grateful for the opportunity to provide fresh homegrown vegetables to our Newark Public School students, staff and families,” he said.

At Michelle Obama Elementary School, Principal LaShanda Gilliam said the AeroFarms unit “has been an essential part of the learning of all grade levels” since it was incorporated into the curriculum at the start of the 2022-23 academic year.

“Our school uses a Project Lead The Way Program for our science context area, which is a curriculum that incorporates hands-on, real-world learning for the students,” she explained, adding that the farm “is an important part of giving the students a new and unique way of learning about the environment and the future of growing plants.

“The most exciting part of this program is the students’ reactions to having the farm. They enjoy every aspect of it,” said Gilliam. “The most important part of teaching is to have the students engaged in something they love to learn about and the students truly love the farm.”

The school has also held two events so far to distribute containers of leafy greens to the community and is planning another in the near future, she said. “Our belief as a school community is to wellness, community and leadership and the farm is giving the students ownership of what our school is all about,” Gilliam said.

Growing also recently began at the farm in Thirteenth Avenue School, which is partnered with the local affiliate of the I Have a Dream Foundation and will be used for STEAM education as well as supporting a new culinary arts program for students, according to AeroFarms.

The new unit is one of three made possible through a gift from Deloitte, a global firm that provides audit, consulting, financial advisory, risk advisory, tax and legal services. A second farm will soon be installed at Public School 85 The Great Expectations in the Bronx in collaboration with Wellness in the Schools, a nonprofit that teaches students healthy habits to learn and live better.

“Deloitte is proud to support AeroFarms’ Community Farm program,” said Kwasi Mitchell, chief purpose officer at Deloitte. “Our organization strives to advance sustainable and equitable solutions, and we are proud to support a program that is dedicated to advancing health equity by offering hands-on learning and healthy food-access for students in need.”

Since Marc Oshima, David Rosenberg and Edward Harwood launched AeroFarms in 2004, the company has revolutionized traditional farming operations via controlled environment agriculture.

Through its patented technology, AeroFarms can grow plants locally and safely, year-round, in fully controlled environments with no soil, no pesticides and 95% less water.

With large commercial farms in Newark and Danville, AeroFarms has become a leader in smart, indoor vertical farming and its sustainably grown, award-winning leafy greens can be found at major retailers such as Whole Foods Market, Walmart, The Fresh Market and Ahold Delhaize.

AeroFarms has also developed multiyear strategic partnerships with collaborators ranging from government agencies to major Fortune 500 companies to solve agriculture supply chain needs.

From scaling commercial indoor vertical farming to advancing the latest collaborations in agriculture research and development to creating community farms to increase food access, AeroFarms believes each of its indoor vertical farms plays an important role in reimaging the food system and elevating agriculture.

As a result of its work, AeroFarms has received recognition as a change-the-world company for the steps it has taken to address food deserts, create jobs, reduce food miles and decrease carbon emissions.

Rosenberg, AeroFarms’ chief executive officer, pointed to the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27) in November 2022, during which UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for “a giant leap on climate ambition” and urged the world not to relent “in the fight for climate justice and climate ambition.”

“The need for innovative solutions to address challenges to our climate and global food system is abundantly clear,” said Rosenberg. “AeroFarms is committed to furthering its mission to grow the best plants possible for the betterment of humanity and empowering the next generation of scientists and innovators. Our Community Farms offering helps us achieve this mission, while also encouraging healthy eating habits and providing food access for underserved areas.”

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