We Grow Aces is an initiative grounded in a simple but powerful idea: access to fresh, nutritious food should not be limited, inconsistent, or dependent on circumstance. Developed at the University of Evansville, the program brings together innovation, education, and community focus to address interconnected challenges such as health disparities, food insecurity, and the need for more sustainable food systems.

Nestled next to the Community of Change Center on Centralia Street in the West End sits an unassuming white freight container.

Inside, the 320-square-foot metal structure houses a drip irrigation hydroponics system that grows 2,500 pounds of produce annually.

While many districts adopt hydroponic container systems for STEM and career education, an increasing number are also using them to address local food access challenges.

Container farms for food security in schools are being positioned not only as educational infrastructure but also as community-facing food production assets.

The Ag Dept. is offering just over $400,000 in total funding this year from the federal Farm Bill.

The USDA also outlined a priority for "urban agriculture" projects: things like rooftop farming, community composts, shipping container farms, and other emerging agricultural practices.

The Living Food initiative is being developed in partnership with One Season Farmers and Harvest Today, combining indoor agriculture technology with a health-centered mission to improve access to fresh food, strengthen local food systems, and support long-term community wellness.

Two container farms on the grounds of Volunteers of America's Upstate New York campus have become a working part of how the organization addresses food insecurity among its clients. Running for two years, the programme supplies leafy greens, beans, root vegetables, and herbs to on-site shelters, a children's centre, and partner organizations in the surrounding community.

If you drove by the weed-strewn lot in West Aliquippa, you might not give a second thought to the two white shipping containers there. Or if you did, you might think: Storage facilities? Meth labs, maybe?

The South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC), in partnership with Impact Justice and AmplifiedAg, is set to launch the first vertical farm inside a U.S. prison at the Camille Graham women’s facility in Columbia.

More than a decade ago, two students at the University of Ottawa, Alida Burke and Corey Ellis, were on a school trip to Nunavut when they got a firsthand look at food insecurity.

Two students looked around for a solution, but seeing none, decided to create one themselves. In 2016, they developed a modular, indoor farm in a shipping container. they called their new venture Growcer.

As southern Nevada works to strengthen food security amid an arid climate and limited arable land, University of Nevada, Reno Extension is offering an educational certificate series on indoor vertical farming, or hydroponics, to equip commercial growers, home gardeners, Master Gardener volunteers and educators with research-based expertise in soil-free vegetable farming.

For a decade, Growcer has been working alongside communities across Canada to prove that local, year-round food production is not only possible, it is transformative.

Living in a small, remote community can make it hard to get fresh fruit and vegetables in a pinch. Add to that road closures due to wildfires or storms, making access to grocery stores tough for residents of Anacla and Bamfield.

It also makes bringing in fresh produce equally difficult for the local grocer.

A Suffolk church is tackling food insecurity with an indoor aeroponic farm that grows fresh vegetables without soil and gives them away for free. Greater Works Community Outreach Ministries operates the "Garden of Eat'n," a vertical indoor farm that uses a growing method called aeroponics.

To expand the program, Delaware partnered with Growcer to add a modular vertical farm. The indoor farm can grow fresh produce year-round using less water and land than outdoor farming.

Located near the pantry, it will supply members with freshly harvested lettuces, leafy greens like kale and spinach, and herbs like mint and basil to take home.

The College of Southern Maryland (CSM) will launch its next vertical agriculture course on March 31, offering hands-on training in a fast-growing sector of modern farming.

The controlled environment can accelerate plant growth and increase yields while using less water and fewer pesticides.

GROW (Growing Real Opportunities for Work) at Kazimour Farm & Orchard is making strides in Cedar Rapids by providing horticultural education that creates meaningful employment for local students, as well as individuals with disabilities, while addressing community food insecurity.

Fisher River Cree Nation (FRCN), in partnership with ADRA Canada and Growcer Corp., and with additional funding from the Latter-Day Saints, is launching a year-round hydroponic farm early this year to tackle food insecurity in northern Manitoba while promoting a sustainable and resilient local food system.

After North Casper Elementary School closed its doors, the Casper Housing Authority bought the building and made a promise to the school district: to turn it into something positive.

That's how Urban Thistle Farm was born, and its mission is to alleviate the food desert in North Casper.