UW-Stevens Point at Marshfield has partnered with Fork Farms and Marshfield Clinic to provide healthy foods through hydroponic farming.

“It was a dream, but today the dream has come to fruition,” said Anthony Andrews, campus executive at UWSP at Marshfield.

Within one year, UWSP at Marshfield has turned one of its rooms into an indoor hydroponic garden. The plants grow with nutrient-rich water instead of soil.

“Instead of the sun, we’ve got these highly efficient grow lights. Instead of a hose, we have a recirculating irrigation system. And it’s really the magic is in how simple it is,” said Alex Tyink, CEO of Fork Farms.

The nutrition staff oversees the hydroponic program and works hand-in-hand with students, who are learning valuable skills in planting, monitoring nutrient and PH levels, and harvesting the lettuce used in their own school meals.

Amanda Estes, 17, harvests green star lettuce on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025, grown at Germantown High School's Flex Farm, an indoor mobile hydroponic farm from Fork Farms in Germantown, Wisconsin. Estes, a vegetarian, said she has learned a lot about plants' life cycles while participating in this class.

"We can feed the entire cafeteria with the lettuce we produce here. I feel like I'm making a difference in our community.

Science students at Germantown High School hosted a harvest event on Friday to showcase fresh greens they grew inside their classroom.

The students used an indoor hydroponic farming system to grow several varieties of lettuce, cherry tomatoes, mini cucumbers, snacking peppers and micro greens that they then served up at school lunch on Friday.

The district's food nutrition director, Jill Seefeld, said they built the lab this summer.

With a $3.5 million renovation and the launch of a hydroponic farming program, Fairview South School is ushering in a new era of hands-on learning for students with special needs.

The Elmbrook School District facility, home to the Waukesha County Special Education Consortium, unveiled its updated interior during a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Sept. 26, the first major upgrade since becoming a consortium school in 1984.

Students are growing what they eat in San Jose as part of a nutrition program at Evergreen School District where students learn to farm produce, harvest it, and serve it for lunch.

It’s part of a nutrition program called Fork Farms that encourages healthy eating in students and gets them more interested in STEM learning.

Students at Quimby Oak Middle School are benefitting from an extension of that program with a new hydroponic system.

Fork Farms, a leader in innovative agriculture technologies, announces the introduction of the Flex Micro™ — the company’s most compact and powerful hydroponic growing system to date. Designed to grow both microgreens and seedlines, the Flex Micro produces thousands of plants efficiently, affordably and consistently.

With the global microgreens market expected to surpass $6 billion by 2030, demand for fresh, sustainability-grown, nutrient-dense microgreens is on the rise. The Flex Micro is designed to meet consumer demand, blending simplicity with flexibility to serve chefs, educators, and community growers.

Makers Row, a food and beverage hub in West Allis, has secured a partnership with a Green Bay-based agriculture technology that will bring one of the largest hydroponic farms to the area.

Fork Farms plans to open a farm within the Makers Row development, at the corner of West National Avenue and 66th Street, Fork Farms said in an Aug. 25 news release. The farm will be able to grow up to 34,000 pounds of fresh produce annually.

This site will also serve as Fork Farms' new Milwaukee-area headquarters and would feature a hydroponic showroom.

The farm will occupy more than 5,000 square feet and will use Fork Farms' vertical growing systems, stacked indoor setups that grow plants with water and nutrients.

At Fork Farms, we believe everyone deserves access to fresh, nutritious food, no matter their zip code. As a planet-and-people-first company, we’re building a future where food is grown locally, sustainably, and equitably. Our hydroponic growing systems – the Flex Farm and Flex Acre – enable schools, hospitals, nonprofits, and businesses to grow food on-site with 98 percent less water and land than traditional farming. They’re compact, efficient, and built for controlled-environment agriculture, making it possible to grow fresh produce year-round, anywhere.

As we grow our company and continue to innovate on our systems and mission, we are utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) not as a novelty, but as a critical tool to scale impact, remove barriers, and democratize access to fresh food.

Across the Mississippi River on the Wisconsin border, a student at Winona Senior High School in Minnesota is growing up to 200 pounds of lettuce each month for school lunches — right in her school’s cafeteria. 

Sophomore Miriam Jackson is in charge of her school’s Flex Farms, which are hydroponic farms developed by Green Bay company Fork Farms for use in educational environments. Under Jackson’s care, the compact indoor growing systems have turned into a significant food source for more than 800 students at Winona Senior High School.

“They really like it. When we serve our Fork Farms lettuce, the students are actually building more salads,” Jennifer Walters, school nutrition director for the district, told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today.”

At Winona Senior High School in Minnesota, sophomore Miriam Jackson manages six hydroponic Flex Farms that grow up to 200 pounds of lettuce each month. These fresh greens are served in school lunches for over 800 students, making school meals more nutritious and local.

Developed by Wisconsin-based Fork Farms, Flex Farms are indoor hydroponic systems designed for small spaces like schools. Jackson handles seed germination, water monitoring, and pH balancing for the crops, mostly leafy greens like iceberg lettuce. While harvest days require extra help, she manages most tasks independently, spending nearly 15 hours a week on the project.

With sleeves rolled up and gloves on, young students at Redford Union Schools are growing leafy greens that show up later in the lunchroom as kids learn science, responsibility and even some healthy habits along the way.

Thanks to a new hydroponics program launched this year at both Hilbert and Beech elementary, the district's elementary STEAM classes are growing lettuce without soil – just water, light, curiosity and lots of smiles.

The project began in January with sixth graders planting the first crop of romaine lettuce. Since then, students in first through sixth grade have gotten involved in everything from monitoring the hydroponic system to harvesting.

The students harvested nearly 50 pounds of fresh lettuce, grown inside the school using the Flex Farm hydroponic system from Fork Farms.  Winona Area Public Schools says this is the first set-up of its kind in the state and allows Winona students to grow close to 200 pounds of fresh lettuce each month for the school's salad bar in the cafeteria.

Hydroponics is a method of growing plants in nutrient-rich water instead of soil and Winona Area Public Schools says it provides numerous benefits for student engagement, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills by combining hands-on experimentation in real-world farming scenarios.  FFA Officer & Farm Manager, Miriam Jackson, and school's nutrition staff have been maintaining these Flex Farms learning valuable lifelong skills as they test pH levels, manage nutrient levels, and examine crop cycle management.

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction recently embarked on an exciting journey with its new Fork Farms Flex Farm hydroponic grow tower. On January 13, 2025, the first lettuce seeds were planted, which were ready for transplanting into the tower by February 3. Throughout February, the seedlings grew into mature lettuce, and by March 3, the first harvest was ready! The freshly grown lettuce was served at the WI DPI School Nutrition Team’s monthly meeting and potluck—where it received rave reviews.

The hydroponic adventure didn’t stop there! The lettuce regenerated throughout March and on March 31, the Flex Farm was showcased at the Wisconsin State Capitol for a special Farm to School event. Visitors were invited to explore the grow tower and take home free lettuce and bean seed packets, branded with the Wisconsin Farm to School logo.

Students at Crivitz Middle School are getting their hands dirty in the science department, learning what it takes to grow their own food -- right inside their classroom.

Thanks to a grant from Provident Health Foundation, the science program received an indoor hydroponic system.

Students at Crivitz Middle School are getting their hands dirty in the science department, learning what it takes to grow their own food -- right inside their classroom. (WLUK)

"They get to see how their food is grown and they are involved in that process. Taking the food and giving it directly to cafeteria where the students see it on display," says science teacher Shane Graves.

Paul Karpawich, Program Director for Uplift NH, hosted a presentation and discussion about driving environmental education and problem-based learning in school curriculum across New Hampshire.

Paul shared his organization’s success in working with schools and students to launch and sustain food waste diversion and composting projects and offered networking space to replicate similar projects in your own school.