Milan Elementary School grows their own lettuce with new hydroponic system

MILAN, Tenn. — An exciting story happening within the Milan Special School District’s nutrition department.

Their team has recently implemented hydroponic growing towers to produce fresh lettuce right inside their schools.

This innovative project allows them to bring farm-to-table freshness directly to their cafeterias.

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.

“I was a little worried about it, but after I got to doing it and got use to doing it, and it started blooming like it was, I got really excited. So, now I’m waiting to do more,” said Denise Jones, cafeteria manager at Milan Elementary.

“The purpose was to bring it, we’re doing more scratch cooking, and more healthy, fresh foods so we wanted to start to show the kids this is how it starts, and this is how we’re making your food healthier,” said Vickie Dunaway, school nutrition director for MSSD.

This hands-on approach not only supports their commitment to healthy, locally sourced food, but also ties nutrition and science together in a meaningful way for students.

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