A $25,000 grant will help teach Belfast students about agriculture and bring more fresh foods to the school cafeteria.
A grant from the fall 2010 round of Pepsi Refresh Everything Grants helped pay for a new greenhouse at the school, according to industrial arts teacher Tom Larson.
“It is the perfect experiment,” said Hazelton. “It hasn’t cost the taxpayers anything. It provides fresh produce to the school and gives students life lessons in how to grow their own food and it would not have been possible without the Pepsi grant. A $25,000 project to build a greenhouse would have been a difficult sell to the administration in these economic times.”
In the waning days of April students in the Junior/Senior Environmental Science class at Belfast Central School along with their teacher Josh Hazelton and Principal Mike Roche, ILarson and parent volunteer Josh Enders put down the foundation and erected a solar greenhouse. The greenhouse will allow the Aquaponics Program to expand providing more fish and vegetables to be used in the school cafeteria throughout the year. The greenhouse which operates with no gas or utilities will add 1,000 square feet of growing area to the project and allow it the class to provide a wider variety of fresh vegetables during the winter months.
“The greenhouse is made in such a way that it will keep the temperature above freezing and in the 40 to 50-degree range in the winter,” Hazelton said.
Hazelton said he would like to expand the program to his other classes and keep it going throughout the summer by students who will be coming into the program in the fall. He also believes the project can cross curriculums once production expands and expects to be able to donate fresh produce to the local food pantry during the summer months as part of the Community Shared Agriculture Program.
“The students are learning an important life skill. It’s something where kids can take ownership of their own food and learn where its coming from and maybe learn to eat healthier,” he said.
Hazelton started the Aquaponic program six years ago as a demonstration project. The students have grown lettuce and fish each year. With the new system, Hazelton expects to harvest 10 to 15 heads of lettuce a week, and grow about 100 pounds of fish as well as tomatoes peppers and peas and spinach.
The Pepsi Refresh Everything Grant program gives away millions each month to fund ideas which are proposed and accepted to the program in one of four categories — Arts and Music, Education, Communities and the Pepsi Challenge. A total of 60 awards in amounts of $5,000 - $10,000 - $25,000 or $50,000 are given away based on public voting during each of the eight grant rounds per year.