By: Scott Swanson
Editor, Inland Lakes Resorter
Indian River, Michigan
As part of a 4H program called Project Grow Wolverine, students at Wolverine Schools will soon be growing their own food and learning advanced agricultural techniques in a greenhouse next to the school. The site has been prepared and the framework for the greenhouse is going up and expected to be in operation by the end of October.
A high school 4H Club, the Lean Green Wolverines, is the core student group involved with the project. Tansy Sherman a parent and club leader, along with Melanie Chiodini from Cheboygan County 4H work with the students.
One of the Lean Green Wolverines said that when they met with members of other 4H Clubs they were asked what kind of animals they work with. She said they replied, "We grow plants."
Chiodini said Michigan State University has a new food growing program that is looking at alternative farming techniques. Through the 4H program Wolverine students will be able to link into resources and information from that program. With population growth and loss of farm land there's a big push to find techniques to increase crop yields in order to be able to continue to feed the world. The greenhouse gives Wolverine students an opportunity to acquire the knowledge necessary to be among the people who will meet that need.
Project Grow Wolverine started approximately a year ago. Sherman wanted to establish a farm to school program that would allow local farm products to be served at the school. She ended up in contact with Chiodini and the concept blossomed into a five-year plan that has three primary objectives: bringing food from local farms into the school; building and utilizing the greenhouse to teach students how food is grown; and developing a student group to lead the project and study agricultural concepts and techniques.
Chiodini and Sherman applied for and received a $6,000 grant from the Great Lakes Stewardship Initiative [a second grant was also applied for and received from Wal-Mart Youth Voice Youth Choice. [These grants] will help fund training and greenhouse construction. During the past school year and over the summer, students helped raise additional funds, curriculum and lesson plans have been drawn up and the site for the greenhouse was cleared. The site is located just south of the high school. Sherman said there was a lot of debris that had to be removed. Once the debris was gone, Chuck Hamsher, a local excavator, donated time and equipment to prepare the greenhouse site. Sherman and Chiodini said the project has also received strong support from the school as well as local businesses and individuals.
Students are now considering what type of foods they want to start with and how they want to grow them. One of the things they're talking about is aquaponics, which involves growing traditional agricultural plants in water while also having fish, snails or other animals in the water to fertilize the plants. They're also talking about composting or vermiculture (worm farming) and other agriculture processes that improve yield.
Sherman said a first step would be growing lettuce for the lunchroom. Chiodini said the idea is to start small and build from there. Among the goals are to have the greenhouse be a classroom setting that uses agriculture to teach and implement science and math concepts. Another goal is to use the nutritional aspects of the program as a link to broader health and fitness instruction.
For the next two Sundays there will be work sessions to build the greenhouse. The students will be videotaping the project as they go along. Students have already made presentations to the school board to get permission to use the site and also to provide updates on the project.
While some goals of the project such as research on new agricultural techniques are futuristic, other aspects are more traditional and even old school. Due to expense and concern about what's in food and where it came from people are getting back to things like canning and freezing.
Chiodini said one of the things she wants to establish in Cheboygan County is a test kitchen where people will be able to learn about canning, making jams and jellies and preserving food from the garden. The area she works in encompasses Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet Counties. A broad goal is to have those three counties be leaders in Michigan for health, fitness and nutrition. Project Grow Wolverine is a building block toward that goal.
"This is a really big project because there are a lot of pieces to it. But it's pretty cool," she said.