StartUpRoots empowers students to develop their potential and challenges them to build a more equitable and sustainable future by providing a platform for growing food, ideas, and responsibility for the earth’s limited resources.    

Word spread and soon other principals and teachers wanted to “green” their schools. As few schools have the space for a 100 sq meter greenhouse, we needed to develop a farm that could literally fit anywhere. In the hallway of a school that serves just over 100 students, StartUpRoots designed a vertical system that could grow 120 plants per meter, per month. Students became active learners, researching plant needs, applying the scientific method to growing sprouts, microgreens, leafy greens and herbs. They documented plant growth and reflected on their own growth. While they enjoyed the fruits of their labors, they also learned about entrepreneurship. Applying lessons from the entrepreneurship curriculum,  students developed new products, such as the hydro-shake, a healthy drink they learned to advertise and promote to other students in the school.

Next, we developed a commercial farm, enabling Yeshiva students to produce hundreds of vegetables for sale to local residents. In a 22 sq meter space, in a 2000-year-old room in the Old City, devoting just a few hours a week, students learned how to produce and market a variety of fresh, kosher, chemical pesticide-free vegetables. The vegetables reached our customers within minutes of being harvested.

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Hydroponics uses 90% less water than traditional farming, eliminates the need for chemical pesticides, reduces waste, and saves precious land. Food grown locally, in a controlled environment reduces the carbon footprint and makes fresh vegetables available all year long. 

Ben Gurion University of the Negev