Growing Goodness: New Brunswick high school to grow fresh produce year-round

A local high school in a small town in Hillsborough, New Brunswick, has recently opened their year-round green house to give students hands-on learning opportunities while helping to address food insecurity in the community.

Foods of the Fundy Valley, is a local non-profit organization committed to making fresh, healthy and local food accessible to the community. Foods of the Fundy Valley began collaborating with Caledonia Regional High School and through this partnership, it was identified that students often lack access to nutritious, healthy food. As well, many students were unaware of where their food comes from.

To address this gap, Food of the Fundy Valley along with the teachers and the principal envisioned an innovative solution: a greenhouse to enhance food security by providing access to healthy food options while offering students with hands-on learning opportunities through the process of growing their own food. Recognizing the challenges of the short growing season and school ending in late June, they wanted a greenhouse that would allow students to grow food year-round.

That’s when they discovered the potential of a geothermal greenhouse. Unlike traditional greenhouses, this concept would provide the school with a year-round learning environment. The geothermal system is used to regulate the temperature in greenhouses which helps to keep the greenhouse warm in winter and cool in summer, creating an optimal environment for plant growth. However, to build this facility, the project came with significant financial requirements, and they knew they would need support.

Alicia O’Hara is a board member with Foods of the Fundy Valley, and she began helping the non-profit search for ways to bring the vision of the greenhouse to life. During this search, she learned about the Atlantic School Food Infrastructure Fund, a grant program run by Food First NL (in collaboration with three other community food organizations from Atlantic Canada - Food For All NB, Nourish Nova Scotia, and the PEI Home and School Federation) and funded through Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's (AAFC)’s School Food Infrastructure Fund (SFIF).