KANSAS CITY, Mo — Startland Education partnered with KC Farm School to host its annual “Back 2 School Challenge” on Friday morning.
It is a one-day educational event where students from across the metro take a pressing issue within the community and brainstorm possible solutions.
This year, they put their heads together with one goal, 'How do we expand urban farming to address food insecurity?'
“When you go to the grocery store and you look around and you see that everything is just absolutely empty on the shelves, you know, you just think what’s happening?” said senior Teddy Krouse.
Urban farming is not totally new to Krouse.
He helped Northeast High School cultivate its own community garden this year.
Krouse said projects like that will not only help bridge the food shortage long-term, but it also has incredible potential to bring people together socially — especially youth.
“Agriculture can address food access and it can also empower people to start thinking about themselves as real players in their future," said Executive Director of KC Farm School, Alicia Ellingsworth. “We try not to assume what a high schooler would want, but to work with a high schooler and ask them.”
And ask they did.
Students were challenged to research the problem, brainstorm solutions and ultimately pitch their ideas to a panel of judges.
Senior Leland Williams says his group found apathy to be their biggest enemy and suggested creating multiple youth programs that will provide introduction to urban farming.
It will also offer options if one organization is not a good fit for a specific student.
The expansion of the industry and growing public interest may take some time, but he says the problem of food insecurity is at least catching people’s attention now.
“As well as its a bad thing, it’s a good thing, because it’s teaching other people to have self-conservative skills for themselves and it improves them for the betterment of their future,” said Williams.
