Welcome! The IDEA CNP Farm Program is comprised of a network of twelve diverse educational farms located in Texas and Louisiana practicing regenerative agricultural echniques. Our team promotes each student’s connection to the Earth and supports wholistic health and well-being through good nutrition and environmental stewardship. That is why it is our mission to cultivate wholesome food for our school cafeterias, teach responsible stewardship, and ignite the student spirit.
The IDEA Farm Program grows food using sustainable practices and eco-friendly inputs for IDEA Public Schools’ cafeterias. To date, we have grown over 100,000 pounds of produce on our farms, all of which have made their way into hundreds of thousands of meals for students.
In order to positively change the food system, perceptions about food, and population health in a sustainable way, the Farm Program recognizes the need to teach and empower today’s youth. By participating in every aspect of the food-growing process via a project-based curricula, IDEA Public School students become agents of change in their local and global food systems.
Video two in the Gardening at Home video series. This week Deborah Ray from IDEA Edgemere in El Paso shows us how to tell the difference between annuals and perennials and why that matters. Hope you enjoy and don’t forget to subscribe to IDEA Farm Program’s channel on YouTube. If there are any topics you’d like to see, go ahead drop in your suggestions in the comments.
Thanks to a generous donation from Green Mountain Energy Sun Club, during the Fall of 2022 we will launch our first Hydroponic Farm in Tarrant County at IDEA Achieve! This unit will supply 5 acres worth of leafy greens and herbs in a 40-foot shipping container, and will facilitate countless opportunities for the applied learning of STEM in the context of agriculture.
