Farms on Wheels Brings Agriculture to Schools

Yellow school buses will soon do more than transport children to and from San Diego schools. On March 23, in his weekly "Friday Notes" email, San Diego Unified School District Superintendent Bill Kowba announced that some school buses will be transformed into “farms on wheels” to bring a living farm directly to the schools.

Farms on wheels are designed to complement the District’s existing Farm-to-School program by creating a living learning lab that travels from school to school. Students will be engaged in concepts of sustainable agriculture and nutrition.

Many children have little knowledge of how fresh food is grown and how it can be prepared to create nutritious meals. The program’s goal is to inspire healthy eating through interactive learning on-site via these mobile farms.

The Farm-to-School program "connects schools (K-12) and local farms with the objectives of serving healthy meals in school cafeterias, improving student nutrition, providing agriculture, health and nutrition education opportunities, and supporting local and regional farmers."

Whole Foods stores of San Diego are major supporters of the project. On March 21, the Hillcrest and La Jolla stores recently donated 5% of their net sales to support the bus farms.