• By Mike LaBella | mlabella@eagletribune.com

• October 6, 2023

HAVERHILL — Students in a Haverhill YMCA after-school program are growing their own vegetables and herbs. Only they aren't doing it on a plot of land, but instead hydroponically inside a specially designed shipping container called a Freight Farm. 

Last week students harvested 150 pounds of bibb, romaine, butterhead and green sweet crisp lettuce planted just seven weeks prior. The lettuce bounty will continue every week for as long as desired. Vegetables grow fast in this controlled environment, where the weather is not a factor.

And there are more harvests to come including hot and sweet peppers as well as bok choy, arugula, kale, radishes, beets, sweet peas, mustard greens, nasturtium and other edible plants and herbs. Also planned are carrots, cabbage, cucamelons and other vegetables. 

It's all taking place inside the 40-by 8-foot Freight Farm that is stationed at the school department's Gateway Academy in the St. James building on Primrose Street. 

YMCA Executive Director Tracey Fuller said the Haverhill YMCA is the first YMCA in the country to install a Freight Farm.

Szailia Zuccola, senior class president at the Gateway Academy, said her tour of the Freight Farm was an unexpected surprise.

"It looked like a space ship," she said. "I was amazed at all the vegetables growing and how they were growing. I've never seen anything like it." 

Zuccola said it is part of her Farm to Table class, she planted seeds in the Freight Farm's nursery then - over a period of weeks watched - them grow into full-size heads of lettuce in the cultivation area.

"We used the lettuce to make salads and also we took some home," she said. "I guarantee other students will be taking this class."

This $165,000 year-round grow trailer was donated to the YMCA by Beth Israel Lahey Health. Students in the Y's after school "Seeds to Grow" program and students in the Gateway Academy's Farm to Table program are learning hands-on how to plant and nurture vegetables in a hydroponic environment. They are also learning about sustainable agriculture, biology, chemistry, business and more.

During a ribbon-cutting celebration for the Freight Farm, Mayor James Fiorentini told a crowd of more than 50 people there is an epidemic of diabetes and that it's important to teach children about healthy living and the importance of eating fruits and vegetables.

"This great project helps teach kids about farming and that vegetables don't come from a store, they come from a farm," he said.

Dr. Glenn Focht, president of Anna Jaques Hospital, said recent data shows that more than 20% of children are in households where they face food insecurity and that in many cases it's worse than during the pandemic.

"We know there is a direct correlation between food insecurity and academic success for students," he said. "You are exercising tremendous power when you farm and provide food to yourself and others."

Beth Israel Lahey is also sponsoring two other Freight Farms, one planned for Chelsea and one that launched last year in Brockton, Focht said.

State Rep. Andy Vargas was met with a round of laughter when he told the crowd, "this is the most excited that I've ever been about lettuce in my entire life."

LED infrared and ultraviolet grow lights bath plants that hang from metal racks containing strips of polyurethane sponge and are nourished by an automatic watering and feeding system. Water usage is only five gallons a day and the system collects and recycles unused water. A HVAC system also collects and reuses water. 

Freight Farms, which can produce about six tons of vegetables and herbs a year, are a sustainable option for farming, even in places where there are droughts and water shortages, officials said.

Students initially planted seeds in trays filled with grow plugs made of peat moss and coco coir, a natural fiber extracted from coconut husks, and when the plants were big enough they transplanted them to the cultivation section of the Freight Farm.

School Superintendent Margaret Marotta said students are excited about growing vegetables and using them to create meals.

"It's good for our students to see that vegetables just don't come from Market Basket," she said.

For their first harvest, students in both programs enjoyed salads and brought home heads of lettuce for their families to enjoy. Future harvests will also be shared with local food pantries.

Fuller said the mayor's office arranged for electrical and water hookups while the school district's maintenance department installed a ramp leading to the trailer's door. 

"A few of our staff attended Freight Farm school in January to learn how the program operates and the unit was installed at the end of June and began operating in mid-July," she said. 

Freight Farm manager Caroline Beaton, a UNH graduate with a degree in agriculture, works directly with the Gateway Academy and with students in the Y's licensed after-school program, which now serves about 45 children in grades 5 and 6.

Photos
Caroline Beaton, Freight Farm manager for the Haverhill YMCA activates the red and blue UV and infrared LED grow lights inside the hydroponic Freight Farm container outside the Gateway Academy on Primrose Street. The Freight Farm is a collaboration between the YMCA and the Haverhill Public Schools was donated by Beth Israel Lahey Health. The farm will provide greens year-round to children, adults, and families as well as provide an innovative hands-on learning experience for students.

• TIM JEAN/Staff photo

Caroline Beaton, Freight Farm manager for the Haverhill YMCA shows off the lettuce growing inside the hydroponic Freight Farm container outside the Gateway Academy on Primrose Street. The Freight Farm is a collaboration between the YMCA and the Haverhill Public Schools was donated by Beth Israel Lahey Health. The farm will provide greens year-round to children, adults, and families as well as provide an innovative hands-on learning experience for students.

• TIM JEAN/Staff photo

Tracy Fuller, Haverhill YMCA Executive Director welcomes everyone to the during the ribbon cutting ceremony for the hydroponic Freight Farm growing container outside the Gateway Academy on Primrose Street. The Freight Farm is a collaboration between the YMCA and the Haverhill Public Schools and was donated by Beth Israel Lahey Health. The farm will provide greens year-round to children, adults, and families as well as provide an innovative hands-on learning experience for students.

• TIM JEAN/Staff photo