We created this innovation to address a major gap in school food education in cold climates like Canada. Short growing seasons and summer school breaks limit the effectiveness of traditional school gardens. This project offers a year-round, affordable way for students to grow, prepare, and understand food indoors, building food literacy, climate awareness, and equity in education.
In practice, this innovation brings low-cost mushroom cultivation directly into classrooms, paired with open-access, curriculum-aligned learning resources. Students grow oyster mushrooms indoors, observe growth, collect data, share responsibilities as a collective, and explore concepts such as ecosystems, decomposition, sustainability, and nutrition . Learning continues beyond growing: students harvest, process, and cook the mushrooms, connecting food systems to culture, health, and life skills.
The model was piloted in a Grade 3 and Grade 4/5 classroom, reaching approximately 50 students. Student, teacher, and parent testimonials show high engagement, increased confidence around food and cooking, and strong connections to science and sustainability learning. The innovation uses simple grow kits and educator guides rather than proprietary technology, making it accessible, adaptable, and scalable across diverse school contexts. Its strength lies in experiential learning, not expensive infrastructure.
The innovation is currently in its early growth phase. Over the past couple of years, it has been successfully piloted in elementary classrooms, supported by strong qualitative feedback and growing interest from educators seeking climate-resilient food education models. Partnerships and open-access curriculum resources are under development.
Over the next year, the goal is to expand to multiple schools and provinces, release educator toolkits, deliver training workshops, and build partnerships with school boards, nonprofits, and funders. Long-term, the model is designed to scale nationally and internationally as a low-barrier approach to planetary health education.
Educators can begin by accessing a mushroom grow kit from our website. The project can be implemented in any classroom with minimal space or equipment. Educators can also participate in workshops or request support to adapt the model to their local context.
