It's the single biggest global issue of the 21st century: How do we feed 10-billion people when climate change is shrinking usable farmland?
Food Ladder Founding CEO Kelly McJannett puts the challenge this way; "If you model for the 1.6 degree change in temperature over the next 30 years, huge areas of Australia and the world become completely inhospitable for agriculture."
In response, Food Ladder is building climate-controlled, hydroponic greenhouses in Australian schools. Students get hands-on experience of growing nutritious food. They plant, nurture, harvest and then take that produce home. Clearly there are nutritional advantages for the next generation. What's less obvious is Food Ladder's system is also a teaching resource - providing lessons on everything from maths and science to English and art. Each greenhouse becomes the cornerstone of the local community - vegetable gardens have 'popped up' in communities where schools have a Food Ladder greenhouse. Plus, carbon-heavy food transport systems are no longer required for every food item.
"What we're doing is transforming the longest supply chains in the world to the shortest, more or less overnight," McJannett says.
The initial focus has been helping in remote and rural locations - from indigenous communities in Broome and Charleville to metro Hobart and Sydney. Each greenhouse is tailored to the local climate, education outcomes and community needs.
One thrilling result is Food Ladder being ranked #2 among Australia's 'Most Innovative Companies' - that's after winning the Government, Education and Not-For-Profit category.
The win has opened fresh opportunities for Food Ladder. “By 2030 we plan to have over 1000 schools growing 62,500kg of produce every year. That will directly impact the lives of over 87,000 young Australians,” said McJannett. They've also announced a partnership with IBM to introduce AI to help tailor the system to local conditions in real-time.
As McJannett says “By combining education, technology, and innovation we're completely changing the next generation's relationship with food. That's good for everyone.”
Just the dataThe size of the challenge:
- ~$24B Australia's annual health burden (Charles Perkins Center, Sydney University)
- 32% of Australia's health burden is preventable. (CPC, USYD)
- Only 2% of Australia's health expenditure is aimed at prevention. (CPC, USYD)
- 90% of Indigenous people reported not being able to afford fresh fruit and vegetables
- 1.6C climate change by 2055 will make areas of Australia farmland inhospitable
- 94% of Australian children don't eat enough fresh food and vegetables. (CSIRO 2022).
- 5x more efficient versus ground-based systems
- One school in Tasmania served 85,000 meals in 1 year
- 11,200 children grew 106,666 serves of vegetables last year
- Plan to have 1000+ schools growing 62,500kg of produce per annum by 2030.
- Ranked #1 in Government, Education and Not-For-Profit
- Ranked #2 nationally.