Sydney, 18 March 2025: Food Ladder , a leader in combating food insecurity through innovative greenhouse technology in Australian schools, has announced a groundbreaking move with IBM to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into its educational program – empowering teachers and readying the not-for-profit for enormous scale.
With the collaboration, Food Ladder plans to expand to more than 1,000 schools by 2030, engaging more than a million students and supplementing 25 million meals for young Australians annually to contribute to a more sustainable, self-sufficient global food system.
Sprouting a smarter future for schools IBM’s AI contribution will streamline the process of lesson plan design as part of Food Ladder’s program, creating custom content that aligns with local curriculum requirements and can be tailored based on the subject, year level, and individual class requirements such as students with disabilities or learning and support needs.
“By integrating IBM’s AI technology, we’re significantly enhancing the effectiveness of our program while ensuring it’s scalable initially through regional and rural Australia, with the scope to expand worldwide,” said Kelly McJannett, CEO and co-founder of Food Ladder.
“This represents a major leap forward in our ability to support educators, reduce teacher workload, and create lasting educational and health outcomes for all types of students,” she said.
“Our goal is to build a world where every child has access to nutritious food – and communities are empowered to grow their own fresh produce, regardless of geographic or environmental challenges. With IBM’s AI, we can now take that impact even further, faster.”
Enhancing student engagement
The Food Ladder program and its innovative greenhouse system in schools has demonstrated measurable success in improving student attendance, engagement, standardised learning outcomes, and community engagement.
“No program has had as big an impact in our school as Food Ladder. To put it simply, you can’t teach hungry, disengaged kids, and we were witnessing that in real time,” said Darryl Thompson, principal of Wellington Public School in Western NSW.
“Participation in the program has seen students lift their attendance rate from 30 per cent to above 90 per cent and we’ve also seen significant growth in literacy and numeracy skills due to improved attendance and class focus – with all students identifying Food Ladder is the main reason they come to school every day,” he said.
“Having automated and bespoke lesson plans for any subject, any year, and all types of students means our educators will have more time to connect with our kids and steward them on their learning journeys – we couldn’t be more excited for the impact this will have on schools all around the country.”
Empowering educators
The AI-powered solution built with the IBM watsonx portfolio including watsonx.ai an enterprise-grade AI studio designed to help build AI solutions means educators will benefit from time-saving automation, enabling them to focus on providing individualised support for students and inclusive learning.
“IBM looks forward to working with Food Ladder to scale this innovative education program across Australia from 40 schools to 1,000. Our watsonx AI technology will reduce the administrative burden on teachers and allow more programs to be effectively deployed across the nation,” said Jonathan Adashek, IBM Senior Vice President Marketing and Communications.
Feeding the future
Food insecurity remains one of the world’s most pressing challenges, with 733 million people facing hunger globally and half of all child deaths linked to hunger.
In Australia, 94 per cent of children are reported to not eat enough fresh food and vegetables (CSIRO 2022) and half of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander households in remote regions report not getting enough healthy food ( ABS 2024 ).
By pairing innovative technology with educational impact, Food Ladder is transforming the way communities can access healthy food and teaching the next generation of leaders about the importance of sustainability and self-sufficiency.
“Food security is an existential threat, but we have the tools to solve it,” said McJannett. “With the right partnerships, like the one we’ve formed with IBM, we can create a future where no child goes hungry by bringing sustainable, nutritious food production into schools and the broader community. This is just the beginning.”