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LOGAN — One in five Utah families struggle to put nutritious food on the table. A group of Utah State University students has started to do something about this issue.
As part of a USU competition called “Nourish Tank,” a spinoff of the TV show “Shark Tank,” a group of students was tasked with finding a way to solve this problem. This is the first contest of this kind.
For their entry, senior Kennedy Perry and several of her classmates developed an idea they called the “crop cart.” This is a program that allows elementary schools to use shipping containers for community gardens where students can learn about and harvest crops.
“Almost every school has a parking lot or adjacent field or something like that where you can bring these carts,” Perry said. “If we can educate young people about how to grow food and why growing food is important, we feel like we can solve the problem at its root.”
Lee Palmer is one of the students who organized this contest. She hopes this event can raise awareness of food and nutrition insecurity across the state.
“I think this is a new and unique way to address nutrition security,” Palmer said. “Rates of nutrition and insecurity have skyrocketed, especially with inflation and everything that has happened with the pandemic.”
The “Nutritional Tank” contest will be held Wednesday at USU and will be judged by state legislators and agriculture industry experts.
The winning team will receive $1,000 and implement the program across the state.
