Who We Are
Grow to Know empowers students to design and operate hydroponic growing systems that produce fresh, nutritious food for families while serving as hands-on learning environments for science, sustainability, and community engagement.
Problem Being Solved
Over 13 million U.S. children live in food-insecure households. These environments lack access to fresh, affordable produce, leading to nutrient deficiencies that can impact gene regulation, brain development, and long-term health outcomes. While hydroponic systems exist, they are often expensive, complex, or disconnected from educational value.
Our project solves this by:
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Delivering an affordable, classroom-ready hydroponic farming system
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Improving nutritive content of the food
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Empowering youth in underserved communities with data, tools, and ownership
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Offering sustainable solutions
Target Audience
Our primary focus is public schools, community nonprofits, and youth-serving organizations in urban or suburban food deserts. These communities face limited access to fresh produce and rising rates of diet-related illnesses, including obesity, diabetes, and cognitive decline. We also engage school clubs, science classrooms, and local garden programs as educational partners.
What we do
Grow to Know is a youth-led innovation that combines sustainable vertical farming, nutrition science, and epigenetics to improve health outcomes in food-insecure communities. Our solution tackles the nutritional deficits caused by food deserts by providing a low-cost, replicable hydroponics toolkit designed for schools and community centers. But we go beyond food access—we optimize crops to be rich in nutrients known to influence long-term health.
Using our pilot system we grow leafy greens and herbs in controlled hydroponic environments, test for growth and nutrient yield, and use this data to teach young people how nutrition shapes genetic expression. Our solution bridges biology, food equity, and public health.
Innovation Details
We are also seeking university partnerships to analyze crop nutrient density and explore links to methylation markers in future research phases.
Low cost Hydroponic Toolkit
Portable system designed using recycled and upcycled materials, powered with LEDs, and managed by youth.
Hands-On Curriculum
A six-module STEM course
Pilot Data Collection
Growth tracking, nutrient comparisons, cost-efficiency, and community engagement.
Youth Engagement
Students lead every step—design, data collection, community outreach, and grant writing
Sustainability Model
Our vertical farm kits and curriculum will be distributed to schools and nonprofits via:
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Garden education nonprofits
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Donation-through-sponsorship
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Funded installations through STEM and food equity grants
Featured Partnership
In Partnership with Send Hunger Packing Princeton (SHUPP)
Grow to Know works with SHUPP to grow and distribute fresh produce to families facing food insecurity. Our systems are inspired by SHUPP’s Littlebrook Vertical Farm, demonstrating how local, scalable food production can support community needs.
