Student Farmers is a non-profit organization focused on Education, Marketing, and Supply of healthy and cost-effective food.
Our Mission: To improve health and nutrition while simultaneously lowering food costs and lowering the impact of climate change.
Our Vision: To increase knowledge about the advantages of eating more heathy and locally grown vegetables, starting with fast-growing microgreens, that can be easily an inexpensively grown indoors year-round on windowsills. We hope to engage with high-school and college students as well as adult students ranging from health enthusiasts to seniors, who live independently or in retirement communities. We believe in “life-long learning” and welcome opportunities to share our experience in underserved communities to reduce the lack of access to fresh affordable vegetable in “food deserts”.
To learn more, click on focus for highlights on our Education, Marketing, and Supply.
Please also see the other pages on our website and Contact Us with any questions or to share your interest in joining Student Farmers. We also welcome suggestions on how to improve our resource and create actionable intelligence for next generation localized agriculture.
Non-profit 501(c)(3):
The complexity of establishing a non-profit 501(c)(3) takes time relative to tax deduction status for donors. We launched in 2021 and the process to have a certified 501(c)(3) “.org” extended into 2022. The non-profit status gives us the ability to raise money and support students of all ages as well as service underserved communities, such as food deserts, in cities and rural communities. The non-profit status also helps us develop economies of scale to reduce the cost of supplies such as seeds, grow mats, grow trays and grow lights for our members and participants.
Large Potential Impact:
The U.S. market is large:
High School Students: Over 15 million
In 2021 there were 15.49 million public school and 1.53 million private high school students. Source
College / University Students: Over 18 million
There were approximately 18.99 million college students in the U.S. in 2020, with around 13.87 million enrolled in public colleges and a further 5.12 million students enrolled in private colleges. Source
Adult Health Enthusiasts: Over 64 million
There are 64.19 million members at health and fitness clubs in the US. Source
The larger impact on the “non” health enthusiasts will hopefully come from overall increased awareness.
Senior Citizens: Over 54 million
The population age 65 and older increased from 39.6 million in 2009 to 54.1 million in 2019 (a 36% increase) and is projected to reach 94.7 million in 2060. By 2040, there will be about 80.8 million older persons, more than twice as many as in 2000. Source
Note that many senior citizens are on fixed income and have extra time on their hands. We hope that they will embrace year-round indoor windowsill farming for a health triple-play: Physical, Mental and Financial.
Total: 151 million (45% of U.S. population)
Total population of the U.S. The current population of the United States of America is 335,469,850 as of Sunday, October 23, 2022. Source
We naturally do not expect to impact all of the target market, but we do hope to make some “noise” promoting the advantages of home grown microgreens and shift the mindset about ease and affordability. About a $1 of seeds and a grow matt with a couple minutes a day of watering can grow about $10 of veggies each week with just sunlight and tap water!