Take the Purple Plow Challenge

Jan. 19, 2017

Purple PlowHelp solve food insecurity around the world by creating a sustainable food system with your classmates.

According to Feeding America, 42.2 million Americans live in food insecure households, including 32.8 million adults and 13.1 million children.

The Purple Plow Challenge allows middle school students to help solve food insecurity by creating a sustainable life-size local food system. Students are challenged to research scenarios related to food, hunger and sustainability and then construct a prototype to solve the defined problem.

Resources provided for facilitators, students and volunteers are written by teachers, aligned to national learning standards and reviewed by industry experts.

The Purple Plow Challenge was created to encompass both the history and future of agriculture. The plow symbolizes the history of production agriculture and the color purple represents innovative and existing ways that agriculture is working to solve today’s challenges.

The Challenge will run seasonally and is open to individuals, groups and classes in grades 5,6,7 and 8. The first deadline for entries will by May 1, 2017. The top three entries will receive a 3D printer and Visa gift card.

For information on the Purple Plow Challenge, including submission dates and available resources, click here.