The Farm Campus Connect Farm To School

The 4Roots team is excited to share the latest renderings of the 4Roots Farm Campus Classroom Building.
The Classroom Building was designed by Little Diversified Architectural Consulting, leaders in sustainable and educational design and will host students, teachers, farmers, families and more for educational activities, workshops, certificate training sessions,professional development seminars,and after-school and summer programs.

The building will be situated in the middle of a variety of growing systems, including a soil-based field garden, box gardens, and a greenhouse that features both hydroponics and aquaponics technology. These facilities are scheduled to be completed in the fall of 2022, so stay tuned for progress updates!

4Roots Cafe Is Now Open To Public

Located inside the Orlando Science Center, the 4Roots Café is now accessible, without OSC admission, to the public through the Loch Haven entrance of OSC! The doors are open for all to enjoy the café’s plant-forward menu items which source as much produce as possible from local growers.

The café is a partnership with the 4R Restaurant Group, and a portion of the proceeds benefits 4Roots. The 4Roots Café offers a hybrid service approach of grab-and-go options and a separate line to create customizable sandwiches, flatbreads, bowls and salads.

Delivery from the café is also currently offered through third-party delivery platforms, DoorDash and Uber Eats.

There’s A New Farmer In Town

4Roots is excited to welcome the latest addition to the 4Roots Family, Josh Taylor, who will serve as Head Farmer for the 4Roots Farm Campus. Josh’s farming career began over 20 years ago when he and his wife, Kelly, decided to start saving money on groceries by growing their own food in their backyard. At first, their backyard garden wasn’t very successful, but after a lot of research, they began to understand Florida’s farming environment and their backyard garden began to thrive. When Josh realized how easy it was to grow his own crops, he envisioned a world where everyone was able to grow their own food and live more sustainably. 

Josh and Kelly aspired to use their newfound knowledge to assist those who struggled with access to food and to teach them how they can grow their own food. They started their own farm in Winter Garden and used their resources and knowledge to assist those struggling with food insecurity. They travel to third-world countries setting up sustainable farms, that use multiple farming methods working together, like permaculture, aquaponics, hydroponics and soil. They design farms that will produce food indefinitely with yields every day of the year. 

When Josh saw how successful the growing efforts were in third world countries, he decided to bring sustainable farming to Central Florida schools. When he learned how 4Roots was working with Orange County Public Schools to enhance its horticulture education programs and offering extended learning opportunities throughout the community, he was eager to join the team and assist.

Outside of the Farm Campus, Josh and Kelly stay very busy. They own their farm, Do Good Farm, a café, House Blend Cafe, and Josh is also a pastor at Mosaic Church in Winter Garden.

We are thrilled to have an innovative farmer and a strong leader like Josh bring his new ideas to the table. Welcome, Josh!

Create Farm Fresh Recipes At Home!

Last month, the winner of our e-newsletter poll for a favorite summer crop was eggplant! To get you thinking about what you can make for the eggplant lovers in your life, we partnered with FreshU To Go to provide you with a recipe for a simple summer sandwich. 

4Roots and FreshU To Go, located on the UCF campus, work together to provide fresh produce and tips on how to best prepare it. The communities served by 4Roots through our Feed the Need initiative receive FreshU’s in-house recipes, like the one we are sharing today, and 4Roots provides Fresh U To Go with local produce from farmers that they distribute to students at the Fresh U Market.