Grow: The Food Lab is searching for funding after a failed bid at crowdfunding through ArawakX, one of its principals Kentisha Ward told Guardian Business yesterday. The company is trying to establish a US Food and Drug Administration-certified food processing facility and incubator space, that will help food manufacturers train, process, package, and distribute their products.

In the meantime, the company has embarked on a community project to help school children understand the process of growing food and the business of getting it to market.

Last Friday, young Queens College kids weeded, sifted soil and put plants in the ground in the first part of the sustainable school project powered by Grow, that will teach the children from primary into high school how the business of food operates.

"We wanted to be able to teach younger persons how to process the food that grows around them," said Ward.

"This initiative is the sustainable school program, and what we want to do is, we want to be able to change the way that we look at food. So we want to work with all grades in the school to get them included in the farming process, the harvesting process, the processing process, the marketing, and also agribusiness and sales process."

On Friday the kids planted pumpkin, thyme, lettuce and other plants. Ward said they hope to have their first farmers market with the products grown by students by October.

School counselor Vivian Brown said the project is an important part of helping children to understand the knowledge they have within themselves to grow their own food.

"It's not only about going to the food store and getting something, but knowing that once you have a seed you could grow, you could harvest, you could share," said Brown.

"It's also about sharing and giving back... We want to encourage students to share and help other people understand the importance of not only eating healthy, but preparing their own meals and their own food. Not only are we doing this for the children's education, we're doing it as a community project as well."

Brown added that the students will begin to understand business as they process the grown food into things like pies and other goods and sell them at their own farmer's market.

Ward said they intend to work with other schools and will use Queen's College as a model.

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