Schools around the country contribute to global warming much more than they have to. At my school, our freshman combined science, social studies, and English class. We have been learning the importance of locally grown produce and we found that it was very beneficial to build a local food source. This would cut down on the amount of miles our food has to travel to get onto our plates. Because our plan affects the lunch program here immensely, we decided to contact the district’s food service manager, Randy Masad. He had this to say. “We purchase the majority of the fruits and vegetables from Martin Bros. Distribution or from US Foods. Martin Bros. and US Foods get a majority of the fresh produce from California and Florida,” says Masad. “Mexico is also used when certain items are not available due to seasonal availability. I believe the pros of having a greenhouse would be the ability to grow the specific variety of fruit and/or vegetable desired in the quantity desired. To a certain extent you could also control the timing of when they should mature. I believe the quality of the produce would be better and the cost could be possibly cheaper.”

As you can see, fruits and vegetables may travel a very long way to get to the end user. If you buy locally grown produce, it will leave less of a carbon footprint. This will help prevent global warming and save an unbelievable amount of gas, considering that most of our school’s food comes from across the U.S. and sometimes other countries. According to "All About: Food and Fossil Fuels." CNN. Cable News Network, n.d. Web. 04 Mar. 2013. “To feed an average family of four in the developed world uses up the equivalent of 930 gallons of gasoline a year -- just shy of the 1,070 gallons that same family would use up each year to power their cars. By contrast, a whopping 496 liters goes into the chemical fertilizers used during the food growing stage, representing well over one third of the food chain's entire fossil fuel consumption.” For this and other reasons, we believe implementing a solar greenhouse at Spirit Lake High School would improve not only the environment but also the health of the students.

Locally grown produce is much healthier for consumers at the school. According to “How Does Eating Locally Grown Food Help The Environment,” eating local foods, overall, is just the best way to eat produce. Not only will it be more fresh, it will not be covered with chemicals; many sources have stated that they taste better too. With a solar greenhouse, you can also control the variety and quantity you want. When it’s bought from a company or a store, because of the numbers they have to deal with, they have to be sprayed with chemicals, such as pesticides and preservatives. It is clear that the smaller the distance food travels to get to the consumer lessens the amount of fuel needed and also contributes to the overall quality of the food.