Big Green (non-profit company)


Big Green is a 501 nonprofit organization that was started in 2011 by Musk and his partner in The Kitchen restaurant group, Hugo Matheson, with the belief that every child should have the opportunity to play, learn and grow in healthy communities. A combination of playground and outdoor classroom, the learning gardens are spaces where learners discover and get trained on the science of growing fruits and vegetables. It aims to enhance students' health and improve communities through the creation of practical learning, garden-based education opportunities.

Beginnings

Big Green was established in 2011 by Kimbal Musk and Hugo Matheson. School gardens helping boost school children’s fondness for healthy foods is the core idea that led to its establishment. These gardens were conceptualized to assist children in building up better responses to pressures and anxieties and improve learners' academic performance. Its founders intend Big Green to be replicated in other schools and generate a range of school-related solutions. The first learning garden was constructed in Denver, Colorado at Schmitt Elementary.

Learning gardens

A “learning garden” is an out-of-doors classroom that also serves as a productive garden of plants fit for eating. It is composed of modular, raised beds with seating and shade, providing space for teaching and learning. These gardens are designed to become mediums for comprehensive mindset change regarding child nourishment, socialization and student achievement. They are also designed to go well with any type of school structure, whether it has extensive fields surrounding it or it only has an undersized rooftop.
The food harvested from the learning gardens are sold to restaurants. The activity aims to teach students to become young entrepreneurs and acquire business abilities.