Winston-Salem is in the running for a $25,000 grant aimed on finding out whether hydroponic job-training could be a success. The City Council voted 7-1 to explore the issue.
Hydroponics is a technique of growing plants without soil in a system that provides liquid nutrients. The Winston-Salem Journal reports the City Council approved competing for a grant that would determine whether a hydroponic job-training center could work in this area.
Supporters say that in addition to providing fresh fruits and vegetables to neighborhoods that don't have them, the project could provide economic development and create a center where people could get training to grow, process and prepare the food.
The lone dissenter, Council Member Robert Clark, said the investment in job-training was too great, and that those jobs don't currently exist.
The study would examine if a hydroponic system would work here, and if not, how to bring it about.