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Teaching sustainability with a mobile greenhouse Maharishi University of Management (MUM) alumnus Justin Cutter has a job like no one else’s. For the past three years he has been driving around the country in an 18-foot box truck with a greenhouse in the back, teaching children about organic farming. The project, called Compass Green, raises awareness of sustainability through presentations, workshops, and tours at schools and organizations. Justin is able to follow his passion with the help of a generous group of sponsors. Justin grew up in Fairfield, Iowa, and graduated from MUM in 2006 with an undergraduate degree in Maharishi Vedic Science. His jobs after graduation included working in Hawaii as a sailor and in Japan as co-director of programs for the David Lynch Foundation. “At MUM I learned how the world functions and how I function,” said Justin. “That has kept me stable and kept my creativity awake, so that when I see opportunities I can take them, and when I don’t see them I can make them.” In 2010 Justin worked on a farm in California with Jon Jeavons, a leader in the field of biointensive agriculture. One day his friend Nick Runkle approached him with the idea of buying a box truck. The truck used to serve as a mobile art gallery and its sides had been cut out and replaced with plexiglass. Nick saw the potential for a greenhouse, so they did some fundraising, bought the truck, and Compass Green was born. Since then Justin has taught thousands of students about biointensive methods of sustainable farming — producing the maximum yields with the minimum amount of resources. His mission is to inspire people to be creative and utilize any space they can to grow food. “I realized that most kids can’t get to a farm, so I decided to take the farm to them,” he said. This fall alone, Mr. Cutter had taught over 3,000 students as of early November in his mobile greenhouse. He sees himself as planting knowledge so they can plant their own garden. "I hope the kids will understand that they have power and that the choices they make about food affect their health and the health of the planet," he said. Justin also walks his talk—his truck has been converted to run on waste vegetable oil, he composts his food scraps, and he collects rainwater that falls on the truck to water the greenhouse. Recently Justin appeared on the Disney Channel program Pass the Plate in a segment called “Greenhouse on Wheels.” Mr. Cutter is shown driving his truck, with his voice-over narration explaining his purpose. And he's shown teaching a group of children. Watch the Disney Channel segment on Justin here. © Copyright 2014 Maharishi University of Management
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