On Wednesday in East St. Louis, Jackie Joyner-Kersee cut the ribbon on the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Food, Agriculture, and Nutrition Innovation Center (JJK FAN), turning a cluster of classrooms, labs, kitchens and growing space into a new neighborhood hub where kids can see how food is produced and how plant science turns into real jobs. The center anchors a compact campus that includes two demonstration greenhouses and an 11,000-square-foot passive-solar greenhouse built to run on minimal electricity while serving as a living classroom.
The foundation marked the grand opening with a ribbon cutting and community open house, drawing residents, partners and local officials to tour the new space and its farmer’s-market table. The Illinois Business Journal reported that visitors moved through classrooms and labs for demonstrations and tours, and the Belleville News-Democrat noted that much of the produce on offer that day had been grown on site.
Greenhouse Built To Feed The Neighborhood
The centerpiece is an 11,000-square-foot passive-solar greenhouse that partners say is the first of its kind in the United States and can produce more than 30,000 pounds of fresh food a year with almost no electricity costs. According to JJK FAN, that harvest is slated for school meals, farm-stand sales and community distribution while also supporting hands-on research and curriculum. The University of Illinois is working with JJK FAN on the project.
Hands-On Plant Science And Seed Work
Staff from the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center and the University of Illinois will run research and internship programs inside the greenhouses, teaching students everything from hydroponics to seed saving. The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center says Antonio Brazelton, its senior coordinator of research partnerships, is leading an heirloom-collard project that will let young people learn breeding and seed-keeping techniques while contributing samples to larger research efforts, and St. Louis Public Radio reported that students and staff are already testing those lessons in the field.
Partners, Jobs And A Local Pipeline
The JJK FAN is a public-private partnership between the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Foundation, Lansdowne UP, the Danforth Center and the University of Illinois that organizers say is designed to create pathways into STEM, ag-tech and food-system jobs. St. Louis Magazine framed the center as part of a broader regional push to grow local bioscience talent, and the JJK program notes that Lansdowne UP already maintains more than 30 raised beds and workforce teams that helped build the greenhouse.
What It Means Locally
East St. Louis faces persistent barriers to affordable, nutritious food, a condition researchers map through the USDA Food Access Research Atlas, and organizers pitched the center as a direct response to those gaps. The partners say the mix of production, education and small-scale sales is meant to keep food and jobs circulating inside the community rather than sending value elsewhere, and local leaders at the opening described the center as a model for neighborhood rebuilding, according to the Belleville News-Democrat.
Programming, including summer camps, after-school classes and internships tied to research projects, is set to roll out this summer and aims to provide both practical skills and pathways into college and careers. For more information and partner contacts, see the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center and the Illinois Business Journal.
