EXPLR has announced the 2024 National STEM Challenge, calling on students across the United States to submit projects that could bring transformative change to their communities or the planet. This initiative is set to address critical global issues, with a particular focus on sustainable food solutions.

Chef Andrew Zimmern, Co-Founder of EXPLR and a “STEMbassador” for the Challenge, expressed his enthusiasm, “I think we will look back at the 2024 National STEM Challenge and see it as a place where real world solutions for our existential food problems were addressed by the generation that is inheriting these hurdles from us.”

The Challenge invites students to develop projects in six categories, including Future Foods. This category specifically urges young participants to devise practical ideas targeting equitable and sustainable food production, distribution, and consumption.

Jenny Buccos, Co-Director of the National STEM Challenge, emphasized to the importance of inspiring the nation’s youth to envision a future where food is accessible to all. “The National STEM Challenge and Festival inspire our country’s brightest young minds to forge a future where food is a universal right, not a privilege,” she said.

Zimmern further underscored the significance of STEM—Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics—in addressing food issues. He remarked, “Name a food issue and it’s a STEM topic, from robotics to regenerative ag, from plant-based food tech to keeping foods nutritive for space travel.”

Apart from Future Foods, the Challenge includes categories like Environmental Stewardship, Health and Medicine, Powering the Planet, Space Innovation, and Tech for Good. Students in grades 6-12 are eligible to submit their projects by November 15, 2023, including those developed for other science fairs and competitions.

The top scorers will be invited to Washington D.C. in April 2024 to be recognized at the National STEM Festival, co-presented by the U.S. Department of Education and EXPLR. Stephen Ritz, Founder of Green Bronx Machine (GBM) and partner of EXPLR, shared his excitement, “We’ll be bringing a pop-up farm to the event and rooting for the most creative, inspired, children and projects this nation has ever seen.”

The National STEM Challenge is also seeking sponsors to support the Future Foods category and facilitate the finalists’ travel to the Festival without burdening them or their families financially.

Investing in the Festival’s Future Foods category is seen as more than just backing ideas; it is a commitment to a future where food security is a fundamental right, as Buccos tells Food Tank.

For detailed information about the National STEM Challenge and submission guidelines, interested parties are encouraged to visit the EXPLR website.

Zimmern concludes with anticipation: “I can’t wait to see what these brilliant young minds come to the kitchen table with in mid-April.”