Important West Orange Event Happening Now
Take a peek at what’s happening in West Orange Florida as a popular barbecue restaurant touches the
lives of the community in more ways than just serving a tasty plate of
brisket. In addition to the satisfied
customers that this restaurant reaches out to, the man behind this popular
restaurant also looks forward to this new program that will enable him to reach
out not only to barbecue lovers, but also to the next generation of West Orange
– the teens in Florida.
The Aspiration to Help
The CEO of 4 Rivers
Smokehouse John Rivers has always been burdened to help the community in ways
that he could. It was never John’s
intention to create a restaurant out of his passion for helping others and for
cooking brisket. This desire has led him
and his family to reach out to a lot of people since 2004. The official restaurant has been serving
tasty barbecue since 2009, which makes visiting this restaurant one of the best
things to do in West Orange today. At
present, 4 Rivers is looking into helping the community once again. This time, John looks forward to reaching out
to the younger generation as he gets into a world that John never imagined he
would be involved in – agriculture.
New Project, New
Partnerships
Starting next school year,
Orange County Public Schools or OCPS will launch 4 Rivers Farm Project
Partnership at Ocoee High School. This
program aims not only to educate students about the different methods of
growing plants, but also to let them test and see the success of these various
methods. John saw the need for this
project as he looked into the growing number of Florida farmers who are going
bankrupt. He also considered the time
and distance that these produce travel before they reach the plates of local
teenagers. By the time that these teens
eat the produce, it wouldn’t be as tasty as they should be when they are eaten
fresh. John wants to take away these
adolescents’ default thinking that produce taste bad.
What makes Ocoee High School
a great partner for this new project is that it already has an existing
greenhouse that complements the institution’s agriculture program. This is also where the students grow
produce. In addition to Ocoee High’s
current program, the present partnership will allow students to apply and compare
different growth methods so they can assess which technique works best. Students also get to do simple yet important
tasks such as data-keeping and nutrient-testing. More produce is expected with these new
methods in hand.
Gardening Methods
Varied gardening techniques
will be explored in this program.
Hydroponics, Verti-Gro Tower, and Grow bag are some of the systems that
the students will study and apply. The
hydroponics is a method of growing plants without soil. Growing plants uses water, water-based
environments, and mineral solution in place of soil. The Verti-Gro Tower is another name for the
kind of growing plants vertically. It
offers efficient and effective use of space so that the gardener can maximize
the floor space in the hopes of maximizing the potential of the production. A plastic bag that is filled with growing
medium, a growbag is also used in soilless planting. It comes in different sizes and materials
depending on the crop.
Professional Support
According to Michael
Armbruster, the senior executive director of Career and Technical Education of
OCPS, the students will surely benefit from this new program in many ways. It will educate the students about
agriculture, inform them about the food that they eat and, moving forward, open
a lot of opportunities for these youngsters as they acquire knowledge from this
project.
In addition to Armbruster’s
statement, the agriculture instructor of Ocoee High School, Peter Jordan,
states that this new program is an outstanding opportunity for the
students. He believes that hydroponic
techniques will be an important factor in the industry of agriculture.
As another partner in this
new project, the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences will also be
supporting this project by sending in some personnel as they give assistance
with regard to instructions and help out in the management of the greenhouse.
Bigger Picture
John is looking into
partnering with the OCPS food and nutrition services as he hopes to serve the
fruits of the children’s labor in school.
When the children are aware that they personally grew and picked out the
produce on their plates, it would instill a sense of pride and accomplishment
in them.
OCPS plans to offer summer
internship programs to the students of Ocoee High School and aims to continue
teaching the students and keeping the produce fresh even during vacation
time. In addition to this, John also has
future plans of acquiring a bigger commercial farm outside the schools where
students can work and apply their learning.
About 4 Rivers Smokehouse
“Barbecue Ministry” is what
gave birth to the famous 4 Rivers Smokehouse.
It all started when John and his family showed compassion to this young
girl was fighting cancer. The Rivers
organized a fundraiser in the form of a cookout to help out that girl and her
family. This event gave birth to more
cookouts to support charitable organizations, local schools, and churches.
The derivation of the name 4
Rivers came from two things. First,
there are four of them in the Rivers Family – John, his wife, and their two
children. Secondly, its double meaning
originated from the four rivers that branched out from the Garden of Eden as
mentioned in Genesis 2:10.
Presently, 4Rivers is
impacting 1,000 lives in their team and looks forward to expanding more in the
future. If you are having an event and
looking for someone to cater, or if you simply want to see what else is
grilling, visit www.4RSmokeHouse.com.
Juicy briskets and delicious
anniversary dinner West Orange are not the only things that 4 Rivers has to
offer. Even with all the franchises
scattered all over Florida, the Rivers always go back to their reason for the
founding of their business – impacting lives and giving to those in need. The saying, “It is better to give than to
receive,” is not just a cliché in this family.
It is their lifestyle and the foundation of their trade.
If you want to know more
about juicy barbecues, fresh produce, and more about what’s going on in West
Orange, go to http://www.Explore407.com.
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