The story traces a Huntington Beach high school sustainability program that grew from garden beds and aquaponics into a decade-long Career and Technical Education pathway, a partnership with chef-turned-councilman Andrew Gruel, and a city council proposal to turn a 12-acre parcel into a community garden and aquaculture pilot that stirred both support and criticism.
Ten years ago, students at Huntington Beach High School started an Environmental Sustainability and Social Responsibility class that did more than teach theory. They built aquaponics systems, composting routines, and a working farm where vegetables and fish produced real results. The program gave teenagers hands-on science and an early taste of entrepreneurship.
Teacher Greg Goran grew the program from a single class into a sustained, practical education platform. Students learned nutrient cycles by raising fish that fertilized plants and by composting scraps back into the system. That circular approach turned small scraps into teaching moments and tangible produce.
Local restaurateur Andrew Gruel partnered with the school to buy student-grown produce for his Slapfish restaurants, providing modest revenue and a boost to student morale. Seeing their crops on a restaurant menu made the work feel meaningful, and students began to think like business owners. They even proposed selling produce back to the school district to keep benefits in the community, a move that showed growing ambition even if it didn’t go forward.
The class evolved into a broader program featuring campus markets, fundraisers, and community events that showcased student-grown plants, seedlings, succulents, and flowers. By January 2025 the initiative had matured into a formal Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resources pathway with project-based courses like Biology and Sustainable Agriculture and Advanced Farm to Fork. Instructors emphasized hands-on learning over rote memorization to engage students more deeply.
Sarah Hatfield described the Farm to Fork class as “a lot more project-based and hands-on, so it’s a little bit more engaging than just reading a textbook and memorization.” She added,
“We do think more big picture than some of the more narrower classes, so the [classes] can be a little bit harder for those students because they have to think outside the box.”
That real-world, solutions-oriented approach mirrors the practical mindset Gruel brought from his restaurants to public service. After his 2024 appointment to the Huntington Beach City Council, Gruel pushed for a community garden and aquaculture initiative on nearly 12 acres of city land. The proposal relied on the same multi-trophic aquaculture principles used at the high school: fish effluent feeding plants and plant scraps feeding fish, creating a self-sustaining loop.
The council asked staff to study a pilot that would offer gardening spaces for residents and teach sustainable food production while encouraging civic engagement. Social media and public discussion showed strong interest in the idea’s potential educational, environmental, and community benefits. Supporters argued the pilot could expand hands-on learning at scale and provide residents with a practical way to grow food locally.
Not everyone agreed. Critics raised conflict-of-interest concerns, suggesting the initiative bore Gruel’s imprint and asking whether any product could end up benefiting his Calico Fish House. Opponents referenced the 2014 high school aquaculture work to question motivations and transparency. That scrutiny illustrates how public projects by known builders often attract more attention than the ideas themselves.
Gruel pushed back on social media, clarifying that none of the fish from the high school program was used at Slapfish and asserting that “none of the product provided in this project would be available commercially.” He noted the yearly harvest would amount to only enough seafood for “two restaurant services,” stressing the community-focused aims over any commercial intent.
At the heart of the debate is a clash between those who favor practical problem solving and those who prefer strict separation between private experience and public projects. Critics see a potential conflict of interest; supporters see a pattern of getting things done—teachers, students, and local leaders building capacity rather than waiting for permission. That tension is familiar across California where innovation often runs afoul of caution and bureaucracy.
Meanwhile, the Huntington Beach program persists as a living classroom where students acquire science, stewardship, and workforce skills. Under Goran and the new CTE structure, students learn to run markets, engage the public, and apply ecological principles to real challenges. Those daily, hands-on experiences prepare young people for work and civic participation in ways textbooks cannot.
Gruel’s proposal and the HBHS model together present a practical alternative to distant policy solutions: modest investment, direct community benefit, and educational payoff. Builders like Gruel and educators like Goran focus on deliverables—farms, markets, lessons—rather than headlines. Their work shows how local initiatives can produce measurable outcomes while teaching the next generation to create and conserve.
If cities want to improve food resilience and expand vocational learning, supporting local, teacher-led innovations is a straightforward place to start. Small-scale agriculture and aquaculture programs offer measurable student outcomes, community engagement, and incremental contributions to food access. They are not flashy, but they work.
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