Posted on 04/10/2016 6:57:19 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Here’s one way to grow food in an urban environment: Raise a school of tilapia in a tank. Filter out the nitrogen-rich waste, and let naturally occurring bacteria transform it from ammonia into nitrate. Run that naturally derived fertilizer beneath the roots of greens, herbs and peppers. Let the veggies flourish beneath LED lights. Harvest the vegetables. Later, harvest the fish. Cook and serve.
Known as aquaponics, this complicated but efficient ecosystem is the latest attempt at making agriculture commercially viable in New York City—even though it has a spotty history, a not-quite-proven track record and plenty of skeptics.
“We do aquaponics for the quality of produce it yields,” said Jason Green, CEO and co-founder of Edenworks, an emerging commercial aquaponics company in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn, that recently secured a commitment to supply baby greens and microgreens to Whole Foods Market stores in New York City later this year. “Our innovation is that we can do aquaponics cost-effectively, scalably and repeatedly.”
Though the premise of mimicking a natural system in a closed environment is ancient, Green says that new technologies including proprietary software, a complex plumbing system and cost-efficient LED lighting, plus a soaring demand for local food, will make fish-fed farms viable on a large scale, even in inner cities. A 2010 report from the New York City Council cited $600 million in unmet demand for regionally grown produce....
(Excerpt) Read more at crainsnewyork.com ...
Aslong as they don't run out of other people's money, they should be fine.
I actually find this avenue really fascinating, and I hope it works. But there are a lot of complexities and the profits aren't there. So far, it's still utopian.
This would work, if we had large-scale nuclear power plants. But the libs are against energy, so this is nothing more than a pipe dream.
I’ve been doing hydroponic tomatoes in my attic this winter. had some issues. seed starting is till ok.
It’s close to being a semi-reality, though, and I agree with you that it’s interesting and I hope it can be made to work.
Somebody hung out with the idea for 20 years and persuaded some folks to throw money at it. Some of those ideas work, some don’t. Maybe he’s hardheaded, I don’t know. But all credit to the guy who’s the sparkplug and somehow raised the money. Win or lose, it’s capitalism, including the sale of stock that may later go poof.
If it’s ever made to work, the EPA will probably put him out of business in moments, force a government takeover of the process and scale it up complete with a Department of Urban Feral Foodistics. (slight science fiction slant)
It’s much easier to move out of the city and it doesn’t require other people’s money. I can walk out the back door and drop a hook in the river or walk out the front door and pick a tomato from the garden or pick up a pecan anywhere in the yard for a batch of brownies. Can’t get any fresher herbs than from the kitchen window sill or from my big rosemary bush. I can sit on the porch and have venison, dove or squirrel for dinner. My drinking water, straight from our well, is delicious so I’m not contributing bottles to landfills. And I don’t have to get permits for every little thing like those city folk do.
That sounds truly wonderful.
My neighbor here in Maine did this.
He has a large tank of tilapia in his home, and beautiful romaine lettuce plants with their roots extending in to the water in the tank.
I’m confused by the replies that mention “other people’s money” as if this is a bad thing. This is the way capitalism is supposed to work: you have an idea, you convince people to invest in it, and then we all learn whether the investors are suckers or geniuses, depending on the outcome.
Most concepts fail and most investors lose money—it’s supposed to work that way. But the useful IP and the experienced engineers from the failed project eventually find their way to other projects, which build on the failure, and eventually—hopefully— we all see the payoff.
If it is financially successful the City and State of New York will be sure to tax it in to submission.
If it works, great. But it will be interesting to see if the luddite wing of the foodie movement will accept it. It’s tech heavy and factory farming in reality, not just metaphorically. If it is scaleable, and the public accepts it, the big grocery chains will become vertically oriented and a handful of mega-corporations might end up growing all our food.
My,that sounds like you live in heaven.
Nothing new. In Solar Alternative Energy book of the late 70’s I believe it was called the New Earth Catalog, they had diagrams of this system, however the fish was Carp. Great effort, it could finally have reached critical mass. Love to see the fish be Catfish, or Trout given they are cousins to Salmon and can lower your “numbers” ( think DASH Diet ), but that is just me, I am not sure that would be do-able.
All we need to do is find people smarter than the fish.
I’m with 2ndDivisionVet. Similar setup but add to that a pond to grow fish in, chickens that provide eggs and fertilizer, and fruit trees for jellies and pies.
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