permaculture

[Saor Stetler <saor@ycbtal.net>]

     Ecocity Farm: Yet Another Take on Local Food


   November 2, 2006 8:34 AM - Warren McLaren, Sydney
   <http://www.treehugger.com/authors/index.php?author=warren>

ecocityfarm.jpg

Wanna feed 300 families? The developers of the Ecocity Farm reckon all 
you need is a standard urban house block. They've come up with a 
commercial aquaponic system that effectively recycles its own water and 
waste, while being space efficient due to it's vertical stackable 
design. Barramundi fish are harvested alongside vegetables. Waste from 
the fish is reduced, via a biodigester, to water soluble feedstock for 
the hydroponically grown plants. Plans are even afoot to prototype a 
process that converts human food scraps into fish meal. According to the 
designers the concept can produce 12 times the quantity of food from 
conventional farming. And the idea is develop the system to a complete 
all-in-one, out-of-the-box unit that can be franchised worldwide. 
Traditional farmland is preserved as the package can be used in urban 
blocks or even on building rooftops. Farmers will then be able to 
service their customers with minimal transport and energy costs. (The 
water for the Barramundi is warmed by a roof mounted solar water heater 
and power for the pumps, etc, comes from grid-connected photovoltaic 
panels.) And it seems people love the idea. After winning their episode 
of The New Inventors 
<http://www.abc.net.au/newinventors/txt/s1776276.htm> program the 
developers have been inundated with enquiries. Much more info at 
::Ecocity Farm <http://www.rivendellorganics.com/>.

PS. We were taken with their site's stats that American food travels 
about 2000 km (1200 miles) from farm gate to plate. And how the contents 
of a European breaky have travelled the equivalent of once around the globe.