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.
[permaculture] Ecocity Farm: Yet Another Take on Local Food,
Saor Stetler, 11/03/2006