Aquaponics Part IV: Why Aquaponics?
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| The aquaponic setup at Better Farm. |
In case you missed it, Better Farm has been steadily working on setting up an indoor aquaponic garden. We’ve taken you through the set-up and installation of our own system, but one big question remains: Why aquaponics? What can this type of system give us that we don’t already get from our (beautiful!) garden?
Firstly, aquaponic gardening is space-efficient. This isn’t
so much an issue up in the North Country, where land is easy to come by, but in
urban areas aquaponic gardening could revolutionize the way people think about
food. Because aquaponic systems don’t require soil, all one needs to garden is
enough space for a fish tank and a growing container that can fit atop it. This
is also space-efficient in that it builds vertically, preserving precious floor
space! Since many residents and interns (myself included) hail from cities,
this is a perfect way for them to get started with sustainability when they
return to their natural habitats.
Secondly, this system provides us with food year-round.
North Country winters are notoriously harsh and the availability of fresh
produce could save us from a winter of frozen and canned foods. For people
living far away from grocery stores or those who don’t have easy access to
organic and local foods, aquaponics is a surefire way to add some fresh,
healthy food to your diet without having to go on a road trip. And, speaking of
road trips, aquaponic gardening is a beautiful form of “lifestyle activism”—by
growing food in your own home, you can avoid wasting the energy required to
transport the food as well as the energy required to drive to the store.
The third big advantage of aquaponic gardening is that,
given all of the above, it actually saves you money and time. As with outdoor
gardens, growing your own food can save you hundreds or thousands of dollars
every year. The average payback time for an aquaponic garden has been estimated
at two years, meaning that after two years, you’ll have saved the amount of
money you spent on the system. After that, your average cost of living per year
will decrease. Unlike traditional gardens, however, which require laborious
hours of weeding, watering, and tending, aquaponic gardens are extremely low
maintenance. Once the nitrogen cycle is set up and the seeds are planted, the
closed-loop nature of the system allows it function mostly on its own, as long
as you’re feeding your fish. Once a plant is fully grown, just pull it up and
pop another seed in its place.
There are many more reasons to go aquaponic, but it’s easy
to see why the above three could completely change the landscape of food
politics in cities, suburbs, and harsh climates. Stop by the farm later on in
the summer to see the fruits (well, vegetables) of our labor!
