Background:
When questions started to stir around the topics of community gardens and food banks, Urban Expressions went to task developing a more efficient and low maintenance way of producing food for the communities at large. As project manager Scott Roth started to research the it became clear that aquaponics would be the way to produce food year round in a seasonal climate as Pennsylvania.
What is aquaponics exactly? It is a system of aquaculture in which the waste produced by farmed fish or other aquatic animals supplies nutrients for plants grown hydroponically, which in turn purify the water.
Project Plan:
The plan is to start with a micro unit and increase the volume of vegetable and eventually fish production. In the year of 2015 the object is to have multiple medium sized aquaponic systems. The purpose is to create a growing pattern that can then be produced at a larger scale within a greenhouse environment for year round growing.
Churches and other public organizations have land readily available to place these systems down. Also aquaponic systems can be maintained within a warehouse or other indoor settings. Once fully operational fish and vegetables will be farmed and passed onto local food pantries. In time there will also be a program for education distribution for others to grow their own food and cut costs being spent on growing vegetables and protein.
Currently Scott is having some of his Teens Teaching Teens students working together to create the model and execute on the final production. If you would like more information on this project please contact Scott Roth via email: scott@urbanexpression.org