Climate change poses a severe threat to food production, making it imperative to find sustainable methods that complement natural, regenerative, soil based farming. One such method is aquaponics, which grows fish and vegetables together using a water substrate with no added minerals. The fish poop supplies all that the plants need to grow. It’s been hard for dreamers and doers to find that sweet spot that balances several ecosystems at the same time: the fish in the pond, the food in the hydroponics beds, and both those parts together.

Researchers from a desert country, where food growing is limited due to lack of water, offer a new proof of concept for a new closed loop system called aquaponics that produces more fish and vegetables while using less energy than conventional systems.

Their findings were published in the journal Resources, Conservation & Recycling.

Prof. Amit Gross, at Ben-Gurion University has been working with his students and collaborators for the last decade on aquaponic systems. His system uses brackish, or salty water and combines farming with growing fish farms.

As we mentioned above, aquaponic systems grow fish while using the fish waste to grow vegetables hydroponically. Hydroponics was invented by NASA decades ago and later perfected by stealth cannabis growers in Canada who could run grow-ops between walls in their apartment throughout the winter. Now that cannabis is legal in Canada and the US and hydroponics a great method for controlled growing of high value crops, advances are needed to make it even more sustainable.

That’s where this new research steps in: coupled aquaponics are closed loop systems that recycle much of the fish effluent rather than reusing it outside of the aquaponic system. Where typically the fish solid waste is disposed of, Gross managed to treat it by anaerobic digestion and recover energy and nutrients into the system to form a near zero waste unit. This is the path to resolving the ups and downs and headaches of balancing the nutrient load in the system and what the plants need as they grow.

After more than two years of testing, Gross’s system demonstrated 1.6 times higher plant areal productivity, 2.1 times lower water usage and 16% less energy consumption per kilogram of feed than conventional systems.

His calculations suggest that upscaling to about one ton of fish will allow operation of the system with no need for external energy, less than 1% water exchange, negligible waste production as well as significant carbon sequestration.

Net zero, here we come? The next grow system for the spaceship to Mars and the first Mars colony? Sustainable food that can be grown in Antarctica?

“Feeding the more than 8 billion people on the planet while reducing greenhouse gas emissions will require innovative technologies. Those that combine two functions in one are obviously preferable. Fish are a sustainable high-quality source of protein with a far smaller carbon footprint than most other sources. Combining fish growth with vegetable production and preventing waste is a win-win-win,” says Gross who worked with Ze Zhu and Uri Yogev from Ben-Gurion University and Prof. Karel Keesman from Wageningen University and Research in the Netherlands.

? Hydroponics, Aquaponics, and Cannabis: Growing Greener with Smart Agriculture

As the world looks for sustainable ways to grow food and medicine, modern farming methods like hydroponics, aquaponics, and even cannabis cultivation are leading a quiet revolution—especially in regions facing water scarcity, like the Middle East and North Africa.

Hydroponics uses nutrient-rich water instead of soil, saving up to 90% of water compared to traditional farming. Aquaponics adds fish into the mix, creating a closed-loop system where fish waste feeds the plants, and the plants clean the water. These systems can be set up in homes, urban rooftops, or greenhouses, making them ideal for future food security.

And yes, cannabis—the once-taboo plant—is gaining ground as a medicinal crop. Grown sustainably in hydro or aquaponic systems, cannabis can provide medical benefits without the environmental damage associated with traditional farming.

This green trifecta—hydroponics, aquaponics, cannabis—is not just a trend; it’s a glimpse into the future of ethical, sustainable agriculture.

? Learn More

Here are 5 useful links to deepen your understanding:

1. Hydroponic Farming in the Middle East

2. What is Aquaponics and Why is it Eco-Friendly?

3. Israel’s Medical Cannabis Revolution

4. Rooftop Farming in the Middle East

5. Smart Agriculture Innovations in MENA

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Hydroponics and new, high-tech urban agricultural techniques are now growing fresh food in the middle of Manhattan and other large metropolitan centers globally. People are catching onto the taste and business opportunities of urban agriculture: find it growing in Middle Eastern cities such as Cairo, Egypt too!

Urban farming in midwestern American cities like Chicago has had its limitations due to adverse winter weather conditions at least 9 months a year. New indoor farming techniques use vertical farming, special indoor LED lighting and hydroponic systems that pump soybean and kelp-infused water through a temperature and humidity-controlled system, nearly 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

This unique hydroponic farming system is at Bedford Park, about 15 miles (25 km) southwest of Chicago. The Bedford Park project, being carried out by a company known as Farmed Here is housed in a 90,000 square foot warehouse. The project produces a number of green vegetables and herbs; including basil, baby greens, broccoli, and kale.

Farmed Here is just one of more than 821 agricultural projects found under the Chicago Urban Center Agriculture Mapping Project  that includes anything from small private urban projects to multi-acre urban agricultural farms.

Farmed Here’s CEO Nate Laurel, a venture capital investor in his own right, put $13 million into the project that has a combined investment of more than $50 million USD. He says that this investment is worthwhile, considering the demand for fresh vegetable produce in the Chicago metro area alone.

“The greens market for Chicago alone is $400 million dollars,” he says. “Given the market is so big, it’s so top of mind for people to know where their food came from and how it was grown”, he adds.

Urban faming projects have also gone big-time by a rival company, Brooklyn based Gotham Greens, which opened a 75,000 sq. ft. rooftop farm in Chicago’s Pullman Park quarter in November 2015. In contrast to the LED lighting used by Farmed Here, the Gotham Greens project also uses natural sunlight, that is absorbed through a translucent roof. This idea is more in line with the traditional greenhouse lighting idea.

Dallas, Texas is also getting into the urban farming business: it has opened the office for Flux Farm, Inc., a company (founded and co-owned by Green Prophet’s Karin Kloosterman) to bring space-age artificial intelligence to predict and optimize the growth of plants in controlled environment growing. This company aims to connect urban farms everywhere for data, community and eventually selling produce grown. The company is piloting its technology at an urban indoor hydroponics park in Massachusetts.

The idea of urban farming has also been promoted by Michelle Obama, wife of US President Barack Obama, and who also hails from Chicago. The First Lady launched an urban gardening project in a section of the White House grounds in the Spring of 2012. Her urban gardening project has given her the title of First Lady of Urban Gardens.

More articles on urban agriculture projects:

Grow fresh food in the middle of Manhattan? Meet Henry
Brooklyn’s Gotham Greens builds world’s largest rooftop urban farm
Egypt’s urban agriculture movement is growing!

Photo of Farmed Here urban agriculture project by Fast CoExist; Photo of Michelle Obama in urban garden by NPR.Org

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Parents are happy to be sending their kids back to school soon. But Green Prophets everywhere know it’s open season to keep learning no matter your age. Urban farming is all the rage. Forget about buying at the Farmer’s Market. What about starting a hydroponics hobby garden or business in your backyard?

Consider that NASA engineers have grown lettuce in space using technology like that innovated at Cropking. The American company has been building high-tech hydroponics farms since 1982.

They don’t only build the tools to grow sustainable food on water, but offer teaching resources and workshops too:

Cropking offers regular workshops showing everyday people how to start a small hobby farm, small business or large commercial enterprise that grows food that looks and tastes good. They also have sample business plans to give enthusiasts help off the ground so they can meet the bottom line.

There are truckloads of newcomers to the industry of hydroponic food growing. Hydroponics means growing food on water, using added nutrients in a controlled setting. And we see new companies emerge every day.

RELATED: this food computer called flux can grow food like NASA

Cropking, a family owned business, isn’t an overnight story. This is one of those salt of the earth companies that has pushed the entire hydroponics, aquaponics and aeroponics industries forward. They build solutions for businesses and commercial hydroponic farms, but also sell consumer and small business size set ups as well.

Hydroponics shows immense promise for fulfilling the 100-Mile diet, but also for feeding people in landlocked desert environments where water is limited. Listen up California: hydroponics actually uses 90% less water than soil-based farming and you can grow an acre’s worth of food inside an area the size of a shipping container.

How to start a hydroponics farm?

Currently there is no age-old tradition of hydroponics farming, or a Farmer’s Almanac on how it’s done. Doing it right means meeting with experts with experience.

If you want to do a workshop with Cropking, you might have to fly in to the United States or organize a group and invite the company to you. Workshops are usually in Lodi, Ohio from May through the end of summer, but based on demand Cropking gives courses throughout the United States.

The next workshop is scheduled for Sept 18 to 19 in Quakertown, Pennsylvania, then October 1 to 2 in Lodi, Ohio. In October meet in Madras, Oregon and in November from the 6 to the 7 there will be a workshop in North Charleston, South Carolina.

When the courses are done off-site (outside of Lodi, Ohio) Cropking rents a hotel conference room and caps “students” at 26 to 28 people. And you’ll get to meet salt of the earth people like J. Paul Brentlinger (left) from Cropking who tells Green Prophet:

“We have been helping people get set up in commercial vegetable crop production since 1982 and have growing operations in all 50 states and in many countries around the world.”

It’s back to school time for earth lovers and those dreaming of setting up hydroponics as a small business. And while you are munching on your freshly picked-that-day lettuce think of the astronauts who are doing it too.

The post The Cropking family makes it hydroponics back to school time appeared first on Green Prophet.

Hydroponics is the system of growing plants without soil, instead using liquid, sand, or gravel, packed with extra nutrients. The hydroponic lab at Watchung Primary School will experiment with two techniques.  One is called nutrient film technique (NFT) where a shallow stream of nutrient-rich water flows past the bare roots of plants in a watertight thick root mat. This is where leafy plants such as spinach and kale will be grown. The other is a Dutch bucket system where plants grow inside pails, drip-fed nutrients, where liquid drains through the bucket into a common drain tube. Vine-based plants will be grown in the containers, including tomatoes and squash.

Watchung School Parent Teacher Association (PTA) president Ofira Bondorowsky spearheaded the project. In an interview with the Montclair Times, she said the idea for a hydroponics lab arose last summer during discussions about new learning initiatives.

Montclair is a Manhattan suburb where primary education is taught at “magnet schools”, each with a specific focus supported by programs bespoke to that school. The international school holds a pee-wee model United Nations. The fine arts school places emphasis on performing arts.

“We are the science and technology school. We wanted to do something that was cutting-edge…that would clearly have added educational value,” said Bondorowsky. Once PTA members agreed to create a hydroponics system at the school, the next step was to find a teacher who could teach how to run it . Enter science teacher Amy Armstrong.

“There are sustainability issues that I am teaching the kids about,” Armstrong said. “We have an outdoor traditional soil garden, but now I can grow plants with them all year-long and be able to do so much more hands-on.”

The school turned to New York Sun Works, a nonprofit dedicated to hydroponic education, for layout design and construction. The company also provides a teaching curriculum and ongoing support. Total costs for consultancy and construction came to about $21,000, funds raised by the PTA.

As the system matures, along with students skills, the farm can incorporate other components such as an aquaponics system that enables water used in fishtanks to be reused as a plant nutrient. Supporting technology is also fast coming online – such as flux – a consumer device and operating system allowing anyone, including those without prior experience, to successfully farm using water alone.

Success at Watchung will likely see the program rolled out to other area schools. New Jersey is jumping on hydroponics in a big way, with a two-day workshop held by hydroponics experts American Hydroponics. 

Cropking, a family business building hydroponics farms since 1982, also offers courses, and gives them country-wide. Read here to find a hydroponics course near you.

Want to know more about this farming method that’s starting to feed men in space?  If you are stateside, contact our friend Henry in New York to custom-build you a hydroponics farm or workshop.

Gardeners and farmers in water-starved Middle East know that hydroponics is a great solution for farming in desert climates. Search the Green Prophet archives for our many stories on this technique.  And do drop us a line to tell us about your own experiences with hydroponics.

Photo of Amy Armstrong, left, and Ofira Bondorowsky by Ricardo Kaulessar/Montclair Times

The post New Jersey kids doing hydroponics? forghedaboudit! appeared first on Green Prophet.

What’s that saying? You have to travel halfway around the world to find what you are looking for and then you find it in your backyard? I was at my parent’s house in Ontario this past Spring, and on my quest to find the coolest aquaponics set ups in the city (which I managed to find at Fresh City Farms!), my trail led me “UpStream” to Newmarket.

Steven Looi from Richmond Hill has set up UpStream, an urban water farm inside a large garage of offices on Main Street North. In this garage startup, you’ll find a special surprise: pools of fish nurturing fresh greens.

The aim of Looi, with his experiment, is to show a viable model for food stamps of the future. To show that food staples which are healthy and fresh can be grown right at home or in the middle of the city. No dirt. Worms need not apply. We are talking about food grown on water, with fish for protein – fish that you eat.

Growing fish and plants together is an ancient way called aquaponics. It was actually discovered in ancient China (where Looi’s family is from) that if you add some fish into the rice paddies the rice will grow better.

The excrement of the fish gives organic nutrients to the plants, completing a cycle of life the way nature intended. Looi, 33, who comes from the world of high-tech “fell ass-backwards” into technology he tells Green Prophet. Always interested in sustainable business, he started a video game company, a company with “no physical footprint.”

Two years ago, he started learning about aquaponics, or AP, and with some smuggled tilapia fish that he bought over the US border “as pets” Looi started farming at his home in Richmond Hill. Along with the fish he’s grown tomatoes, lettuce, kale using the fish waste as nutrients, using water, some pumps and grow lights.

But he wanted to do more than grow fresh kale at home: “I wanted to have an impact. So I thought about the local foodbank.”

Looi went to the York Region Food Network and wrote up a grant proposal which they accepted. The fruits of his labor are now apparent in the Newmarket garage he operates out of.

Construction started on April 2013, and he’s attracted interest from local people like carpenters and schools that “just want to be a part of it,” says Looi.

Late last August was his first harvest and later in October he brought the fish. Due to the trouble sourcing the fingerlings, he probably won’t harvest the fish this year but will “keep them as fertilizer.”

Otherwise “I’d have to substitute petroleum-based fertilizers,” Looi tells Green Prophet.

The York Region Food Network remains his partner.

While he is not sure how much extra food the unit can make to make a real dent in the food insecurity issue in Canada he would like to have an impact on providing people jobs, supplementing the food bank, and offering locally grown food which is in essence organic, but reasonably priced.

I throw in a hand of food and the fish jump to the top of the pool, about the size of a large kiddie pool but a couple meters deep.

It’s astounding to think that such underground activities are happening in Newmarket, where Big Box shops have taken a hold of the consumer mentality. Can my hometown be saved by swimming UpStream? Will the people support it?

UpStream is attempting to teach those willing how to do AP at home. He estimates that a single person needs two acres of soil to support their own food bill for the year. While AP can be done at home, and augment about 25 percent of a person’s food bill.

It’s especially attractive in Middle East locations like Israel where this year, the shmita year, Jews are forbidden from gardening or tilling or reaping harvest from the land.

Hydroponics and aquaponics which uses water is exempt from this religious proscription. In the large facility in Newmarket, he sees as a pilot, Looi is hoping to scale up to 20,000 to 40,000 square feet. He is also hoping to get into the medical cannabis business in Canada. Growing pot on water –– with organic fish nutrients? Sounds like a great opportunity for using less fertilizer and potentially less pesticides.

For now Looi keeps everything under control at his facility measuring in steps how he will grow. He invites visitors and the curious to drop by his farm, quaintly situated beside a tiny stream, the Tannery Creek, I used to wade around in as a kid. I was hunting for old bottles and would cash them in at the local convenience store for treats. Recycling at its sweetest.

More on Upstream here on their Facebook page.

The post Swimming UpStream with Steven Looi’s water farm appeared first on Green Prophet.

The research was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Combining biology with physics, the two researchers uncovered a process called hydrodynamic starvation. Their studies show that most baby fish are destined to die because they are unable to feed from their environment due to a process limited by the physics of water.

“Unlike mammals, most fish release eggs and sperm externally in the water. There is almost no maternal care. The fertilized eggs drift to the ocean where the larvae hatch,” Holzman tells ISRAEL21c. “In the beginning they have no mouth and feed off their yolk sac. Once they start feeding, most of them start dying. Within two weeks, over 90% of the larvae have died. This phenomenon has been known for over a century.

Multiple hypotheses over the years have speculated that the problem stems from pollution, drifting, unsuitable habitats, lack of food, predation or disease, he explains.

But even under the best conditions, even fish that are reared for aquaponics, at least 70% of newly hatched fish still die. For example, the Tel Aviv researchers found that at Har Dag, a veteran fish farm in Eilat, typically 250,000 larvae survive from one million hatched eggs.

Something’s fishy

“It’s obviously something else that is happening here. There are no predators, they don’t drift and they have plenty to eat,” says Holzman. “I started thinking about this problem four years ago and yet found no one who had come up with a good answer. In research, your best commodity is your question, not your answer.”

What Holzman and his colleagues discovered is linked to the physics of small things. There is an interaction of fish bodies and their surrounding fluid, and this interaction changes with size.

Due to weak electric signals between a body and the water, a small layer of water sticks to the surface and gets dragged around with the fish. We don’t feel this when we dive into the water because humans are so much bigger than fish larvae. But this layer lies heavy on the tiny larvae.

“When you are small you drag a proportionately huge layer of water around with you, which changes the way organisms feed and swim. When you are very small you can’t use fins or a propeller, but swim with a screw-like instrument called flagella,” Holzman explains.

This business of swimming with flagella can get sticky and can prevent a small larva from opening its mouth to generate a flow of water carrying in prey.

“This mode of feeding can fail,” says Holzman, who set up an experiment that increased the viscosity of water, using dextran, showing how even bigger, more successful larvae can fail at feeding, and then fail to thrive.

Honey, we shrunk the fish

“We showed that in these conditions the bigger larvae behave and feed like the small ones. Like the movie Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, we took old larvae and made them feel tiny again. They failed to feed because of the high viscosity in the water. They were not adapted under these circumstances,” says Holzman.

They put all the experiments on film, which was no easy task as the larvae are three to four millimeters long and almost transparent. Their mouths are about 100 to 200 microns in size, and take a quick 20 milliseconds to open and close.

Holzman is reasonably sure that fish larvae die off not from pollution, but a survival mechanism inherent in nature: “The whole reproduction mode is coping with the loss of so many, like sperm production in human males.

“But I think there is an edge here. If this is the system, we can think about what we can do artificially to increase survival to get better products when doing agriculture [like fish farming or aquaponics] – to increase growth rates.”

He thinks that overfishing, rather than hydrodynamic starvation, is the simple reason why fish populations have crashed globally.

Next, the scientific community may be able to apply Holzman and China’s finding to figure out ways to improve the odds for fish around the world.

This story first appeared on ISRAEl21c – www.israel21c.org

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Recovery in the agriculture sector, once hostilities cease, will require significant external assistance over the long term. And this is where we see opportunities for alternative agriculture systems for smallholder farmers and families. Aquaponics and hydroponics can be done on rooftops, and it is especially meaningful in areas where water is severely limited.

The FAO estimates that the recent fighting has resulted in substantial direct damage to Gaza’s 17,000 hectares of croplands as well as much of its agricultural infrastructure, including greenhouses, irrigation systems, animal farms, fodder stocks and fishing boats.

According to the latest update Gaza has lost half of its population of poultry birds (broilers and layers) either due to direct hits on their shelters or lack of water, feed or care resulting from access restrictions.

Around 64,000 head of small ruminants are in need of animal feed and water in order to avoid further animal deaths and the additional erosion of herders’ productive assets.

Meanwhile losses by Gaza’s fishing sector so far are estimated at 234.6 tonnes over the period 9 July – 10 August –equivalent to 9.3 percent of local fishers’ yearly catch.

“Up to now, ongoing military operations have prevented detailed assessments of damages to agriculture from being completed,” said Ciro Fiorillo, head of FAO’s office in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The Gaza Strip imports most of what it eats — however locally produced food represents an important source of nutritious and affordable food, and some 28,600 people in Gaza rely on farming (19,000 people), livestock raising (6,000) and fishing (3,600) for their livelihoods.

“Under the most recent ceasefire many farmers and herders are now able to access their lands, however resumption of food production faces serious obstacles given the damages sustained and shortages of water, electricity, inputs and financial resources, as well as ongoing uncertainty regarding the possible resumption of military activities”, said Fiorillo.

Volatile food prices

While they have never lacked variety, in part from active smuggling tunnels to Egypt, food prices in Gaza have fluctuated considerably compared with before hostilities began, registering significant increases for certain products such as eggs and many vegetables.

Upward spikes have ranged from a 40 percent increase in the price of eggs to a 42 percent increase for potatoes to a 179 percent spike in the price of tomatoes. Tomatoes, even fish can be grown with ease on rooftops and small plots of land using aquaponics and hydroponics.

With local food production halted and food imports curtailed, virtually the entire population of Gaza (about 1.8 million people) is currently reliant on food aid. But it doesn’t have to be so. Companies like flux are developing tools to make it super easy for people to grow their own food and plants on water, without soil.

Emergency fodder for animals

As soon as a permanent ceasefire is established FAO, with support from Canada, will distribute fodder to feed 55 000 small ruminants throughout Gaza for 45 days. The Organization is also positioned to distribute 4 000, 1-cubic metre water tanks to help herders water their animals.

“We have a programme that supports the resilience of agriculture-based livelihoods of Gaza fishermen, herders and farmers,” said Abdessalam Ould Ahmed, FAO Regional Representative for the Near East and North Africa. “We need to get this back on track as soon as hostilities cease, to promote not just survival of Gaza’s people but their self-reliant development.”

Again we emphasize the need for Gazans to take the future into their own hands and start rooftop and backyard farming. This approach can ease the current crisis and help people be self-reliant no matter the political circumstance.

Above image via flux

The post Why Gaza needs hydroponics and aquaponics for food security appeared first on Green Prophet.

Forward Thinking Architecture has designed floating farms for Singapore, a country that shares many of the problems we have in the Middle East – food insecurity, lack of land, and a rapidly growing population. We think this design might be appropriate for our region as well.

A subsidiary of JAPA, an ideas lab, Forward Thinking Architecture proposes that responsive floating agriculture can ease both present and looming food shortages.

Building on existing floating fish farms in Singapore, the concept comprises networked floating structures with a looping configuration that are equipped with rotating racks full of lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, spinach and other crops that can be grown year-round.

Related: flux home device makes is easy for anyone to grow food using hydroponics

The loop design helps to maximize the amount of sunlight that is available and creates an appealing aesthetic that won’t deter from the surrounding landscape. This is important because the farms will be set up adjacent to the city on waterways, where people often congregate during their leisure hours.

And then there’s the “responsive” aspect of the design.

Neighborhoods in the city can each ‘order’ precisely what they need by communicating their requirements via a tech layer that crowns each floating farm. This not only helps to reduce food waste, but also reduces carbon dioxide emissions associated with food miles (how far food has to travel) and imports.

Using aquaponic and hydroponic systems, these floating farms also help to conserve water – as most vertical growing systems do, although being outside does increase the likelihood of evaporation.

One concern we might have is the extent to which air pollution, which grows alongside the population, would affect the quality of the food being grown. It’s not completely obvious whether the design team have included some kind of mechanism that would filter the air to avoid contaminating the plants.

Otherwise – great design. What do our readers think? Is this an appropriate solution to our food, water, and land shortages?

:: Designboom

The post Responsive floating agriculture to feed the Middle East? appeared first on Green Prophet.

The Israeli company entered their concept into the Pears Challenge, which targets entrepreneurs that are developing solutions that can be applied in developing countries.

The Challenge welcomes submissions that address health, education, agriculture, water, ICT, and clean energy.

In this case, Living Green develops food growing systems that are affordable, can be implemented at home or scaled up for commercial farmers, and perhaps best of all, once they are set up, they are completely self-sustaining. This means they require zero electricity, soil or water to maintain.

There are three different kinds of LivingBoxes — one that relies on aquaponics, a closed loop system that uses fish waste to provide the nitrogen necessary for plants to grow, hydroponics, growing food in water, and a biogas system that – quite simply – uses food waste to produce organic, healthy fertilizer.

Related: Bulldozers raze ancient urban farm in Turkey

As far as we can tell, Living Boxes can be scaled up and down using any combination of the three techniques. They are delivered in one box, which is comprised of an array of smaller boxes, and are incredibly easy to use.

“The Livingbox is the perfect system, because it lets anyone anywhere grow vegetables without the need for fertile soil, or running water and electricity, and with minimal farming skills,” said company co-founder Nitzan Solan.

“It could help feed people in the developing world, providing them with access to fresh, nutritious food, while helping them maintain a clean environment.”

Once users receive their boxes, they merely add water and seeds, and the relatively low-tech system essentially takes care of itself from there.

Noting that 70 percent of the global population are expected live in urban environments by 2050, Living Green proposes their system as an affordable means to grow nutritious food at home that will bolster people’s health and make them more resilient against disease.

The Pears Challenge is a collaborative competition hosted by the international Pears Foundation and Tel Aviv University.

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On our mission to find sustainable ways to feed the Middle East, and our planet, and real people leading these movements, Green Prophet heads out to Downsview Park in Toronto, Canada, to meet Even Bell, the founder of WaterFarmers, Toronto’s largest aquaponics farm. The company has also built commercial-scale projects in Oman and Pakistan.

Bell (pictured above left) is a farmer, on water. But he’s not your average hydro guy. Bell, a web analyst by day, moonlights as a fish and vegetable farmer on his spare time.

Some say it’s a perfect system, ecologically balanced: When you couple the fish, and their waste (poo and pee), with a plant system that grows on this waste water, factor in bacteria that helps to break down the fish waste and you get a pretty complete nutrient cycle. Except for the food you need to feed the fish, and some added micronutrients like kelp, you can grow some of the healthiest organic food out there.

WaterFarmers is doing this and helping Toronto eat a little more local and sustainably. Because AP or water farming uses about 90 percent less water than traditional farming it’s also really suited to drought ridden climates like the Middle East and California.

Bell’s farm (he’s a co-founder) is strategically not out in the country, but in the middle of a city where most people have no clue where their food comes from. It is based in a greenhouse run by Fresh City Farms, a CSA. In the above picture you’ll see Fresh City Farms founder Phil Collins, right.

“100% of what we produce is harvested by them,” says Bell, 26, who keeps a personal aquaponics farm at home. “There would be more to show you over there but we just harvested 500 heads of lettuce,” he says pointing to the styrofoam trays floating on a bed of water.

The fish for now are not culled for food, but serve as a nutrient generator for the plants. We meet him as he’s giving a diverse but beautiful crowd of co-op gardeners an overview seminar on aquaponics farming. He’s explaining the minerals and chemicals that need to be added to keep the balance so the fish stay happy, the lettuce leafy and the tomatoes tasty. Later on we meet a summer intern who shows us how the chemicals keep balanced and what to do if they are not.

Below is Hannah Hunter, farm manager (right) and Ashley, intern (left).

There may be a lot of interest and people who want to “convert” to aquaponics, an old but “new” method of urban farming, Bell tells Green Prophet, but at the end of the day he asks people who want to set up operations: have you ever farmed before? Had a garden? It is basically just farming, but some extra complexities and responsibilities, he explains while we head to DQ for a much needed ice-cream. The greenhouse feels like it’s about 60 degrees C in there.

Aquaponics farming in Toronto, the way Bell does it at WaterFarmers, may not be for everyone or every climate: the farm needs energy for pumps to pump oxygen to the fish, and it needs heat in the winter.

But “AP is intuitively appealing,” says Bell who handles North American operations for the company. The Toronto farm is a hybrid system with media and deep water beds. It’s made to consume little power and be efficient. This takes lower capital. It’s also not automated. He or an assistant monitors pH, and nitrate and nitrate levels on a daily basis. They have a data collection app, perhaps for automation one day. But for now someone needs to be on hand every day of the week to make sure the fish and plants are doing well. Five hours without power may cause the fish to go belly up.

He shows us the grow beds budding basel that they will cull again, maybe only once more before the herbs become too tired.

The fresh herbs, lettuce, and future tomatoes that are growing, are added to the weekly CSA boxes sent out by Fresh City Farms. The CSA has 1,600 members and most of the food is produced onsite in Downsview Park where they lease land.

If there are gaps in making AP transition to a more common way of farming Bell sees them as technology, supply change, and knowledge exchange as key factors in making it more appealing and widespread. For now, many operations are simply not cost effective, he says.

Bell picked up on the idea of aquaponics while studying economics and statistics at Waterloo University in Kitchener where he joined the UWAQ aquaponics club. His farm just started operating in January but he expects by the end of the year they’ll have produced thousands of kilos of fresh organic food to feed people in Toronto. For now they are using the hearty tilapia fish as a nutrient provider but they might switch to a fish like trout which can tolerate winters better.

So far none of the fish have been eaten, but when they do grow they can be an excellent source of protein – especially for communities where fresh protein is in short supply. Certainly this is not the case in Toronto where a McDonalds can be found on every major street corner.

But in their own way WaterFarmers are planting the seeds of education so more people in this hard-scrabble neighbourhood of North York, fed subsidies and food stamps, may get exposed (even if only in passing)- to an alternate way of living off the land – on water.

::WaterFarmers website; Fresh City Farms

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