The latest trend for the environmental sustainability has been to bring food sources closer to densely populated areas, e.g. cities. I am academically trained in finance and economics, as such I am a big proponent of specialization leading to simple economies of scale. For urban food programs like this to be successful they must make [...]
The latest trend for the environmental sustainability has been to bring food sources closer to densely populated areas, e.g. cities. I am academically trained in finance and economics, as such I am a big proponent of specialization leading to simple economies of scale. For urban food programs like this to be successful they must make productive use of space, and be efficient in the entire sense of the word.
The idea of urban grown food is not something new. It is a dream and ideal that many are waiting to see some to life, but a few are actively trying to make it a reality. In Chicago we’ve seen green die hards / poorgeoisie go to the extent of urban / alley chicken coops; I kid you not. In the hipster locale of Bucktown, on one block you can her a cluck or two every now and then. If you have the time, space and money more power to you. There is a pleasure gained from caring and growing your own food (chicken eggs in this case.) However, these little urban farms are expensive, messy an ultimately inefficient.
I have always dreamed of a synergistic agriculture – aquaculture farm that was sustainable both environmentally and economically. Last week I stumbled across this great video, showing Martin Shreibman’s sustainable aquaculture system at Brooklyn University. While other aquaculture systems can pollute local waters via waste and run off, this system utilizes plants to turn nutrient fish waste into beneficial plant biomass.
Obvious hurdles aside, its great to see curious minds making dreams into a reality. It’s just a start… it has to from somewhere.
