Why is Aquaponics Good for us?

Lets look at the ways our current system of food production is detrimental to a sustainable lifestyle. Farm and ranch lands cover nearly 40 percent of Earth’s land area, while aquaponic techniques can’t quite address this statistic they can certainly mitigate the impact. Because aquaponics like hydroponics is a soil-less growing technique, plants and fish can be grown anywhere, including on land that is considered infertile, like too sandy or to rocky, or too toxic like the aftermath of the Tsunami in Japan, and even in old warehouse buildings and unused parking lots in the inner cities of America and Europe

The current agricultural model consumes nearly three quarters of the earth’s available water, but because aquaponics is a recirculating system, the only water “lost” is either held in the plants, transpires through their leaves, or evaporates from the top of the fish tank. Aquaponics is generally thought to use less than a tenth of the water of traditional agriculture for the same crop output.

Agricultural activities such as clearing land, growing rice, raising cattle, overusing fertilizers, and spraying pathogens and herbicides make up 35 percent of the single largest contributor of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. The Gmo conundrum is also a big risk to our health as these crops have been engineered for resistance to these pathogens and herbicides, which are known to cause cancer and other horrible consequences, none of these practices have any place in aquaponic growing whatsoever.

 In the search for better management techniques in modern agriculture, many parts of Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe have substantial yield gaps, where farmland is not living up to its potential for producing crops. Closing these gaps through improved use of existing crop varieties, better farm management and improved plant genetics could increase current food production nearly 60 percent.

Because of the consistent and often ideal mix of water, oxygen and fertilizer that an aquaponics system provides, plants grow significantly faster in an aquaponics system than they will in soil. In addition, plants can be placed closer together in aquaponics systems because they are not competing for those resources in their root zone. 

About 40% of all crops produced on earth are used to feed its edible animals, Fish are the single most efficient converter of feed to flesh of any edible animal. One and a half pounds of feed will bring to harvest, one pound of edible, omnivorous fish fillets. It takes eight pounds of feed to produce the same single pound of beef fillets.

Between oil-based fertilizers, oil-fueled farming machinery, and long distances between farm and table, modern food is saturated with oil. Aquaponic systems on the other hand, have no oil-based inputs and are run entirely on a small amount of electricity. This electricity can be created through currently available sustainable energy methods such as Solar and Wind power generation. 

In keeping with the standards of sustainability aquaponics can and does reduce waste. One-third of the food farms produce ends up discarded, spoiled or eaten by pests. Eliminating waste in the path from farm to mouth could boost food available for consumption another 50 percent.”

Because aquaponics systems are raised off the ground they tend to have fewer pest issues than traditional agriculture. And because aquaponic farms can be set up anywhere, producing food directly within densely populated communities can be implemented right now, with no new technologies needed. The path from farm to table can be made as short as down the block or even from back yard to table. 

Aquaponics is pioneering ways to localize food production and to cut out the waste inherent in the long paths we now have from farm to market to home – paths that could be reduced to nearly zero with widespread aquaponics implementation. While aquaponics is not the answer to all of our future food supply and environmental issues. Grains and root crops, for example, will probably always be most efficiently grown in the soil. But for above ground, vegetative crops and fish protein, there quite simply isn’t a better growing technique on, and for, the earth.