Image Credit: Glen Scarborough (Flickr)
August 23, 2018 Aquaponics 6,498 Comments

Step aside, organic. Sustainability is the new buzzword in farming, and for good reason!

Organic farming is great and all, but with the amount of water and land required to grow a substantial amount of food – it just doesn’t cut it anymore, least of all in India with its poor soil and volatile weather.

Aquaponics is unique in that it uses just 10% of the water that traditional soil farming methods use, and farmers can grow a large amount of food in an amazingly small space. This is especially good news when bearing in mind that by 2030, 60% of the world’s population will live in cities (as predicted by the World Health Organization).

The beauty of aquaponics means that food can be grown in urban environments, using very little space and water. In other words, we can all enjoy locally grown, chemical free and completely SUSTAINABLE food!

It was only a matter of time before Hollywood caught on……

No, they’re not making ‘Aquaponics The Movie’ (yet – although we can’t imagine people growing and enjoying beautiful fish and vegetables makes for a terribly exciting plot.) However, Transformers star Shia LaBeouf has wised up to the incredibleness that is aquaponic sustainability. He says:

“Me and my girlfriend are getting ready to build an aquaponics farm up in Cambria. Aquaponics is the future, dude. Aquaculture is the study of fish, and then hydroponics is the study of plants growing without soil. So when you marry those two things you wind up with an ecosystem.”

Well said, dude.

The idea of aquaponic sustainability becoming yet another celebrity trend kind of makes us cringe. But if it does become ‘cool’ perhaps more of the elite will donate their money to building aquaponics farms…Then everyone will reep the benefits and it will soon become the norm. That can only be a good thing, no?

Written by Pippa Woodhead
Being a health-nut, London born Pippa has struggled to adjust to the lack of availability of lettuce and kale since re-locating to India. Previously naive to the extent of the worlds food struggles, she has now become obsessed with sustainability in food production and especially in India where it needs it the most (plus she’s also hoping to get her hands on some kale any day now). When she’s not writing for Aquaponics in India, she is usually found with her head in a book or in the kitchen experimenting with new vegetarian recipes.