BBC Documentary says Aquaponics is the Answer
The BBC recently created a three part documentary series on the coming food crisis called “The Future of Food.” This made for television series looks at world trouble spots as we move into a future of over population and energy decent.
George Alagiah travels the world to reveal a growing global food crisis that could affect the planet in the years ahead. With food riots on three continents recently, and unprecedented competition for food due to population growth and changing diets, the series alerts viewers to a looming problem and looks for solutions.
The documentary takes you around the world to places like Cuba, Kenya, India, Mexico and reveals a compelling litany of industrialized food problems and it’s looming inability to feed the planet. But we’ve all heard of these approaching problems before and what we all want to know is – whats the solution?
Where is the answer? And how do we get out of this mess?
So lets cut to the chase and look at the last 10 minutes of this documentary series where two of the possible answers are revealed. One is a computer model of Vertical Farming in a city skyscraper. Hmmm, just a model really and no one has actually built this thing – yet.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fMYV9q3Wuw&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]
Whats the other solution?
You guessed it, one of our favorite topics – Aquaponics. Watch the clip above and get inspired. As the documentary says – Aquaponics may not be the answer to large scale industrialised food production – but at the local level – on a community scale – to feed your family, its a step in the right direction.
We have a system outside our office now for nearly two years.
Are we sustainable? No. But all our salad meals are provided for. Every day. We haven’t bought a lettuce or tomato for months. It works. Plain and simple. A lot of people when they watched this documentary got frightened and started doing something about it. They joined an Aquaponics forum. Bought a book on the subject and started building their own food system out of recycled materials. Look into it a little more. At the very least – you will be eating a lot better.
Great video, Frank. Thanks for posting. Is there really only ONE aquaponics facility in all of Europe? Amazing.
Our Scottish friends have pointed out that Stirling university in Scotland has an aquaponics system. There may be others scattered throughout Europe. What size or commercial scale is unknown…
I just wondered if anyone had tried aquaponics with crayfish?, they are a high value crop in Europe not to mention a great source of protien.
A lot of people in Aquaponics do use crayfish in their tanks. I guess here in Australia it also boils down to what fish grows the fastest to give you best return for your investment. Fish like trout and barramundi can grow a much much faster than some crustaceans or slower growing fish.