In my article, Serious Aquaponics For Greensboro, I told you of the world's largest fish farms near Shantou, China where suspect fish raised in captivity next to a petroleum tank farm adjacent to major ocean shipping lanes and lots of potential toxins are shipped to the United States to be sold in restaurants and grocery stores and fed to you and your children right here in Greensboro. Of course, I guess we could always substitute poisonous Chinese fish with the radioactive fish coming from Japan's fish farms.
While it might not be that Greensboro could compete on a global scale with Shantou, an aquaponics farming operation on the 500 never before used acres of the White Street Landfill just makes sense. After all, everyone needs jobs and safe food.
From Wikipedia:
"Aquaponics /ˈækwəˈpɒnɨks/, is a food production system that combines conventional aquaculture, (raising aquatic animals such as snails, fish, crayfish or prawns in tanks), with hydroponics (cultivating plants in water) in a symbiotic environment. In normal aquaculture, excretions from the animals being raised can accumulate in the water, increasing toxicity. In an aquaponic system, water from an aquaculture system is fed to a hydroponic system where the by-products are broken down by nitrogen-fixing bacteria into nitrates and nitrites, which are utilized by the plants as nutrients. The water is then recirculated back to the aquaculture system."
The history of aquaponics is old, going back to the Aztec who raised vegetables and fruit on stationary and sometimes moveable man-made islands called chinampas. It was Aztec's aquaponics and their ability to grow food that allowed the Aztec to feed armies and build an empire that only fell victim to the Spanish conquest, and then only with the help of smallpox.
Rice paddies are also considered a form of aquaponics. In Asia, fish and eels and snails are raised in rice paddies. In North Carolina we are blessed in that the world's foremost experts in modern aquaponics are considered to be the New Alchemy Institute and the works of Dr. Mark McMurtry at North Carolina State University. Here in Greensboro, NC A&T University has a modern aquaponics program just aching for a project of this scale.
Tilapia is commonly farm raised as is catfish and carp. Prawn (freshwater shrimp) and crayfish as well as many breeds of sport fish can be raised in an aquaponic setting with fruits and vegetables growing in the same place or very close by.
Did you know that Carp eggs are commonly used for caviar in the Unites States and that carp is the most farmed fish in the world? Yes, most Americans will tell you they don't eat carp but the fact is, they just don't know they're eating carp. In Europe, freshly caught carp are kept live in a tub of clear water for a few days before they are killed and cleaned.
The City of Greensboro has a huge problem no one talks about in that the bonds will come due soon for the Randalman Dam and no one is buying the water. As you can see in this chart prepared by Mike J Baron, former water conservation manager for the City of Greensboro and #1 EPA award winner, Greensboro's water use is far less that what was predicted when the Randalman Dam was built.
The City desperately needs to sell water to pay off the bonds. Otherwise, the Randalman Dam Authority and the cities that founded it will go bankrupt. That includes Greensboro as 53% owner in a very big way. While Aquaculture is efficient, a large scale aquaculture program would still use a lot of water. If I were on the Greensboro City Council I might be calling up a few aquaculture experts and asking them if they're interested in submitting a request for proposals on 500 acres that already has access to water and sewer. You see, real leaders don't sit around waiting on real estate developers to show up with ideas for economic development. Real estate developers are only out for themselves. Real leaders find out what a city needs and make it happen.
Oh, and landfill gas that could power the pumps, lights and packing house. That's there too.
In Part 6 I'll tell you how that same property could be used to start a car company right here in Greensboro.
