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Laurent Ye
Joined: Dec 21, 2008
Posts: 54 (view all)
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Country: Canada
Province/State: Quebec
City: Montréal
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Towards Self-Sufficiency
June 16, 2009 - 12:47 PM
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As published in the Weekly Green issue of September 22, 2008
In our present context, where the access to food is becoming more and more problematic, especially in third-world countries, the self-sufficiency idea is spreading like a wild fire. To be self-sufficient, it’s to fill your own needs with your own resources, without importation or exportation. In other words, to be self-sufficient consists of feeding yourself without exterior help. One of these ways, Portable Farms LLC, a Nevada enterprise founded in June 2008, found it through its creator, Colle Davis.
As the name indicates it, the Portable Farm, is a farm, but a particular farm that allies many advantages to little inconvinience. Invented and improved since the 70’s by a Service Disabled Veteran having done his studies in Renewable Natural Resources at the California University at Davis, his product is accessible and profitable while asking a minimum of maintenance. With as little of 3 to 5 minutes of care per day, this independent portable farm, because it can function with solar energy, can permit you to eat fresh vegetables and fish. In fact, a greenhouse of 6’ x 8’ could produce 400 lettuces (or other vegetables), and 100 pounds of fish, without earth, fertilizer or pesticide. The cost: 2000$ US, excluding the greenhouse. With the rising prices of food, this becomes highly profitable (depending of the regions).
The best is yet to come: how is this possible. Colle Davis uses a very simple technique where fish are as necessary as plants: a pump sends the sediments produced by the fish towards the plants for nutriments, and what plants reject feed the fish. Therefore, not only do we feed ourselves, but we also contribute to the purification of the air. Of course, it’s not the creator that had this magnificent idea, named aquaponics (from aquaculture for the culture of aquatic animals and hydroponic for the culture of plants in water) is attributed to the Chinese. In resume, the ancient Chinese farmers added the livestock’s feces inside the ponds and on the earth to increase the production of fruits and vegetables. The water of those ponds was full of fish and was used to irrigate the paddy fields and other farm lands.
The Portable Farm is doubtlessly very efficient to use in hot climates, but it can also be used in places like Quebec, where it would have to be placed inside when the external temperature starts to drop. Finally, Colle Davis not only wants to make the access to organic food easier, but wants to help people reduce their discharge of greenhouse gases.
For more information: www.portablefarms.com
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prieten47
Joined: Oct 26, 2006
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Country: Japan
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Re: Towards Self-Sufficiency
June 21, 2009 - 08:59 AM
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Dear Laurent, merci beaucoup for bringing the "Fish Don't Fart" portable farm system to our attention. It is a very intriguing idea.
The concept seems sound, but a few limitations immediately jump out at me. The first one is right there in the FAQ on the homepage:
"We don't recommend growing root vegetables such as carrots, turnips, potatoes, or field crops such as corn, soybeans, dry beans, or wheat in Portable Farms™ Aquaponics Systems."
This just about eliminates the usefulness of the system for the vast majority of subsistence farmers in the world.
The Tilapia fish must be fed and the homepage again informs us we must buy fish food pellets from a pet shop. The inventor says one can also feed them homegrown duckweed, but it sounds like this is in addition to the pellets and not as a substitute.
The system might be very useful for people in more developed countries who desire fresh vegetables and fish(and have the money), but perhaps have very little land, because they live in a city. Electricity must also be available to drive the electric pumps.
I am not knocking the system, I just don't think it is feasible or even necessary if one lives in the developing world and has access to farm land. I can imagine poor farmers would welcome the fish protein in their diet, but I don't know how they would feed the fish.
I agree with you 100% that self-sufficiency at least on a regional basis will become more and more important as we watch the price of oil go up again (yes, I'm a peak oiler).
I think an urban initiative like turning parkland into small rental garden plots is an excellent strategy to get urban folks thinking in this direction. It also provides income to the city and cuts down on park maintenance costs.
I am thrilled that you are interested in the self-sufficiency issue and I wish more young people were. There may come a day soon when we won't find fresh vegetables from California or Holland in our grocery stores, because transportation costs have become too expensive.
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