Deep Learning - Aquaponics Action

My deep learning challenge: To rediscover the interconnectedness of nature...

February, 24th 2018

My family and I have been living in South East Asia now for 8 years. As a family, our consumer choices in relation to food is centred completely around convenience. We eat takeaway from the street stalls most nights, and in addition to the high consumption of plastic packaging and waste, we have no idea where our food has actually come from. I have been reflecting more frequently on the need for myself, my children and my students to connect more with our earth and nature, and to develop an understanding of how to live more sustainably.

In December, 2017 I started to research and reflect on what 'Deep Learning Food Challenge' I could commit to that would rebuild my relationship with food, our food system, and my sense of responsibility and self-belief in how my daily actions and choices can make a significant difference in our world today.

I was first motivated by Dr Vandana Shiva's assertion that .....

......"every time you eat you can make a massive change."

Dr Vandana Shiva (2012) describes how we are part of nature, and yet we are disconnected from where our food comes from. She argues that it is so easy to make our world better, because everyone eats at least 2 or 3 times a day. Through our daily eating routine, we can make conscientious, ethical decisions about what we eat or not eat. We can purchase organic food, eat less meat, buy locally or grow our own.

Not only is this so simple, it is so profoundly right....

Shiva (2012) maintains that for us to live more sustainably, when we think of food, we must think holistically, in terms of circles and cycles - a food system. We must be connected to food - to where it comes from, and where it ends up. Our food is part of a delicate, natural ecosystem where the production and consumption of food directly has an impact on our environment. Our food choices incorporate big global issues such as fair trade, transportation, human rights in relation to labor, food policies, environmental health, etc. There is no escaping this system, and therefore we must teach students about nature and food, and foster a mindset that eats with consideration, and maintains our food system, and the rights of others for a better future.

Reflective Observations - how do I reconnect with nature?

Pam Warhurst (2012) - a food activist, and her TED talk inspired and motivated me when trying to decide what action I could take. She cofounded the 'Incredible Edible' project, that develops community partnerships focused around local food production, and encourages every community member to be actively engaged in growing food in a self-sufficient and sustainable way.

This 'revolution' has spread to many countries around the world, including Australia, Canada, USA, and France. No Thailand yet.....but perhaps in the future... I can help to change this :)

A 'can do' mindset

"We want to start a revolution, ....and rebuild our community... to embrace the story of food"

"We must believe in our capacity to build a different, kinder future."

How we can eat our landscapesWhat should a community do with its unused land? Plant food, of course. With energy and humor, Pam Warhurst tells at the TEDSalon the story of how she and a growing team of volunteers came together to turn plots of unused land into communal vegetable gardens, and to change the narrative of food in their community.

So... how do we reconnect with nature in a tropical city??

Additionally Britta Riley exemplified the possibilities of growing vegetables in apartments - a perfect solution for those living in big cities such as Bangkok (Riley, 2011). Using the power of social media and 'open source collaboration', Riley and her friends created a sustainable, self watering growing system using plastic bottles that can be made cheaply. She developed an enterprise that quickly became an international social media, sharing network called 'our.windowfarms.org' (which is no longer active) that provided research, information and support to individuals creating vertical, hydroponic indoor growing systems. Riley (2011) was most encouraged by the "joy of collaborating" - the power of transforming consumer behaviour to rediscover our connection with nature and food.

Unfortunately, Riley's 'our.windowfarms.org' enterprise went out of business in 2016 surrounded by controversy. Many questioned the way Riley promoted and sold her product/systems, and whether she was in fact motivated by profit, instead of facilitating positive social change. A group of disgruntled Canadians even created a website (http://www.windowfarmsfraud.com/) to demand justice and a refund, as they did not receive their 'windowfarm order'.

Despite this failure, Riley's collective action and research resulted in massive international interest, creativity and new innovation about growing vegetables and plants inside.

People want to grow vegetables - but many, like myself........ don't know how.

Michael Pollan as cited in Riley (2011) supported this revolution even further by emphasising that "growing even some of our food is the best thing we can do for our environment."

A garden in my apartmentBritta Riley wanted to grow her own food (in her tiny apartment). So she and her friends developed a system for growing plants in discarded plastic bottles -- researching, testing and tweaking the system using social media, trying many variations at once and quickly arriving at the optimal system. Call it distributed DIY. And the results? Delicious.

Developing understanding: What is there to know?

I knew that I wanted to find an easy, cost effective way to grow some leafy, green vegetables inside a classroom and/or apartment.

My Personal Goals for this 'deep learning' project:

Investigate different strategies/methods that people have grown vegetables in hot climates
Become more aware of the needs of plants (in particular - green vegetables), and foster appreciation of biological ecosystems
Foster responsibility for other living things
Ignite a personal sense of curiosity about nature
Develop a greater understanding of where food comes from
Formulate an informal action plan, on how to initiate growing some vegetables using an easy method, first within my classroom, and then ideally to our whole school community.

Stephen Ritz, the founder of the Green Bronx Machine stated it very well -'When children learn how to nurture plants, they learn to care about those around them and their environment.'

I now see how important this is for students, but before I can take this challenge on within my classroom, I must first learn the fundamentals at home.

Concrete Experience: A Seed of Curiosity

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In my quest to change our world, I spent considerable amounts of time researching how others grew vegetables in hot climates, schools and cities.

Heading into our hot summer, the standard outside veggie garden was not an option for now...

Hydroponic looked like an interesting option.

Birkett (n.d.) reported that hydroponics was where you grow plants, without using soil, which seemed an ideal way to keep 'mess' from our classrooms.

I watched some fascinating videos to learn more, such as this one, and created a list of positive and negative benefits to hydroponics as per the table below:

I then discovered Robert and Sunan White from Bangkok, a couple who have been on their own 'deep learning journey' of trying to find an easy way that local schools could improve their food, and grow some vegetables (Bassett, 2016) .

In 2011 during some of their experimental phases, Bangkok experienced significant flooding and their garden was flooded for months. This disaster actually lead them to consider 'aquaponics' - as their garden floated, and flourished.

They now run Aquaponics Thailand and have helped a few schools (such as NIST International School ) and a hospital now in Bangkok to grow vegetables using an aquaponic system.

Bangkok Food Maker: Aquaponics ThailandGrowing your own food may seem like a wonderful notion but something that is out of reach for the majority of urban dwellers. Space and know-how may be in short supply. One Bangkok couple are chall…

Some very obvious challenges to overcome...

Significant Personal challenges:

Prior knowledge of growing vegetables or caring for plants..... practically ZERO.....
Prior success....... 98% of all plants that I am responsible for... die..
Crazily busy lifestyle
Significant periods of absence - school holidays

Dying tomato plants, beans and mint on my decking at home...

Environmental challenges living in Bangkok:

Lack of space: Limited to indoor or small outside deckings. No garden bed options
Hot, tropical climate most of the year.

Language challenges:

If I was in Australia, I could easily find a place like 'Aqua Gardening' in Brisbane, where I could ask a lot of questions, see a range of different supplies, and get the support that I need to start as a novice. Or visit some plant nurseries, or hardware stores... But in Thailand, it is a lot more challenging finding basic supplies and information - especially as most of it is in Thai...

The fish aquarium shop just opposite to where I live. No staff spoke English, and I relied on using photos and images to buy an appropriate water pump, and 'strong, resilient' fish.

Aquaponics - simple, cheap and kid friendly

Much like the concept of sustainability and entrepreneurship, I have been swept away with aquaponics! How have I only learned about this now?

Aquaponics combines 'aquaculture' (fish farming) and hydroponics (growing plants without soil). The fish waste gives food to the plants and the plants help clean/purify the water that the fish live in. It's a natural, sustainable ecosystem (Parrack, 2012).

Image of a basic aquaponics system sourced from https://newatlas.com/home-aquaponics-kit/25143/

The marvellous science behind aquaponics is that it is a self sufficient, sustainable system.

The top tray holds the plants which do not grow in soil, but 'growstones' - a manmade type of gravel that is made from recycled glass.

A water pump periodically pumps water to the tray on top where the green, leafy vegetables grow.

The plants absorb the fish poo nutrients, while filtering the water, so that you do not need to clean the tank.

(sourced from Parrack, 2012)

I have found so many curriculum resources and organisations that promote aquaponics as a way to reconnect with nature and food, such as 'Back to Roots', who created an organisation to help reconnect individuals, families and schools back to where food comes from.

Active Experimentation: Aquaponics in Action

Language barriers made it challenging, but I joined three different aquaponic 'Facebook' groups to learn more from their communities, and posted numerous questions to help me formulate an action plan (see some of the posts below).

Summary video of my family's hands on exploration - jumping in and doing it!

Reflection

What got me seriously excited about this discovery, was reflecting personally on the impact this deep learning challenge had had on me already:

Igniting scientific discovery and curiosity: Through this process of inquiry, the more I learned, the more questions I had. 'What plants could I grow using this system?' Did I need a water pump (as I am concerned about the carbon imprint of this)? How do I measure pH, what is the optimal pH, and how can I maintain a healthy system? What is the life cycle of certain vegetables, and how can I stagger the growth of my plants to have a steady supply of plants? " I also started to notice nature more -'Why did this plant have brown spots on them? How could I use my food waste to develop compost or nutrients?' Did any of my neighbours grow vegetables and how?'
Fosters caring, more responsible individuals: I learned to think beyond my daily, crazy life to what was happening in my natural world around me. I started to connect more to how my actions could potentially improve my family's health, wellbeing, and extend to replicating this for my students.
Improve my health and well being: My family started to see how plants are not only part of an ecosystem, but should be a big part of their diet.
Promotes more sustainable living practices: How could we create growing systems using recycled products? How are the rest of our vegetables grown? What chemicals do local farmers use, and how can we find out and change this to be healthier?
Develops community: I found myself seeking out new primary sources of information - such as neighbours, other teachers and professionals. I joined more 'Facebook' groups so that I would learn about their explorations to test out their ideas, to further develop my understanding. I collaborated with High School teachers to problem solve. I saw the benefits of learning outside - and plan to extend my learning and teaching more outside of my classroom walls.
Boosts skills: My children and I learned about a basic living ecosystem - the fish, plants and waste that is produced. We learned about water quality tests, and growth rates and needs of different vegetables. We learned about evaluating the costs (environmental, economic and social); and coming up with creative alternatives and solutions when unable to find specific supplies! We developed new vocabulary, social and communication skills when communicating to our local Thai community.

Citation

Bassett, P. (2016). Bangkok Food Maker: Aquaponics Thailand. Retrieved from http://www.seedandtell.com/bangkok-food-maker-aquaponics-thailand/

Jenkin, M. (2014, August 20). My edible classroom gives deprived New York kids a reason to attend school. Retrieved February 21, 2018, from https://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2014/aug/20/classroom-attend-school-fresh-food-healthy-eating-students

Parrack, D. (2012). Home Aquaponics Kit: helping kids grow herbs from fish poo. Retrieved from https://newatlas.com/home-aquaponics-kit/25143/

Personal Photos of Deep Learning project . Jan 15- Feb 29 2018.

Riley, B. (2011, May). A Garden in my Apartment [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/britta_riley_a_garden_in_my_apartment

Rockey, D. (2012, May). Stephen Ritz, Founder of the Green Bronx Machine: His Story. [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Dt0odlFzmQ

Shiva, V. (2012, September). Dr Vandana Shiva - Solutions to the food and ecological crisis facing us today. TED. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ER5ZZk5atlE

Warhurst, P. (2012, May). How We Can Eat Our Landscape. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/pam_warhurst_how_we_can_eat_our_landscapes

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