Aquaponics benefits discussed at SACPA

Aquaponics has been a topic of conversation lately. Aquaponics is a food production system that brings together aquaculture and hydroponics. Fish eat and produce waste to be able to make the perfect fertilizer for growing plants. The water is then fed to hydroponically grown plants. Michael Lavorato has been working in aquaponics for the last five years. Speaking at SACPA, he says aquaponics will supplement urban consumers.

“It’s a technology that will cut down on food miles. It produces high quality food that doesn’t have any insecticides, herbicides, or stuff like glyphosate. Consumers are looking for biological and organic grown food. With that being said, there’s not going to be a million aquaponics farms all over the place. It’s something that’s specialized, and it’s niche. One of the things about our program too that’s kind of a win-win is not only do we teach them about aquaponics, and that’s important to me. But, there’s a lot of learning methods and experiences from aquaponics that can be used for students that don’t want anything to do with agriculture.”

Lavorato has built over 40 aquaponics systems across Alberta in schools, libraries, and continuing care facilities.