You're not supposed to be here...

Unfortunately, the only quote I could come up for a title with was from Game of Thrones, and it was from a very minor character, so the image associated with it would be lost. Regardless... with respect to this class I have recently geeked out about two things: Thorium and Aquaponics. I will always love thorium, I mean how can you not. It's great. Look at that electron cloud.

Th = <3

Aquaponics, my other new found love, represents a huge potential solution to a wide range of urban food roduction problems. This story specifically focuses on Eric Maundu, a trained industrial robotics technician, has taken to the growing trend among Do-it-Yourself tinkers and tried to grown food in barren, urban locations. Maundu has blended his electronic expertise with his interest in urban enrichment, by making color-powered, technology controlled farms to create food for the user.
http://faircompanies.com/videos/view/internet-food-arduino-based-urban-aquaponics-in-oakland/


I feel that this type of action represents a huge step forward in environmentally conscious action because unlike encouraging recycling or driving less, aquaponics puts much more tangible power and results into the hands of the users. People will be able to farm themselves, take their own produce and consume and sell with, without relying on the larger consumerist system. If all of the farms were to use Eric Maundu's technology, then the farms will only have an initial cost of supplies, water and solar cells, then the production is entirely out of the influence of large corporate, or public systems.

Because the supplies for an aquaponics farm do not require specialized equipment or skills to set up and run, I feel that this is an easily repeatable project. The only barrier would be the initial cost of setting up the project, but I see city grants taking care of some of these problems.

Projects like this give me a lot of hope, because I think that part of the reason there is so much apathy to environmental causes is that we have lost our connection to the land. In urban settings especially people hardly know what a tree is, let alone where food comes from. I believe that putting the land back into people's hands will rekindle their concern for the natural world.