Beginner Help??

[Jonathan Farrand]

Hey Guys and Gals,

A quick background on me is three years fish keeping but more into planted and natural tanks.  Last year when I made my pond and biofilter I started to describe that I wanted to persue a career in using plants to filter water. Little did I know lots of things where already happening with that. Aquaponics!!

 

My question:

Beside keeping my small aquaculture things and researching going.  What can I do to start a community movement to create a community aquaponic garden, catering to the needs of the community. Helping the needy, educating the public, fund raising, and making an overall positive impact in our area and as all of you already doing this know make a positive impact on the world. Start at the town hall?

[Kobus Jooste]

All my support.  Hope you are not in South Africa :) (I'm seriously going insane about the lack of funding here).  Seriously - there are a few very good Australian and North American examples of community development efforts using aquaponics.  Growing Power, Milwaukee Rennaisance, Barrelponics, and a lot more that people from your side of the pond will chip in on.  Forgotten the Australian examples I looked at before but they were very much along the communal garden / education and training philosophy.  Not sure how theu gort funded though.  Have you considered social network based fundraining eg. kickstarter? 

[bleu and em (New Urban Farmers)]

From our experience I have learned that you just have to begin doing it. In most cases starting at Town Hall will simply lead to hours of exploratory meetings which lead nowhere. By taking the helm and navigating as needed, your chances for success, I believe, are far greater. Eventually the Town Hall will listen. I see you're in Maine, do you do the Common Ground Fair?

It's our favorite.

[Chi Ma]

Start with your system. Invite friends and neighbors over. Introduce them to it. Have a dinner/BBQ with veggies and fish from your system. Get the neighbor kids into it. Invite school board members.

[bleu and em (New Urban Farmers)]

great advice, chi ma

[Jonathan Farrand]

Great advice!!  It sounds like I am heading on the right path as you all know AP systems take time. A little reassurance helps sometimes.  Thanks Guys!!

[Jonathan Farrand]

When I lived more in central Maine I used to go quite often.  Since I have lived in Southern Maine life is alot different and faster so haven't been for awhile.  I have actively been networking with all types of people around this area.

bleu grijalva said:

From our experience I have learned that you just have to begin doing it. In most cases starting at Town Hall will simply lead to hours of exploratory meetings which lead nowhere. By taking the helm and navigating as needed, your chances for success, I believe, are far greater. Eventually the Town Hall will listen. I see you're in Maine, do you do the Common Ground Fair?

It's our favorite.

[Robin]

 you might want to check out on youtube "kajiji grows" for a little nudge

I'm a high school teacher, and I think schools are a really important locale for social justice work, food justice, ecology, etc.

Good Luck, 

Robin

[Robin]

also, there are two books I am about to read that looked good, called:

The Green Economy, Van Jones

Deep Economy, Bill McKibben

R

[David Waite]

Robin when you read Van Jones keep in mind his book is based entirely on theory. He also is a Marxist by his own words and looks at the green concept from a concept of everybody is equal or to put it bluntly poor. Aquaponics is more along the lines of being self reliant and self sufficient and dependent on nobody. Social Justice or a fancy word for socialism is failing in every part of Europe and we being the poorly educated we are want to bring it here. Just a thought.

Robin said:

also, there are two books I am about to read that looked good, called:

The Green Economy, Van Jones

Deep Economy, Bill McKibben

R

[Robin]

Dear David,
Yes, Van Jones is an interesting fellow, isn't he: a Yale Law school graduate who chooses to live in Oakland, which is not exactly famous for affluence, or environmentalism. With all due respect David, it seems to me that capitalism is no less a theory, and not any more successful than socialism in producing an economy which is stable, let alone equitable. Additionally, while I would not declare myself a socialist, I would argue that innovations and green technologies which would have a deep impact on our economy must first serve the poor. If aquaponics and other technologies are not being developed to function within, employ, and feed poor and working-class communities, than who are they being developed for, and to what ends? I share Cornel West's belief (a well-educated man I think) that social justice is not just a fancy word for socialism, but instead, what 'love looks like in public'.
R

[David Waite]

Robin lets examine what you said. You say capitalism which has brought this nation to the top of this world in standard of living and inovation is theory. Ok what is real then. Communism has failed every society and socialism or cradle to grave entitlements have bankrupted the rest. So maybe in academia capitalism is theory but to us who work it and employ people it is hardly theory. I agree with you that capitalism does not guarantee a fair end. Only a fair beginning. The second part of your discussion that green energy technologies must serve the poor. It sounds great but how. Green energy is the most expensive energy on the planet and has drove Spains economy to the lowest standart of Europe so maybe that is where the theory comes in. Robin I never said you were a socialist only that Van Jones is a marxist. Teaching is by far the most noble of professions and I tip my hat to you for it. I think teaching the poor to raise fish and not beg for fish willempower them way more than anything else in life. Robin if you can show me or educate me which socialized country has created more wealth or freed more people from brutal dictators than this capitalist country I'll fly there and buy you lunch. Please dont personalize this it is just a different perspective on what self reliance is to me.

[Robin]

David,

I am smiling at the project of finding a country for us to go eat lunch in.  What I am rejecting here is the sensibility that one economy is just and democratic, encourages competition and innovation and begins with a level playing-field, while the other is run by dictators, encourages innefficiancy and reliance on the state, and a state-imposed hierarchy.   I have a hard time accepting something that I think is an over-simplified and false dichotomy which in this country, privileges the hegemony of our own economic system.  I don't think capitalism is more 'real' because it is the system that has dominated our country since its colonial inception; there are plenty of examples of divergent economies world-wide and across history. Additionally, I question how well-off we are as a country. I like comparisons for examining our truths. The proverb you are referencing (give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day, teach him how to fish and he'll eat forever) I believe is a Chinese Proverb, and so  I offer a the example of China, with all its complexities, and at the bottom of the page, my sources for this conversation (The Economist- a somewhat centrist periodical, no?)  I don't think these conversations belong to academians. I think they belong to readers and doers like you and I. Thank you for your compliments and for engaging with me, it makes for good Sunday morning reading and thinking.

R

 The Economist- China's Economy