This guy should give a TED talk.
How an Army of Ocean Farmers Are Starting an Economic Revolution
41–50 of 118 posts
Re: How an Army of Ocean Farmers Are Starting an Economic Revolution
#42We need open source resources on how to build and maintain farms like this. Unfortunately these guys are not sharing yet, at least I couldn't find any detailed information. I'd love to try this myself, but as a complete novice i'd need a lot basic information - like what species to grow, how to get seeds and plant them, etc.
> but by open-sourcing our farming model so that anybody with 20 acres and a boat and $30,000 can start his or her own farm.
It sounds like they are open sourcing their information.
Further, they're offering 2 years consulting and 5 years buying nearly the full crop at triple the market rate.
Maybe you could reach out. It sounds like they want the help.
Re: How an Army of Ocean Farmers Are Starting an Economic Revolution
#43Earlier quoted context omitted.
"sceptical about the taste of seaweed having being in Japan..." Thanks for settling that then! Nori is just the start. Kombu, a seaweed, is the basis of most soup broths in Japanese cooking, since it has a savory flavor. It would be surprising if there aren't other untapped delicious seaweeds out there for those of us who are not so set in our ways.
Yes, partially I'm sceptical because the tastes can range from throwing up, disgusting, neutral, faboulous (miso soup). But on the hand he surely knows what he is doing with a successful 20 acres farm, so I rather believe it tastes good.
Another thing to remember is that tastes can be acquired.
When I was 12 I hated beer, blue cheese and olives. Nowadays I'd have that for dinner and count myself lucky.
I remember being unwilling to eat the coffee crisp out of my Halloween candy bag because it tasted too much like coffee. Now I drink 4 cups a day black as night.
I imagine that if you forced yourself for a week (or some timeline), you'd love the taste of whatever seaweed came along.
I think that the demonstrable environmental impact may be enough for some people to force themselves.
Re: How an Army of Ocean Farmers Are Starting an Economic Revolution
#44We need open source resources on how to build and maintain farms like this. Unfortunately these guys are not sharing yet, at least I couldn't find any detailed information. I'd love to try this myself, but as a complete novice i'd need a lot basic information - like what species to grow, how to get seeds and plant them, etc.
> but by open-sourcing our farming model so that anybody with 20 acres and a boat and $30,000 can start his or her own farm. It sounds like they are open sourcing their information. Further, they're offering 2 years consulting and 5 years buying nearly the full crop at triple the market rate. Maybe you could reach out. It sounds like they want the help.
What happens in 5 years?
Re: How an Army of Ocean Farmers Are Starting an Economic Revolution
#45This is really really cool. I especially like the part about having two different types of farms, one for food production, one for soaking up pollutants from waterways.
Re: How an Army of Ocean Farmers Are Starting an Economic Revolution
#46> Imagine being a chef in 2015 and discovering that there are thousands of vegetable species you’ve never cooked with. It’s like discovering corn, arugula, tomatoes, and lettuce for the first time. This struck me as particularly interesting. Corn, arugula, tomatoes and lettuce are all a product of selective breeding. To what extent has this been applied to "sea vegetables" and what might the possibilities look like?
The Dutch company Hortimare is working at exactly this.
Re: How an Army of Ocean Farmers Are Starting an Economic Revolution
#47I'd imagine there would be some impact on the native ecosystem. You can't prevent the seed from escaping the aquafarm and (potentially invasive) oysters and kelps growing where they normally would not, displacing local species. That said.. the small footprint of these farms means you could probably localize this impact, or pick areas that are at a lower risk for farming. Potentially the biggest hurdle here would be r…
Oysters and kelp are already everywhere. The sea has currents that transport everything that is in the sea everywhere. Stuff grows when it reaches a suitable climate.
Re: How an Army of Ocean Farmers Are Starting an Economic Revolution
#48Very interesting idea, I wonder how is it affected by pollution from ships. Ship pollute much more than cars because they burn the lowest quality of fuel and somehow managed to withstand regulatory pressure. So is this 3d farming still producing great food if all the water is polluted by ship waste?
I think most of the pollution ships produce is directly distributed into atmosphere via exhaust fumes.
Re: How an Army of Ocean Farmers Are Starting an Economic Revolution
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
> but by open-sourcing our farming model so that anybody with 20 acres and a boat and $30,000 can start his or her own farm. It sounds like they are open sourcing their information. Further, they're offering 2 years consulting and 5 years buying nearly the full crop at triple the market rate. Maybe you could reach out. It sounds like they want the help.
What happens in 5 years?
Usually it's a renegotiation based on the current market rate.
The 5 years is to cover capital investments. Banks would see those 5 years as low risk.
Re: How an Army of Ocean Farmers Are Starting an Economic Revolution
#50This sounds like a great idea. I'd also like to see sections of ocean protected like we protect our national parks. No fishing, no motorized boats. Sort of make them "reservoirs" where natural life can be undisturbed.
Human activities are just as much a part of natural life on Earth as any other species'.
We can easily be a destructive part of that natural life with aggressive trawling and the like.