Paige Schmittlein
11/20/13
PAEP Reflection
Hydroponics: An
Agricultural Phenomenon
Hydroponics
was something that I knew nothing about before this project. As it turns out,
hydroponic plants have been around forever, it even dates back to the Aztecs. Think
of lily pads as an example. This is a plant that naturally grows in water. It
has become a very important way of farming in recent years, as it makes it
possible for people to grow food in areas that would otherwise be too arid to
grow anything (History of Hydroponics). Hartshorn Farm only started their
hydroponic farm this May and it cost more than half a million dollars and it
took all of the previous fall and winter to start. However, once this money is
spent and the work is done, it has a much lower cost to maintain than a regular
farm.
Hydroponics
is a type of farming that takes place in a large greenhouse without the use of
soil. Each seed is planted in a tray of rock fibers with the use of a vacuum.
Once the seed grows into a seedling, the section of rock fiber it has been
growing in is separated from the rest and put into a hole in one of the many
tubes in the greenhouse which are arranged so that the water will flow through
them in a certain way so that it can be recycled at the end to be reused in a
cycle that never ends. This way they can reduce the amount of water needed as
well as the amount of labor. The water is kept in a well about 420 feet
underground. The temperature inside of the greenhouse is regulated and mostly
comes from the sun. The insulation that they use is the same technology as
space suits. It reflects the sun out and keeps the heat in. They also have the
ability to pour down a wall of water in the back of the greenhouse that can act
as an air conditioner. In the winter, they have a biomass wood furnace to heat
the greenhouse. Overall, it is much more cost efficient and low-maintenance
than a regular farm.
The
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) program has strict
rules against the runoff of water used for hydroponics. The farm needs to get a
permit before disposing of any of its waters into a national body of water and
within that permit are certain limitations (Aquaculture). Dave Hartshorn told
us that there is also a barrier in place that stops his hydroponic farm from
being certified organic. The definition of organic uses the word “soil” and
because hydroponics doesn’t use soil, he currently cannot certify this part of
the farm as organic. This policy is different in Europe where he would be able
to be certified organic.
Hydroponic
farming is much more ethical than regular farming. It doesn’t use soil, so you
don’t have to worry about farming the soil until it becomes unusable. It also
uses about 70-90 percent less water than regular farming. Also, creating more
of these farms could employ more people. A hydroponic farm the size of
Hartshorn Farm would employ about 20-30 people, especially if it expanded to
produce multiple types of vegetables. This is also less labor-intensive than
regular farming because everything is at waist level, so more kinds of people
would be able to work there. The vegetables produced don’t have any kind of
chemicals on them, so they’re completely safe for consumption. Hartshorn Farm
in particular doesn’t even use pesticides. If we had more hydroponic farms in
America, we would have a much better way of producing fruits and vegetables.
We can also
relate the ethics of hydroponic farming to what we read about in Ishmael,
Hughes, and Desjardins. When you first look at hydroponic farming, it seems
very tied to taker culture. The greenhouses are man made and very controlled by
the workers. However, the plants are grown in a way that is much more natural
than reworking the soil over and over again every season and ruining the land.
This only uses water, and it actually uses less water than regular farming
would. Although it does resemble a part of taker culture, it is an attempt to
be more sustainable. It is also not defying the peacekeeping law. By reusing
the same water, you are not taking more resources than you need. Also, at
Hartshorn farm, a lot of their excess produce goes to local schools and farm
stands to sell to others that need it, so everyone is getting their fair share.
To relate this to some of the Case Studies in Hughes, as I mentioned before,
even the Aztecs grew plants hydroponically. This isn’t exactly utilitarianism,
because it probably isn’t the greatest good for the greatest number of people
because you can only grow as much as you have room for in your greenhouse, but
as far as doing good for the environment, it is definitely a much more ethical
option.
We went
through three different ideas of which companies to research before we ended up
with Hartshorn Farm. We started with Green Mountain Compost which would have
been interesting, but they couldn’t make time to visit with us and overall,
they just seemed pretty disorganized, so I think it’s probably a good thing
that we didn’t stick with them. We considered going to Localmotion, but they
were busy as well, and I don’t think that they would have allowed for as strong
a research project anyway. I’m glad we ended up with the organization that we
did because I found learning about hydroponics extremely interesting, as it was
something I had never known about before. I think our group worked extremely
well together. We all had very strong work ethic and desire to make a strong
poster. Our contact at Hartshorn Farm was very knowledgeable and was able to
give us a better look at the organization than I ever could have hoped for. I
feel lucky to have had this experience because I know that I am now much more
informed on the subject of hydroponic farming in comparison to traditional
farming and I think it’s important for people to know about this much more
ethical and cost efficient way to farm.
Works Cited
"history of hydroponics | « Boswyck Farms." Boswyck Farms RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 20
Nov. 2013. <http://www.boswyckfarms.org/history>.
"Aquaculture - Laws, Regulations, Policies, and
Guidance." EPA. Environmental
Protection Agency, n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2013.
<http://www.epa.gov/oecaagct/anaqulaw.html>.
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