European Aquaponics Podcast

"The Open Food Network is not only a great way to get local food to local people. It is also the only open source online food distribution system". In this Episode, Alice digs into the archive to find an interview with Lynne Davis of Open Food Network UK. https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynne-davis-76256940/

Raising the funding for an aquaponics project, regardless of the size, is hard work and takes time. But it can pay off if it means you can start your project! In this episode (recorded in 2016) Kate Hofman of GrowUp Urban Farms shares her experiences for applying for different kinds of funding and how to maximise your chances of success – from writing proposals to how to run a successful crowd-funding campaign. Kate is the co-founder of GrowUp Urban Farms. GrowUp Urban Farms produces sustainable fresh fish, salads and herbs in cities using a combination of aquaponic and vertical growing technologies, creating employment for local young people who have dropped out of formal education in inner city areas and helping cities improve on their food security. By using vertical growing techniques we increase the density at which we can grow crops, thereby maximising our yield per square meter, a necessity in city centres where the price of land is at a premium. Our farms are designed for growing local and sustainable food in cities. We grow for both retail and wholesale customers. Founded at the start of 2013 by Kate Hofman and Tom Webster, GrowUp aims to become the market leader in commercial aquaponic urban farming in the UK. In 2013 GrowUp built their prototype farm, the GrowUp Box, a converted shipping container with a greenhouse on top. They built the Box after running a successful crowd-funding campaign on Kickstarter, raising over £16,500 from more than 300 supporters. In 2014 they were awarded one of the first Agri-Tech Catalyst grants by the Technology Strategy Board to build London’s first commercial-scale urban farm.

This episode is a guest show - re-posting from the Aquaholics podcast - with Jens Bjorkvist (https://jensbjorkqvist.com/) interviewing Ryan Chatterson of Chatterson Farms - https://www.chattersonfarms.com/

This month's podcast involves a conversation between Alice-Marie and Jens Bjorkvist (Sweden) following his visit to the UK. We cover curious like - what gets people into aquaponics - and discuss the ins and outs of our respective ventures.

In this episode Alice is in conversation with Antonio Paladino of BioAqua Farm in Somerset. Bioaquafarm is the biggest integrated aquaponic trout farm in Europe and the first commercial farm of its kind in the UK started in 2012 after Antonio Paladino and Amanda Heron left London to follow their passion for creating premium quality and sustainably grown food and changing the way food is farmed and produced globally for a positive future for the people and the planet. As quoted by one of the worlds leading experts Dr Wilson Lenard as the best system in the UK by a mile! Shownotes available at: http://www.baqua.org.uk/baqua008-antonio-paladino-of-bioaqua-farm/

This episode we hear a presentation from Fred Labbe from his presentation at the BAQUA convention in London in December. In 2017 his proposal for a modular aquaponic urban farm was shortlisted at the World Architecture Festival 2017, taking place in the November. The project is an ongoing research collaboration between Flanagan Lawrence Architects, the British Aquaponic Association (BAQUA), the Bristol Fish Project, and Expedition (as part of the Useful Simple Trust’s work on the circular economy). The vertical modular farm is designed to make use of available growing space on the south facades of large urban sheds, to be built from reused steel elements and involves a number of closed-loop principles: between fish and plants, and turning food waste into sustainable fish feed.

Hans Hoff has spent 15 years improving his trout strain for ongrowers. The Winterbourne Strain was created using unique genetic selection techniques – in this episode of the podcast Alice and Baptiste Grollier – (interning at Bristol Fish Project) interview Hans Hoff about his innovating techniques and get a tour of Hans’ Farm.

This episode Alice interviews Fernando Sustaeta of Nerbreen - the last of the interviews undertaken as part of BAQUA's summer Aquaponics Tour. They discuss precision agriculture, the design of his facility, his aquaponics journey and his innovative mechanisms for getting his products into niche markets.

Alice-Marie talks aquaponics with Ande Gregson of Green Lab London and Dieter Ansiew of Inagro Belgium

In this episode we discuss forthcoming aquaponics convention and interview Axelle Vallet of CitizenFarm, France. The interview takes us through Axelle's aquaponics journey and into the work of CitizenFarm who produce aquaponics products and services from home to commercial scale. Shownotes available from www.baqua.org.uk/BAQUA004/

Welcome to our second podcast from the British Aquaponics Association – first we spend some time with Bristol Fish Project as they take their conservation destined eels on a little adventure, then it’s over to Belgium – and a huge privilege to visit Aqua4C – a 200000kg/pa bass / perch farm that partners with a Tomato producer to create an interdependent-yet-decoupled aquaponics venture. The interview was recorded as part of our Summer 2017 tour of Aquaponic Facilities. Shownotes available at http://www.baqua.org.uk/baqua002-bristol-fish-project-community-eel-release-stijn-and-valentin-of-aqua4c-and-aquaponics-be/

This episode takes us to Belgium to meet Sara Crappé and Saskia Buysens of PCG - a research facility dedicated to improving farmer livelihoods. They run a substantive facility based on Bass and Tomatoes. Shownotes, photographs and more on PCG available from the BAQUA website - www.baqua.org.uk