US (MD): Commercial aquaponics farm turned into educational center

Sometime last summer, the team at the Johns Hopkins-run aquaponics lab took out some power tools and set to chopping their system in half. In their greenhouse at Baltimore's Cylburn Arboretum, they scaled back their plant beds and went from four water tanks filled with tilapia to two.

Although there's less space now for the aquaponics system to grow vegetables and fish, there's more space for people to gather. And it turns out the latter has proved the more valuable mission.

The lab was originally conceived in 2012 as a demo project for Johns Hopkins University's Center for a Livable Future to test the viability of aquaponics. Ultimately, after not seeing profitability, JHU scientist Dave Love and his team tilted their focus to the aspect of the project that seemed more fruitful: its potential to educate.

The rechristened Food System Lab, which has defined itself as an urban teaching farm, welcomed more than 1,500 visitors last year through school and group trips, service learning, and open houses.

The focus remains on aquaponics, which merges aquaculture (fish farming) and hydroponics (soil-less plant growing) in a symbiotic environment. And the system continues to produce fish and vegetables to sell at local farmers markets and restaurants. But the commercial angle plays a side role to the tours, classes, and curriculum the Food System Lab now offers, including a 90-minute course on Baltimore's food community.

Read more at Johns Hopkins University