BY STEPHANIE KASHETA
We live in a terrifying age of mass production and this includes the food we eat. Every trip to the grocery store reinforces our detachment from the means of production of our food and the unsustainable methods used by our global, industrial agriculture system. Industrial Agriculture, also known as “intensive farming” is responsible for depleting huge amounts of water, increasing pollution, poisoning ground and surface water, and keeping millions of animals worldwide in miserable captivity. In its attempts to feed over 6 billion people by maximizing output while minimizing costs, the agriculture business is destroying our planet.
Grove Labs seeks to counter this unsurety with a home aquaponic system which allows people to cultivate their own, indoor gardens by means of fish, plants and microbial life. The idea was born after a team of MIT-based designers, engineers and horticulturists shared a salad they had grown in their windowsill and immediately got to work on how they could bring this experience to the masses.
The system itself is about the size of a bookcase. An aquarium lies at the heart of this system, the fish that live inside produce waste, which is then converted into fertilizer for plants, which then come full-circle to filter the aquarium water for the fish. Ultra-efficient LEDs mimic sunlight, while heirloom seeds and organic fish food ensure an optimized, sustainable system. You can control each component of your grove via the Grove OS system at the touch of your finger with your phone.
Founders Jamie Byron and Gabe Blanchet are hoping to shift the reigns back to consumers and start an aquaponic revolution. Grove Labs has just begun their first public trial. Learn how you can be part of the movement at at https://grovelabs.io/ People living in the greater Boston area can now reserve a completely customizable Grove Ecosystem with a $100 deposit.
ABOUT THE WRITER
Stephanie Kasheta is a graduate of the University of Nevada Las Vegas, where she majored in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing. She is currently finishing up her MFA in Fiction at Emerson College in Boston. She is a Las Vegas native who recently relocated to Cape Cod with her husband, a veteran of the US Air Force. Stephanie is also step-mother to a seven-year old future writer named Olivia. When not reading or daydreaming of travel abroad, she can be found blowing glass at the Sandwich Glass Museum or working on her short story collection. Follow her on TwitterImage of Sustainable Agriculture via Shutterstock
