OLD NEWS

FIELD TRIP TO FARM:SHOP



This week I took the Materialities class to an urban farming experiment in Dalston called FARM:shop. It was great to see this work in progress - it helps to demystify some technologically mediated growing techniques, but also offers an insight into how energy intensive current agricultural practices are - an need to be in order to be productive.


Hydroponic wall of basil

Basil seems to be the model species for urban agricultural experiments, showing off with it's strong smell and it's vibrant leaves. On the surface, it's quite impressive, but realistically it serves as little more than garnish on daily nutritional requirements. As such, I wonder what the constraints are that force these experiments to grow so much basil, and why they aren't more daring in their choice of plant. What interests me in Farm:shop is that they are going beyond basil and trying to address our nutritional needs.




In the front room there is an aquaponics system, illustrating a viable method of dealing with waste in opposition to current agricultural practices within monoculture-based industrial farming. Basically, water is pumped around the system, transporting nutrient rich fish poop to the plants, which they absorb through their roots. The water is thus filtered and returned to the fish. It's a system that values 'waste' as a resource, eliminating the need for added fertilizer. However, one thing that was apparent in this small space, was that it was an energy intensive system, and requires close monitoring to get the balance right between the number of plants and fish. This system is still in development in farm shop, and they have yet to eat their first fish, but there are currently 80 Tilapia swimming around.


In the polytunnel they were growing greens.


Upstairs there was a hot-room where they were currently growing tomatoes, but have plans to grow exotic fruit and veg.


Four chickens are kept on the roof for eggs.
(Apparently it is very easy to have chickens in London and there are very little rules related to keeping poultry in your garden.)

I have long wondered how much space is required to feed a human, and farm:shop starts to tackle that question in an interesting and public manner. It also exposes some of the complexity surrounding notions such as organic and sustainable in a way that raises a number of interesting questions about how we can or should try and feed ourselves. I'm interested to see how it progresses and would definitely encourage a visit if you're in London!

17|03|2011