The Lexington-based nonprofit organization, FoodChain, offered a public tour of its 7,000-gallon aquaponics system at its indoor facility on Dec. 6. The tour takes place every Saturday from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. on West 6th Street and costs $10 per person, according to their website.
FoodChain is home to the first indoor aquaponics system in Kentucky, with the mission to reach the Lexington community through education and demonstration while providing access to fresh, locally sourced food, according to their website. Ethan Buland, aquaponics educator and farm manager at FoodChain, said aquaponics is a sustainable form of agriculture that combines hydroponics, or growing plants in a medium other than soil, and aquaculture, which is raising any kind of animal that lives in the water.
"Aquaponics, when operated properly, can be a very sustainable form of agriculture, and you can grow a lot of food in a relatively small space," Buland said. According to Buland, the system works by filtering water from the fish tanks into the grow beds and back to the fish tanks, where the cycle repeats in a constantly recirculating system.
"Aquaponics is one of the most water-conservative forms of agriculture out there," Buland said. "So we're not losing water down through the soil like you do in a lot of outdoor agriculture."
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