Don't talk dirty to me, and please, the truth!

I think we need to stop talking dirty. We need to talk water (not dirt) to improve our urban environment and effectuate change in our food sourcing.

Our urban centers all have excess industrial capacity since we have abandoned our manufacturing industries to China and elsewhere. These resources include waste systems, water systems, power infrastructure and distribution resources including rail, truck and seaborne.

Our urban centers also have large unemployed and underemployed populations. All hungry.

So what shall we do with these fallow resources?

I suggest aquaponics. It makes sense to change abandoned factories into farms by using existing aquaponic technologies to raise greens, vegetables and fish. These new "food plants" will leverage existing resources to feed local neighborhoods while providing the opportunity for displaced workers to learn new skills and become financially secure.

This is the way to reduce dependency on factory farming as it exists today, and to revitalize urban environments. This can be a tremendous win for our environment and our urban citizens.

Some may suggest that this system may be more expensive than current practices. This would be true only if the real costs are not considered. By converting abandoned industrial factories to "farms" we will reap many benefits, including: (1) revitalizing urban centers; (2) reducing shipping and other costs of delivery to key markets; (3) reduce drain on social programs by empowering whole new economic networks; (4) raise awareness of the benefits of eating healthy and local by connecting urban dwellers and their suburban kin to the food production system; and (5) reduce sprawl and green house emissions. This is not an all inclusive list of benefits, but illustrates the tremendous benefits that can be achieved with minimal investment.

Of course, these factory farms can turn into something not so good. The picture above is from a Chinese whitefish re-processing factory. The light tables are used to remove worms and other parasites. [Curiously, do you want food handled in a lab environment designed to remove parasites and worms?] One can easily imagine these new factory farms becoming co-opted by existing agribusiness with the result being the same low paying jobs and externalization of costs that plague current agricultural practices. China's seafood business is a fine example of this happening.

So the question is why buy fish that is shipped half way around the world and is recognized for its negative environmental impacts when we can raise our own aquaponic fish and greens right here where these foods will be consumed? Acknowledging we need to structure these new factory farms properly to realize all the potential benefits, would this not be a tremendous advantage to our nation socially, environmentally and economically?

Industry versus community. Same fish, our choice.