An unconventional Ohio farm brings together people with disabilities who work with aquaponic lettuce.
City farms use aquaponics to grow fresh lettuce. The farm employs adults with developmental disabilities to help germinate, transplant and harvest at its plant in Cheviot.
Direct speech: “This is a great opportunity,” said Kevin Potts, Alliance Executive Director Ken Anderson.
Urban Farms works in partnership with the Ken Anderson Alliance, using the space provided by Vineyard Westside.
Direct speech: “We pay our employees ten dollars an hour, and we give them a very flexible schedule, and we give them the opportunity to learn skills here that make them competitive in other industries if they want to enter the market,” said Potts.
Direct speech: “This is a controlled environment, so for adults with disabilities, we must remember many things. Here, for access to agriculture, this is where people can come 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We do not need to worry about the weather outside. This is all climate control.
We can give wheelchairs access to different levels of harvesting racks, and it gives us a really good environment where we can focus on skills at the pace at which a person can keep up so that we can prepare them accordingly. ” Said Potts.
- South African President Cyril Ramafosa encourages schools to consider integrating aquaponics into their curricula to meet the growing demand for practical skills and food security.
- Pupils of Newell Elementary School (USA) look after fish and plants in the aquaponic system of an out-of-school club.
- The company "Aqua Systems Organic" (TM AQUAFARM) from the city of Vasilkov, Kiev region announced the receipt of the first lettuce crop grown on aquaponics, these products were grown without the use of pesticides, chemical fertilizers and impurities.
