Vertical Garden
Vertical Garden
By: Michael Albalah
'Sustainability' is a loaded word, and one that has been in the news a lot lately. One of the most significant factors that contributes to the conversation is the 'food chain.' One would not be faulted for considering the Darwinian food chain, but rather the supply chain. Poor policy has rendered much of our food, especially our global suppoy of fish, in danger of going extinct. Enter Bren Smith, a former commercial fisherman. While in his past he spent time decimating the living organisms on the ocean’s floor through precarious commercial fishing techniques, he has devoted his present and future to facilitate a sustainable seafood supply chain.
His invention of an underwater vertical garden earned him $100,000 by virtue of winning the Fuller Challenge. The Fuller Challenge is a competition that not only offers a cash prize but a significant amont of prestige. Bren is the founder of the ocean farming non-profit GreenWave and is hoping to link our supply chain to a sustainable anchor. His change of heart was due to the devastation of which resulted from hurricanes Irene and Sandy. He explains, “I had to adapt and reimagine how I was going to grow for this new era of climate change, what species do I pick, what technologies do I use,” he explained to MarketPlace.com. The value his model provides is twofold; it can reduce overfishing as well as mitigate the negative effect of latent greenhouse gases. Instead of fishing trawlers, commercial fisherman could focus their effort on the animals cultivated in the vertical garden. The native oceanic plant life would serve to mitigate latent greenhouse gases just by performing its natural process of photosynthesis (not to mention mitigate the need for large fishing boats by localizing the resource supply).
When pressed to identify potential negative affects his model presents Bren expressed concern that if adopted his gardens might lead to a proliferation of privatization of the ocean and the ocean’s floor. This creation of ‘water rights’ could serve to accelerate the fishing process to an unsustainable level. The hope would be that market prices might regulate entrepreneurs from over zealously fishing. While international policies have designated portions of the oceans stock to certain fishers already, the oversight in place ensures economic forces do not overwhelm the ocean's ability to sustain the food chain. If the ocean was viewed through the prism of the real estate industry it would be easy to imagine private groups forcing farms in the most valuable parts of the ocean and unwittingly setting off a chain of events that would be detrimental the the ocean’s ability to provide food. However Bren is hopeful. He notes that this could increase the supply of food and make food more easily available for the poorest while ensuring a more efficient, effective, and sustainable fishing process. For Bren the idea presents a unique opportunity. “If you were to take a network of our [vertical garden] farms totaling the size of Washington state, technically you could feed the world.”
That is a promising contribution.