Morning Star Fishermen - Attaining sustainability and teaching others to do the same.

Morning Star Fishermen is a brilliant example of the Evoke Power of sustainability from my neck of the woods. I believe that their example provides both local insight and an incredible opportunity to other Agents in the Evoke network!

They are a nonprofit organization that was formed in 1993 by Hans Geissler and his wife, Sigrid. They bring in people from Central America to teach them sustainable methods of raising Tilapia, but more than that, they learn how to set up a system that uses the fish waste to fertilize vegetables and other plants, hydroponically grown in the filtered water the fish live in. Is this brilliant or what?!?

This is taken from their site:

At Morning Star Fishermen we have found a solution. Through the use of Tilapia, St. Peter's fish, we teach people here and around the world to grow their own protein and to use the by-products to grow vegetables in organic gardens. Every year we train teachers to educate entire communities to develop an ecologically sound, sustainable food source and by doing so, overcome the blight of hunger and malnutrition. This will eventually allow them to share this knowledge with others. The technology we've developed is real. It's not some farfetched, implausible dream.

We are located 10 acres in Dade City, Florida, 25 miles north east of the Tampa. Our dormitory houses 16 students. Our main hatchery and training building has over 110,000 gallons of tank space, wet labs and classrooms. Other facilities include 60,000 gallons of enclosed exterior tanks as well as fully integrated "model" solar and wind powered aquaponics systems. Students of all ages and backgrounds coming to our Dade City Training and Research Center are encouraged to serve their fellow man and value this learning in our hands-on setting. Their studies involve integrated combinations of eight main areas. These include: working with various, appropriate technologies; breeding; feeding; managing waste; maximizing growth; gardening; weeding; and general maintenance.

Here is additional information from an article in our local paper:

At a school in the woods, an IT consultant from London is trying to learn how to raise fish and vegetables together so he can teach it to hungry Nigerians.

An organic farmer from Melbourne Beach wants to master this green fish farming to bring it to a charter school in Palm Bay. And a pair of women from Brooksville are learning so they can start their own business.

At the center of all these divergent dreams is Hans Geissler, a former plumber and catamaran builder who believes that his self-contained system of gardening and fishing — called aquaponics — can help solve world hunger. He founded the 10-acre Morning Star Fishermen school, where you can learn everything from building your own backyard aquaponics system to starting a commercial operation in a Third World country.

"Why do I do it?" says Geissler, 68, an expressive man with large hands and a German accent. "Because I believe in being green and growing our own food and not depending on everyone else."

http://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/dade-city-man-hopes-to-help-cure-world-hunger-with-aquaponics/1078073

This blog post was inspired by the GAME1 Evoke challenge, take the challenge yourself!

http://www.urgentevoke.com/profiles/blogs/game1-play-power-evocation