Can aquaponics be organic?
This is what we're going to see together in this video.
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Nowadays, organic food is becoming more and more popular.
We don't trust the food from the supermarket, and the only one we really accept is the organic
food.
That's what we generally see.
Unfortunately, organic food is generally more expensive food.
So the question today is, can the food that we grow from aquaponics be qualified as organic?
So to respond to this question, first we need to qualify what is organic food?
So what most of consumers don't know is that organic just means that it complies with a
certain standard.
It’s being grown following a standard, and this standard is different in every different
country.
In Australia, we’ve got an organic standard that's different to the US standard, that
is different to standards in Europe, and in Europe, every country has got its own standard,
organic standard.
So if you looked -- if you ask the classic consumer, what does organic mean?
They will tell you that it’s food that is good for you, but the reality is the aim of
this standard is to create food that has lower impacts on the environment and on the planet.
So by producing the food with a lower impact on the planet, most of the time, you use less
chemicals, less pesticides, and consequently, the food becomes healthier, but the aim, the
main aim of organic is to produce with less impact on the environment.
So just to give you a bit of information, when we talk about organic food, most people
think there is no pesticide.
There is no antibiotics or those type of things.
I worked in a fish farm that was certified organic in the South of France, and I can
tell you that, for example, for the fish we were allowed to use two antibiotics in the
life of the fish.
So it's not because it's organic that there are no antibiotics.
It's the list of medicines that are allowed is restricted, so you got less chemicals available,
but you are still allowed to use some specific antibiotics and pesticides to protect your
crop.
So it's not because it's organic that there is no pesticide, right?
It’s just less pesticide.
Now, when we talk about aquaponics, when we work in aquaponics, if you grow food in your
backyard, you are probably way better in terms of those parameters because generally, we
don't use any chemical, no pesticide, no antibiotics.
You know, we just grow the food naturally.
Also there is another point in most of the standards, not all standards.
That's why sometimes, you can see some aquaponics food that would be qualified organic, but
in a lot of standards around the world, to be organic, you have to grow the plant in
the soil, and in aquaponics, we use a media, right?
So it's quite hard to tell if a media is a soil or not.
So first, we need to qualify what is soil?
What is the definition of soil?
I just want to give you the Wikipedia definition of what is soil, to see if we can apply this
to what we are doing in aquaponics.
So in Wikipedia they are seeing that this is the upper layer of earth in which plants
grow, a black or dark brown material, typically consisting of a mixture of organic remains,
clay, and rock particles.
So in this definition, we can understand that the upper layer of earth, that is where the
plants are growing.
So here we got an upper layer in our grow bed where the plants are growing, but is it
earth?
Well, we need to find the definition of earth actually.
So then I went into Wikipedia, and here's the definition of earth.
It’s the substance of the land surface.
Well, it's quite hard to say what it is, right?
So for me, earth from the soil is basically a mix of organic matters, and for me, a soil
involves also the notion of life.
You got organic matter and you got organisms that are forming an ecosystem around its substrate.
So in aquaponics, we got a top layer, we got plants that are growing, we got nutrients
and organic matter that are breaking down, and we got a lot of life and a whole ecosystem
that is living inside.
To be very honest with you, for a lot of standards, this is not called soil because I just looked
at the media by itself.
So the media is just to work.
So I think it can be discussed but right now, the response to the question, can aquaponics
be defined as organic or be qualified organic?
The response for a lot of countries is no, because for them, there is no soil.
It's a media.
Well, we can really go around this and discuss this point because really, the question is
what is the definition of soil?
But really, in a lot of countries, you will not be able to get your aquaponics crop certified
organic.
In some countries, it is still possible because they just think, they are looking at the chemicals
or the product you're going to use to grow your plants.
In this case, in aquaponics, we can definitely be organic, but regarding most of the countries,
you will not be able to qualify your crop organic.
So then why would you like to qualify your crop organic?
If you grow it for you, the important thing is that you know what you are growing and
it’s much better than organic because here you don't have any pesticides, you don't have
any antibiotics.
You just know what you are growing and you grow some very healthy food.
It can be still interesting is, if you want to sell your crop.
So if you start with a small aquaponics system and then you go for a bigger one, maybe one
day, you want to start to sell your crop to the local communities, to the market and obviously,
if it's organic-certified, you generally are able to sell the crop a bit better.
But then there is just a work of communication to do around aquaponics, and people need to
understand that it doesn't need to be organic to be healthy.
When it's grown in permaculture, even if it's not certified organic, it’s generally much
better than the classic organic food.
So that's the response I have for you guys.
I hope you learned something in this video and you can have access to the free aquaponics
training from the description of this video just below, and I'm going to give you all
the critical information to build your aquaponics system in the best conditions and to grow
some healthy, sustainable, and tasty food in your backyard.
Even if it's not organic, it’s going to be very, very beneficial for you and your
family.
So get the training in the description just below or in the “i” like information on
the corner of the video.
I hope you enjoyed the video.
If it's the case, please give it a like, and I’ll see you in the next one.
Bye-bye.
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I really hope to see you soon, and I wish you a fantastic success with aquaponics.
Have a good crop!