Maximum Yield Australia/New Zealand March/April 2020 | Page 36

“ The debate occurring between soil and hydro
growers stems largely from the USDA’s organic
certification process.”
WHAT DOES
MOTHER NATURE SAY?
While the USDA’s views on organic
certification are helpful in picking out
key points in the hydroponic organics
debate, it can’t be argued that nature
is the standard in understanding the
concept of organics. Therefore, looking
for hydroponic plant growth in the
natural world offers a viable way of
demystifying this convoluted debate.
As such, if plants grow hydroponically
in nature, shouldn’t the process be
considered organic?
The most defining characteristic
of hydroponics is growing plants in
nutrient rich water as opposed to
soil. This practice stands in stark
contradiction to soil cultivation, where
earthen materials provide a support
for a plant’s root system, as well as
vital nutrients. Nonetheless, by using
hydroponics to grow plants, cultivators
are not necessarily creating an
unnatural phenomenon.
There are several edible plant species
that grow exclusively in bodies of
water. These “natural hydroponics”
plants include wild rice, watercress,
water spinach, wasabi, Chinese water
chestnut, water caltrop, taro, cattail, and
bulrush. What’s more, the water systems
where these plants grow are often
ecosystems unto themselves, offering the
biodiversity so cherished by proponents
of organic soil growing.
In looking at natural systems in lakes,
ponds, and rivers, aquaponics takes the
next step in developing self-sustaining
ecosystems in hydroponics growing.
In the mini biospheres created by
aquaponic growers, fish waste provides
nutrients to crops. In turn, both fish and
plants are harvested as food sources.
Unlike industrial farming, where an
astounding amount of energy goes
into producing crops, aquaponics
systems are known as “closed loop”
systems because they don’t require
any additional energy inputs (fertiliser,
water, etc.) to continue to produce both
foods from both fish and plants.
With such things as biodiversity,
organic soil cultivators do their best
to mimic the cycles of Mother Nature.
However, can’t the same be said about
aquaponics growers? Even more,
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soil growing is defined by large mono
crop fields of plants that have often
been transplanted from the other side
of the globe. To illustrate, “organic”
potatoes are grown in massive farms
in the central valleys of Colorado, even
though these tubers are originally found
in South America. Is this arrangement
of plant life more “natural” or “organic”
than an aquaponics operation where
tilapia waste feeds lettuce greens?
In the end, these questions simply
boil down to preference and taste.
SUMMARY
The hydroponic organics debate is an
offshoot of a larger question facing
humankind: what is our place in
the natural world? There is no easy
answer to this question. Our ability to
manipulate natural systems is a result
of our capacity for rational thought. As
such, the hydroponic organics debate is
largely philosophical in nature. In this
debate, we are essentially assessing
the place of rationality in the natural
world. Humanity’s propensity to alter the
“natural order of things” has developed
these confusing global food systems, as
well as mono-crop fields, hydroponics
growing, and genetically modified foods.
In reality, all commercial farms utilise
technology to manipulate nature.
Through this lens, a monocrop field
of soil grown potatoes is no more
“natural” than an aquaponics operation.
Moving forward, and following the
lead of Mother Nature herself, soil
and hydroponic growers should be
focusing on their similarities instead
of differences. Within this exchange,
biodiversity is a great starting point.
With a more educated respect for one
another’s practices, perhaps these
two groups can work together to solve
important issues related to world hunger,
natural foods, and basic nutrition.