Much of the technology you exhibit is widely available and it's not expensive. Arduinos, Raspberries...thing is, not many people have the knowledge to put everything together and make it work. good thing is you have sharpened the pencil and adjusted the parameters quite well. It would be a great solution for a country like mine where the food mafias make us pay for the products much more than what we should.
Like the guy that invented a 200 mpg carburetor, he could have sold out. I could imagine one of these pods in between a couple of apartment buildings, providing fresh fish and vegetables to families in each building. *WHAT A BOON FOR INNER CITY FOOD DESERTS*
Agreed, really inspiring! And for what it's worth the 200mpg carburetor is an urban legend, for better or worse 🙂. thenewswheel.com/urban-legends-about-cars-the-200-mpg-carburetor/
I’ve had the identical idea several years ago except that the bottom “guts” of the system were under ground and the greenhouse was at ground level. You’d have to dig a hole to fit it but it would allow for better temperature control of the water reservoir…and you wouldn’t have to climb a ladder to get to the greenhouse. BUT..I’m so stoked to see that someone else had the same vision/idea and was able to manifest it in this way! I think that one of the next steps should be to create a DIY kit to sell to homeowners that they could assemble themselves in their yard.
That´s what I was thinking. Home owners and comunity groups over seas in Europe. I´m in Germany and so many people would love to get their hands on something like this. we have loads of shipping containers here so just the guts and good instructions.
@@In_fluss I see both above-ground and submerged format use, both of which can be insulated, and not just for food production. Containers for on site water storage can provide thermal storage. Homework for Mars and the Moon(s).
The idea of putting it in ground for temp control is smart but some ppl wouldn’t be able to do that like in FLORIDA because as soon as you start digging your gonna come in contact with water
Yep, build a new house and have a concrete basement area built with greenhouse on top. Can be done in water soaked areas as well with membrane during construction.
As a person in love with sustainable farming, this is mostly BS. It is neat in theory, uses all the buzz words, and looks cool, but the actual vegetable production from the top of a 20' shipping container( 8ft wide) is negligible compared to the cost of all of that. if you are growing salad greens (the most profitable food/time/squareft crop there is) you would barely get a salad or two per day with that size of growing area. A 50 foot bed of lettuce, 30 inches wide with 6 inch on center planting produces about 50lbs of salad mix every 5 weeks, or basically 10lbs a week... sells for $5/lb.. so $50/week. I'd bet that pod can produce maybe $50-75/week of actual production and probably costs $40,000 or more. It is a nice gimmick for a restaurant to put one in front, but they will still be buying 99% of their salad greens and vegetables from a traditional market gardener. Math is math, the yield per square foot, even vertical, is very easy to calculate for anyone with experience market gardening. And the part about the ' buyout ' offer is BS also. There are no patents involved and you can look at that thing and be able to reproduce it for $20-30k, why would someone pay millions for it.. It is basic aquaponics with a tiny growing area, it is economically unviable, which is why ' they' are the only person doing it. it is easy easy math to look at the growing area, calculated yield and determine the break even point and that thing is way over a decade.
And yet he'll garner raves and people will say he's changing the world. Nobody does any real critical thinking but instead just want to feel better about themselves so just by praising him, they feel they're doing their part in helping the environment...
I think you're missing the point. I don't fully like this particular design, but the point of it is having "ready made systems" that can yield enough production for personal use, since most people wouldn't have the space or the drive to do it themselves. Farms CAN successfully be vertical. There are really cool ones in Singapore (like Sky Greens) and they yield more than enough for commercial production. Those designs are smart. This one is, in my opinion and in this guy's own words, intended for the lazy farmer that has some spare parking space, pretty much.
"They were trying to buy us to shut us down" Kinda reminds me of the time American automobile industries bought out all the streetcars in Oakland and got rid of them.
Yes, you touch on a whole situation absolutely pregnant with information. Union Oil, and central planning that concentrated homes at a distance from work centers, necessitating highways and CARS. I am from Michigan, lived in Camarillo CA, love cars and bikes, but hated the idea of wasting so much time in a car, idling on the 101 with the AC on. Going to a bike was a vast improvement for time, energy, and enjoyment. But I must acknowledge any high kinetic transportation consumes precious energy and risks injury and death. Decentralizing systems (political control, energy, food production, etc.) builds in redundancy, robustness, liberty while franchising and empowering individuals. Solar on ones house, having tbe ability to raise food to use and/or sell (buy and sell energy too) by leveraging a marketplace on the internet, facilitated by autonomous drones, cars, and even trucks is a vibrant future I can imagine.
GM that stopped making electric cars because they were successful in getting legislators to increase allowable levels of air pollution….and then destroyed all of these cars that they could get their hands on (facing bankruptcy now for that one)
@@willm5814 Serves them right. I hope they don't get bailed out again. When you have a better product but you destroy it because you can make more profit from the worse one you shouldn't be in business. Eventually someone will copy or even improve your better product and you are screwed.
It always worries me when i see a video about a new technology and there are no problems or caveats shown. I feel the more informative videos at least have a section showing the challenges of applying the technology. Like for example this technology will not feed the world, most of our calories come from grains which these setups cannot produce in enough quantities. They can help with food diversity, but a simple greenhouse in the outskirts of a city would have much higher impact than these tech and energy heavy setups.
Yep just some good old fashioned running away with the investors’ money. If you can entice some Silicon Valley investors you’ll be laughing all the way to the bank. Which is why they’re yakking away about “high tech” this and that. Edit: Ok so I’m halfway through the video and they’ve mentioned automation, ease of use and they’ve proposed that their product is worth millions of dollars. Edit 2: Well at least he knows that if you can get public funding for your miracle product then you’re really gonna make some money. Let’s wait and see if they manage to con someone I suppose.
We did have many issues. We had towers the leaked list nutrients rich water, until we got the angle just right. We had drippers that clogged until we perfected the cleaning cycles. We had to much sensitive gear in the pod, until we build the machine room design. And probably a hundred more items. We just kept working through them until we got them right with the goal of creating the most simplified and stable system we could. We talked about some of it while they were filming but I just think they couldn't fit it all in in the 7 minutes.
Awesome stuff! I'm doing the same in Uganda with a low cost version of a very similar system. Urban food production reduces supply chains as it allows food to go from farm to table. It gets people in touch with their food and is just super tasty!
Universities have done this for almost a decade now, including the aquaponic inside containers. Right here on youtube. Many big universities like purdue also
Robotics 3d printing, A.i, and machine learning were not at the level they are today but I get where you were trying to go. Thats no different than the fact we had electric car capabilities 100 years ago but most people don't know there were electric buggies on the road until the gas vehicles won the nepotism fight of that day and postponed the inevitable. In any event I think they are doing a great job with their technology and I'm glad they didn't accept that offer. what that company tried to do is the same thing that happens all the time with new innovation- big company or player of the day stands on mountaintop of complacency, sees competition with something they perceive as a threat, then they either squeeze them out through their big buddies in government or they try to make them an offer they hopefully can't refuse.
Definitely! And for what it's worth, FarmPods and related technologies are already available! They've begun hitting the market in the last few years; it'll be exciting to see if they take off as the tech continues to mature, improve and come down in cost. There's so much innovation happening, it'll be really exciting to see how things change in the coming years!
@@dertythegrower and it hasn’t been used for commercial production because aquaponics are extremely unsustainable. God gave us soil, and we’re meant to use it holistically. Look at this system and you see what? Plastic, food imports that come from grain grown on fields, metal, electricity, more plastic. It’s not smart. If you really care quit eating unsustainable food products (40% of US land is used for animal ag) and do some research on truly natural and holistic agriculture systems. That being said, large greenhouses, although still using plastic and steel, use a much lower percentage than something like this because area increases at a faster rate than perimeter and they also require less temperature control because volume does too.
@@watchman727 My personal problem is how it is framed. They act as if it were a completely new ground breaking idea. While we have one of these things sitting around in our community garden. It's exhausting to keep hearing about their invotive startup concepts. Then you look it up and ah yes it's a technology that was developed by students or activists or hobbyists 10 years ago.
Thank you so much Mike for choosing something greater than yourself!!! Thank you for not selling out Humanity!!! Feeding the world is a priority and I commend you for not selling out to big companies that want to shut you down!! How do we help you to continue your great work!!!
its an interesting system, and I hope he can achieve his goal, but saying that he developed the concept is false. It has been done countless times before and aquaponics dates back to the Aztecs.
I'm currently building one. Been dreaming of an aquaponic green house since I was in middle school. Solar, wind, geo-thermically powered and all. This is truly the future of agriculture
Sell to the masses by sizing for the number of people it can support and for the different climates they will be in. Then concentrate on making it affordable by selling plans to the DIY community selling only the critical components that would be needed. Keep refining to keep the cost as low as possible to the end user. That's how you benefit society.
The number of people one of these can support is less than one. It is an excellent idea don't get me wrong but you can't feed yourself on one shipping container worth of space, would probably need 5-10.
We are so glad to see that more and more people are finally setting up automated, and integrated greenhouses (in so many countries). The concepts and countless different prototypes have been around for decades. Thousands of videos can be seen here. I can`t believe a newcomer states this to be his idea. Outrageous and unthankful towards all the inventors, developers and firms who have fought for this and made it possible. Not a single aspect of the farm pot is new. Please let us give respect to the people who have earned it. Now I wish Farmpod all the best. We need you and many more firms like you...
I appreciate your point, but I think their idea is the part that makes it a package solution that comes setup and nearly maintains itself. If you're familiar with the various tech and concepts involved here, you know it takes many hours of research, fabrication, setup, and fine tuning.
@@LogicBob Yah but still it is just his version of a packaged solution. Systems like this have been sold for quite some time now. Still his idea but just isn't as astounding as he tries to make it sound lol He is a salesman after all.
Just wanted to chime in. We have totally respect for all the agriculture tech that has come before us. We wouldn't be here without people like Don Bailey at UVI, Nate from Bright Agrotech, Tom Watson (inventor of the shower greenhouse), all the engineers on our team at Sandia Labs. They all worked with us to make this possible. They just didn't have time to go into it all in the video I think. And yes much of the component tech existed in different forms, Our goal was always to put it together into an affordable deliverable package so that everyone can benefit from them.
Lighten up! Do you know how many people were working on the electric light, the automobile, and airplane at the same time ? If the guy’s brain makes a connection he’s never seen before, the fact that someone, somewhere may have also had that idea before him doesn’t take away from his inspiration. In fact, it doesn’t matter who was first or before. If you want to talk about who gets the credit, it matters who gets to the patent office first.
When you watch enough of these Freethink videos you start to realize that for just about every problem we have in the world - especially the basic needs like food, water, energy, shelter, clothing and transport - there are viable solutions. The problem that keeps coming up, if people open their eyes, is capitalism. This video is a prime example. This amazing technology and innovation that can localize food production all over the world was threatened to be bought out, that technology hidden and buried, if it wasn't for the decision to keep it going in the right direction. How many other great inventions and innovations have been created but then essentially bought out by capitalists? And you can't even blame the capitalists, they are just playing the game that capitalism demands of them within the system. If we don't change the system that incentivizes these negative behaviours then we'll never get to beautiful, sustainable future that is possible.
@@coolioso808 Naive comment. Yes, competitive forces can hinder a new innovation of coming to fruition. Yes capitalism is the reason any of these technologies exist or have the chance to exist in the first place. Go ahead and design a better incentive system, I'm waiting.
@@coolioso808 it’s not capitalism that’s the fundamental issue. Its human greed for money and power which will shine through in any style of government. The thing about capitalism versus a totalitarian style government is that businesses like this still have a chance to succeed although the odds are against them. In a socialist/communist system the government would already own the means of food production and this business would never be anything more than a dream.
@@Humanaut. Capitalism is unsustainable as a socio-economic system. How do you not know that by now? It doesn't matter how romantic capitalism may have been in the past, it has no sustainability as a system going forward. That's not ME saying that, it's Mother Nature. She won't allow it, or she'll show us what dystopia looks like for the vast majority of people. Every life support system is in decline. Check the data: Biodiversity loss, rainforest deforestation, ocean acidification, more extreme weather, droughts, floods, etc. That's capitalism's lovely incentives. How could you not think of a better system? If you can't, here's one: resource based economy. This goes beyond any "-ism" people love to throw out there. It isn't socialism or communism because those systems still use money and politicians. I'm talking 21st Century economy where we aren't acting like children playing a board game. We use the scientific process and a collective inventory of Earth's resources to distribute them properly to meet people's basic needs, at minimum. No money, politics and bloody wars needed. See how that would be better? If you don't think so, pose a reasonable question or comment why that isn't technically possible and better than the system we have now.
@@majorkee3001 Unfortunately, capitalism doesn't exist in a vacuum. It's a system and systems create problems if they are not designed well. The propaganda around capitalism is strong. Most of us have no idea how much it affects our world view of what is possible vs. what is possible under the made-up restrictions of capitalism. Human greed and money did not exist for over 90% of human history. We wouldn't be here today if our human nature was to be greedy like how capitalism incentivizes ruthless competitiveness and insane levels of inequality and waste! The incentives of capitalism are unsustainable on a planet with finite resources. And while you are at it, throw out all the old money-based systems as well. Don't need socialism or communism, they used money and thus still have the negative incentives for misuse and corruption. But allow your mind to think past the fake and into the real. The real is what resources we really have on Earth and what we can really do with them to organize an efficient system, guided by the scientific process. The only centralization would be the inventory of Earth's resources, but then everything else would be regional or community-controlled, democratically without the need for bloody politicians. Want to talk about real freedom? How about no threat of money scams because there is money needed for basic needs to be met. People freed from their labor-for-income slavery - finally, real freedom.
I hope they seriously think about expanding. They can do the design and iterations. They don't have to build the things themselves. There are plenty of clients who would love something like this in their backyard (for fun or also for billionaires' apocalypse escape plan), and they will pay to hire engineers/contractors to do all the building. Then they'll provide data point back for more iterative design improvements.
That's an interesting idea! It'll be neat to see whether hardware or software becomes the best route to produce this. There's a lot of companies working on container farms, so hopefully they take a variety of approaches and we can see which win out over time.
With all the interests and orders coming in, we are now looking at having FarmPod built in multiple locations to make them available faster and more affordable. We were reluctant in the past as we want to endure the quality and the stability of the product.
There are a ton of freight farms already. I think all of this ‘’ we started this’’ is wildly ignorant. Their mission is amazing and what they’re doing is amazing, but they didn’t invent the wheel.
Doesn't matter. Some company wanted them buy them out, and destroy these dreams. Apparently the idea to buy out DIY food pods, must've worked back in the day. Some hippie took them money, and didn't try this idea on a bigger scale. Or maybe they always got bought out, and that was that. This time, these guys finally said no to the big money. And this time they have a video on youtube!
Yeah the trick is to make it like the building company Boxabl - where easy installation and something that would be low maintenance once operational and of course affordable
It's a really interesting question--when do you open source things, and when do you create a startup to monetize them? There are a number of pros and cons--here's a few: Pros: You could potentially develop the technology faster, and get it out to more people more quickly. Cons: You need a significant amount of money to develop shipping container farms - so you might not be able to do it without startup funding, and open sourcing the technology could make it less valuable since anyone could use it. Additionally, not many people in the open source community will have access to a shipping container farm to work on, so will a community capable of making valuable contributions develop around it and make it worth maintaining the project as open source?
@@freethink as a computer engineer who is actively doing hydrophobic systems. The control systems 100% do not have to be tied to the container. You do not have to have the exact same setup to have a stable contribution path. Nor would you want to. I guess. Is the goal to create more hydroponic systems in more environments to feed more people? Open source it. There are clean monetization paths for startups in this space. See group gets, see literally hundreds of products from hack a day. It is 100% possible. The development path is just different. You couldn’t have a giant garage taking on debt like they are right now. If the goal is to only sell prepackaged containers and that’s it. Then ye, I guess keep it closed. But I’ll tell you what. I’d never put that in my backyard. Most business would also like some flexibility. my shed? Sure. Roof. Sure. Trailer. Sure. Most these systems require very little alterations from the control systems point of view. Open source is coming to this space if this container group wants it or not.
@@freethink shipping container, $2500 USD, poly greenhouse $1000 (generous), Raspberry Pi, assorted relays, temp sensors - $100, super fancy water monitoring kit $1000. Solar panels can be bought second hand for under 25 cents a watt. Even new panels are that cheap. Batteries are big investment. I know because my project is open source and I do use a Pi, solar, batteries, and assorted sensors. Just no shipping container or fancy water monitoring yet.
I've been growing food by aquaponics for 6 years now. I thought of using shipping containers, but never thought about having the greenhouse on the roof. Nice idea!
@@ADITYAKUMAR-jk9ry It depends on the style of Aquaponics, in the video they used a vertical racking system. This is best for leafy greens and plants that are lightweight. You can get more production and a quicker turn over this method. Other methods are Deep Water Culture (Dwc), or flood and drain. All have advantages, and disadvantages from one another.
@@jamaljenkins153 Actually.. You can also grow potatoes and root vegetables but i highly suggest using the aeroponics technique instead of media. Substitute hydroponic nutrient solution with fish nutrient solution and you have a Air-Aquaponics potato LOL Keep this our little secret Patten pending ;)
@@johnsnow5955 I have seen aeroponics done before, I just don't have any experience with that method. I don't really consider it Aquaponics, because you can't fully filter the water. It would take a massive amount of potatoes to filter aeroponicly. I think it's less work just putting potatoes in the ground. I did like the hammock aeroponics method though. I would love to see someone do it though John.
A great idea. Aquaponics is a great method too, but I would also work on a system that looks after the fish. Having fish swimming circles in a plastic "bucket" just to make poo is harsh.
Far the most important thing that you NEED absolutely to know and forever keep in mind is at 4:40 and it lasts about 5 sec. !!! Very important if you skipped or missed it go back it very very important to see in what world we live.
There´s one container underneath missing. The container for insekts ( insekt breeding ) to feed the fish. And if you want to make it perfekt, ad another container for mushrooms too ;)
We have a company in Australia that houses theirs in a shed with near %100 water retention… in fact the humidity in the shed provides the top up for the water tanks. It’s a great movement
Yes!!! I’ve been having a vision of localized vertical farming in cities that grow food more productive food than farmers and to normalize front Lawn gardens as well as suburban farmers markets in which people can go to a place in their city and sell the extra foods they grow therefore it’s more organic and the city helps give these people patented licenses to sell them
I love st croix and the fact that they are helping out that community with this brilliant idea that will withstand those hurricanes is amazing!! Next step is getting all those homeless animals off the island to loving families! ❤❤ this is just amazing
I want one so bad! I'm disabled and need a new activity I can handle. I came across your video while researching hydroponics and aquaponics. Your farm pod is perfect for me.
This is so amazing!! Reminds me of the work that’s happening at Oko Farms in NYC. Just imagine if he transitioned to the non profit sector!! Grants to create pods in urban communities, programs and jobs to incentives green jobs to the urban youth! Plus that same work with the private sector and schools! This is really amazing work here!
We are currently working with governments and schools and have setup a non profit to better help with that mission. We are also creating open source grade specific curriculums to turn farm pods into classrooms for both agriculture and stem learning.
To the *incredible person* seeing this, I wish you all the best in life❤ don't over blame yourself, accept things and go forward. Don't let others define what “success” is for you. Get up, learn the skills needed and get after it, all the keys to a happy life is in your hands. Keep pushing.
Who cleans filters? Is there a service to replace or clean media? How are you cooling the shipping containers? In high wind area's how are you preventing tipping? What fish are you using that is legal in all 50 states? Are replacement parts easy to source from your company or third party?
I agree and am using this in my model to end homelessness and hunger, while achieving so much more. Hopefully soon everyone will have heard about my new nonprofit organization, and the concept behind it. Thompson Family Homestead inc.
Using fish reduces chemicals. What about the pipes you use? Are they food grade? I like this and willing to buy. Just would like food grade pipes to reduce chemicals in my food
I am all for a small business and innovation… But there is one thing these aquaponics operations always leave out when they tell you how wonderful their system is. Inputs. If the fish provide the nutrients for the plants, what provides the nutrients for the fish.? It is usually GMO field corn number 2 based fish feed. Grown on a monolithic mega farm with lots of diesel fuel and petroleum based fertilizers. But I guess that's an inconvenient reality and we all can't feel good about ourselves knowing it, so forget I said anything.
I am a total cityboy who has never been interested in growing vegetables. However, that’s exactly what’s I’ve been thinking about doing lately after learning how my processed foods lifestyle has directly created the degenerative diseases that are killing me and inevitably all of us. I love what these men are doing and how they are standing athwart big agriculture and it’s relentless drive to poison us all for profit. I want a farm pod just like these, only smaller; maybe small enough for just my family or large enough for my neighborhood. Do I sound like a greenie? I’m not. My philosophy is, “Big is the New Bad.” Big agriculture. Big tech. Big medicine. Big media. Big government. Big business. Big industry. In a word, globalism. Power concentrated on the hands of the few.
How do you feed the fish? What kind of fish feed do you use? Depending on your answer here, this can be a complete waste of time, or a wonderful idea. I remain to be convinced of the second one...
Fish are omnivores in most cases and can handle a very wide verity of food from DIY home made to bulk processed pellets used in raising other fish on farms.
You could put duckweed in the tanks. Don't know how wise that is as I don't know what kind of nutrients it provides, but there are surely a variety of aquatic plants that could live in the same tank.
The food produced in hydroponics quality depends on the plants being fed the correct nutrients. Because their environment is ideal for plants, it's also ideal for pests. There are also very toxic fish farms. In fact we have been strongly advised not to buy farmed fish.. A chap in South Africa has been selling container aquaponic farms for years.
Schools. Yes. I was very lucky to have an amazing science teacher in the sixth grade (and fifth grade) who was very into hydroponics. Part of the course was for every class to setup the hydroponics garden, plant seeds and at the end of the semester we’d have a salad. I’d never heard of growing things this way. It made perfect sense. Plus no soil to deal with. Higher yields. We had huge tomatoes better than any tomato I’d ever had. I think about hydroponics and our garden a lot. I’ve always wanted to setup a garden like this. Self contained with fish providing nutrients. Solar and smart monitoring systems. I think a lot of homeowners would be into this. Sell kits. Nice looking greenhouses. Something people can put in their yard. Make the pump house and fish tanks be in a shed. Or have the option to have your own outdoor pond that’s lined for this. Be able to customize it to your land. And then ship in stages with detailed plans. Last step ship the fish. Have smart monitors linked back to the company and have the company monitor each growing periods and give advice on ways to improve. Have cameras in all areas. Market showing a Timelapse of plants growing, fruits and vegetables exploding. Be able to control each section as to water amount, hours of light per day. Keep it on 24/7. Sell the plans and equipment. You’d be the place for service and repair. Have a kit that comes every quarter with new planting materials you’d need. Have the customer plan their crops for the year based on yield they want. This should be like ikea.
Thank you for your innovations. We need more people like you in the world. Thank you for not taking the bait from ignorant greedy companies that only want to shut it down and make more profit for themselves.
The biggest advantage of such systems is the level of freshness you'll nether get any other way. I mean, the taste of the salad made of green which has been growing 5 minutes ago is not possible to confuse with anything.
We have something very simular here in Berlin for some years now. You can buy herbs produced there in regular supermarkets. The major problem is the fish food. It is certified but its still animal based and from the ocean. Innovation in this area would be cool.
There are already several solutions and they would actually create more jobs. To my mind the problem is that someone like the Gates Foundation will come along and buy all the sectors involved and gain total control through an organ like Monsanto. In my humble opinion a new world order where there are NO elite, no super rich, no all powerful people must be created and encouraged at all costs. Oligarchs and the world's richest must be such a foreign concept and unappealing that everyone must endeavour to never be seen as being on their way to being one.
Hi Lisa, I am from Munich and I am really interested in starting a business with food growing. The company your are talking in Berlin doing similar stuff, could give me a contact please? I contacted FarmPod but they did not contacted me back for business opportunities in Germany. I think we need to more of this business running as the future plans are not looking good. better to be prepared. Thank you Lisa & take care
Just so much potential in this. So many efforts like "roof farms", etc. Hopefully one of this initiatives and startups will start taking off Tesla style and make the world more conscious of the problem at hand. So many issues can be addressed by just reducing farmable land and distances.
interesting concept, though i´m not sure why they insist on using shipping containers instead of building their system inside of already existing structures - for example, there´s a very similar set-up in a former brewery near my hometown. the fish swim in the old brewing kettles and the entire roof is one huge green house. they produce enough to supply their own restaurant and have plenty surplus to sell, making a decent profit - which is important too if you want a concept to spread beyond being a prototype
Kudos to you that you didn’t step away. People may not realize that major players in the food market don’t want people like us to survive. We understand too about the lack of funding. We’re kind of in the same struggle; with banks not wanting to give large loans to us, but will to a tech company almost guaranteed to fail. And investors are tough because they want a 100% sure bet and not willing to put any risk. Let’s hope that this time next year that both of our companies are major players in the aquaponics market.
Sell shares in your companies. In South Africa there is a system called stokvels. Everyone contributes X amount every month. Every month someone else get the kitty, interest free. So there must be at least a few million businesses needing capital. Everyone pays $10 into the stokvel and every month a different block of entrepreneurs get their share of the capital. Interest free. Risk free. Trust is essential and you must pay your $10 for the year no matter what.
Where does the fish-feed comes from? We are currently building a big farm in Ghana, using Aquaponic together with NewGrowingSystem robotic greenhouse. But we also produce the fishfeed from waste. So this farm will be 100% sustainable, because no external energy will be needed. All we need comes from the sun, rain and waste. We are turning waste into energy, food and feed.
One of the many challenges facing the Venus Project is in 'the how' of successfully transitioning from our current system, to a RBE. "This company wanted to buy them, to shut them down" is exactly the reason why the VP hasn't seen wider adoption, it's core technological concepts - such as mass modular design and a primary focus on renewable energy - have been adopted by many corporations, but lack the guiding principles of the VP. Partnerships with companies such as farminapod, would be a step in the right direction.
@@LeoLoughlin I agree. Collaboration is the way forward. But corporations and companies either get scared about RBE and the subsequent demise of the monetary system or they just want to perpetuate the current social order.
What size is the container? How much food can be grown in this container size and how many fish are required? Also, how many people can this particular size greenhouse feed?
There are several companies doing this. Same model except this is contained into one standard size. Which probably doesn’t scale efficiently. Opposed to designing one big greenhouse one central pump house.
As a non-vegan you may not have consider or thought about this, but fish are actually thinking feeling intelligent sentient creatures, and this is enslavement and exploitation. its really sad and will in the future be looked down upon just as we now view slavery. there are other ways of achieving these farms without using other sentient beings to further our goals without their consent. the exploitation of non-human animals needs to end and will eventually end as we all come to learn of the depth of cruelty we are committing upon these innocent beings. they are not somethings, they are someones.
I respect this view but I don't wholly agree with it. I see aquaponic farming as a necessary step in the direction for animal and cruelty free farming. In your opinion, is the ethical impact of using fish in a system like this diminished if their environment mimicked their natural habitat, with artificial currents, reefs and daily light changes (and they weren't being eaten)?
@@jmcg3267 the ethical impact would not be diminished since we are still exploiting the fish without their consent. Its a mindset that drives something called Speciesm and its a real problem for animals sadly. also, cruelty free farming already exists. there are already vertical farms that use water and not fish. using fish is not at all necessary.
I do not buy the story of refusing selling deal. I don't think we should convert parking lots into mini farms - we would end up building new parking lots. How much this container costs, and how much an hectare of land?
That's fantastic.one would think if a shop has that and sell the products. As producer and seller. And less logistics are needed the shop could be even cheaper than industrial food. But make more money themself. Selling healtier and more sustainable food. It would be a win win situation for the shops and the customers.
this is awesome i have been trying to come up with something like this myself, as i wish to live off grid and live on a rural property but have controlled growing for better results for the least work for a more relaxed lifestyle and so i can plant more trees then food on the land i seek to buy , this just makes so much sense , maybe once i have found the perfect rural property they can ship me one of these systems as i live in Australia , i hope these guys stay true to their mission , they can change the world with this . keep up the good work guys
Great video! Great idea! Hope it goes mainstream! Worked in Big AG for 3 years. Look at what's going on in North Korea with food now. Now reading American food prices might be on the rise. Time for everyday citizens to be less dependent and more self reliant. Food is the 2nd highest expense for most Americans after rent/mortgage.
I really like this one. Noticed the ground solar panels, presumably to avoid shading the plants. Long term, FarmPod have to be hanging out for specific wavelength, transparent solar film tech to mature & become cost effective, so they can get power from solar film around the greenhouse, using wavelengths the plants don't need.
I've seen similar things in Dubai in 2015, only hydroponic instead of aquaponic. The biggest problem is that exports from intensive agriculture are almost always cheaper and most people won't have the money to choose local food.
@@johnsnow5955 true, but again it's not with a few containers you can reach that kind of economy of scale, meaning, this kind of project will only career to people with a front lawn and enough money to buy the equipment. Plus up to now many big hydro/aquaponics projects went bankrupt after using all their capital buying huge buildings instead of setting up economically sustainable farms.
That's because we are not loading the real cost of growing food on masisve mono culture farms, namely its impact on the environment. Whether it's local land erosion or the real cost carbon emissions. These kind of systems are by no means perfect but we are also not doing true like for like comparisons. It's time we start having honest conversations about that!
@@RobertoMaurizzi we don't have a lot of choice, but to at least keep trying to make change happen. Even within the current economic system we can shift subsidies towards more local and sustainable food production. What if in the process we drive down health care related costs because now starch and sugar based diets are more expensive (with reduced obesity figures as a result). It's same with homelessness. It is cheaper to give a homeless person a home than to pay for all the public funding/support needed to sustain a person on the street. The problem is not economic but rather social and political in nature...
Does it run exclusively on solar, or does it need mains? It's it completely self sufficient or does it require nutrients for the fish? Sustainably sourcing fish feed is still a problem or no?
How could it run on solar when the greenhouse is on top. Also of course the fish need food. The fish poo feeds the plants, the plants clean the water and return it to the fish, but the fish still need to be fed. it is just like traditional farming, but instead of applying fertilizers to the ground, you are applying fishfood to the fish, who convert it to fertilizer.
@@PeterSedesse I met this hippie on a bus once, who explained how they had built a completely closed loop "mini eco system" that basically produced fish and plants from sunlight. They would feed (some of?) the plants to the fish, and take out fish to eat when they grew too large or too many. I mean, that's kind of how the planet works, right? So it should be possible.
@@RasmusSchultz You could use duckweed or algae to feed a limited number of fish, but you would still need to add minerals. You would also need to power pumps to circulate the water. Tilapia require 300 days to reach harvesting size, so in order to eat 1 10oz tilapia each day, you would need to house 300ish fish which would require about 1000 gallons of water, which to maintain healthy water needs to pump 1000 gallons of water every 15 minutes ( industry standard). On top of that, you would need thousands of more gallons of water to produce the algae/duckweed. So you are talking about maybe 5000 gallons of water, a very strong pump running 24/7 in order to eat 1 fish a day. In most aquaponics systems they do not harvest any fish for this reason. And again, what you ' can ' do as a cool hobby experiment is not the same thing as being economically viable on a large scale. The grow area above a 20' shipping container will not produce anything more than some side salads for a family of 4.
Excellent product! Excellent service! Excellent company development! Working on a aquaculture greenhouse myself... it’s simply wonderful to see people ahead me... Already making it real! Once production is up and running looking forward to seeing models!
I would love to have one of these are two of these connected to a restaurant that patrons could choose their own vegetables, they would have for dinner.
What do you think of this vision of local, self-contained smart farms?
Why are prices never mentioned.
Can citizens put one right outside their houses?
Price will be prohibitive for normal bread eaters.
Much of the technology you exhibit is widely available and it's not expensive. Arduinos, Raspberries...thing is, not many people have the knowledge to put everything together and make it work. good thing is you have sharpened the pencil and adjusted the parameters quite well. It would be a great solution for a country like mine where the food mafias make us pay for the products much more than what we should.
World is collapsing?
Extremely inspired by the fact, he didn't settle for a lucrative exit if it wasn't aligned with the end goal. Kudos Mike.
Or the evaluation was too low and/or they had more debt than the offer
Like the guy that invented a 200 mpg carburetor, he could have sold out.
I could imagine one of these pods in between a couple of apartment buildings, providing fresh fish and vegetables to families in each building. *WHAT A BOON FOR INNER CITY FOOD DESERTS*
Agreed, really inspiring! And for what it's worth the 200mpg carburetor is an urban legend, for better or worse 🙂. thenewswheel.com/urban-legends-about-cars-the-200-mpg-carburetor/
@@freethink wow thats an interesting topic
You’re amazing for not selling for just the money!
I’ve had the identical idea several years ago except that the bottom “guts” of the system were under ground and the greenhouse was at ground level. You’d have to dig a hole to fit it but it would allow for better temperature control of the water reservoir…and you wouldn’t have to climb a ladder to get to the greenhouse. BUT..I’m so stoked to see that someone else had the same vision/idea and was able to manifest it in this way! I think that one of the next steps should be to create a DIY kit to sell to homeowners that they could assemble themselves in their yard.
That´s what I was thinking. Home owners and comunity groups over seas in Europe. I´m in Germany and so many people would love to get their hands on something like this. we have loads of shipping containers here so just the guts and good instructions.
@@In_fluss I see both above-ground and submerged format use, both of which can be insulated, and not just for food production. Containers for on site water storage can provide thermal storage. Homework for Mars and the Moon(s).
The idea of putting it in ground for temp control is smart but some ppl wouldn’t be able to do that like in FLORIDA because as soon as you start digging your gonna come in contact with water
Yep, build a new house and have a concrete basement area built with greenhouse on top.
Can be done in water soaked areas as well with membrane during construction.
@@ChicoGeneticsOfficial Be thankful that that water is available! But perhaps some foam or fiberglass insulation?
As a person in love with sustainable farming, this is mostly BS. It is neat in theory, uses all the buzz words, and looks cool, but the actual vegetable production from the top of a 20' shipping container( 8ft wide) is negligible compared to the cost of all of that. if you are growing salad greens (the most profitable food/time/squareft crop there is) you would barely get a salad or two per day with that size of growing area. A 50 foot bed of lettuce, 30 inches wide with 6 inch on center planting produces about 50lbs of salad mix every 5 weeks, or basically 10lbs a week... sells for $5/lb.. so $50/week. I'd bet that pod can produce maybe $50-75/week of actual production and probably costs $40,000 or more. It is a nice gimmick for a restaurant to put one in front, but they will still be buying 99% of their salad greens and vegetables from a traditional market gardener. Math is math, the yield per square foot, even vertical, is very easy to calculate for anyone with experience market gardening. And the part about the ' buyout ' offer is BS also. There are no patents involved and you can look at that thing and be able to reproduce it for $20-30k, why would someone pay millions for it.. It is basic aquaponics with a tiny growing area, it is economically unviable, which is why ' they' are the only person doing it. it is easy easy math to look at the growing area, calculated yield and determine the break even point and that thing is way over a decade.
Yep you are right
I agree too. I have been doing aquaponics for the last 6 years and running Aquariums for the last 20 years. This video just makes me angry.
Absolutely true. I just see this as an expensive hobby.
And yet he'll garner raves and people will say he's changing the world. Nobody does any real critical thinking but instead just want to feel better about themselves so just by praising him, they feel they're doing their part in helping the environment...
I think you're missing the point. I don't fully like this particular design, but the point of it is having "ready made systems" that can yield enough production for personal use, since most people wouldn't have the space or the drive to do it themselves. Farms CAN successfully be vertical. There are really cool ones in Singapore (like Sky Greens) and they yield more than enough for commercial production. Those designs are smart. This one is, in my opinion and in this guy's own words, intended for the lazy farmer that has some spare parking space, pretty much.
"They were trying to buy us to shut us down" Kinda reminds me of the time American automobile industries bought out all the streetcars in Oakland and got rid of them.
Yes, you touch on a whole situation absolutely pregnant with information. Union Oil, and central planning that concentrated homes at a distance from work centers, necessitating highways and CARS.
I am from Michigan, lived in Camarillo CA, love cars and bikes, but hated the idea of wasting so much time in a car, idling on the 101 with the AC on. Going to a bike was a vast improvement for time, energy, and enjoyment. But I must acknowledge any high kinetic transportation consumes precious energy and risks injury and death.
Decentralizing systems (political control, energy, food production, etc.) builds in redundancy, robustness, liberty while franchising and empowering individuals. Solar on ones house, having tbe ability to raise food to use and/or sell (buy and sell energy too) by leveraging a marketplace on the internet, facilitated by autonomous drones, cars, and even trucks is a vibrant future I can imagine.
GM that stopped making electric cars because they were successful in getting legislators to increase allowable levels of air pollution….and then destroyed all of these cars that they could get their hands on (facing bankruptcy now for that one)
@@willm5814 Serves them right. I hope they don't get bailed out again. When you have a better product but you destroy it because you can make more profit from the worse one you shouldn't be in business. Eventually someone will copy or even improve your better product and you are screwed.
Whenever someone tries to buy you out on the ground floor, you know you're on the right stairway. Keep climbing.
I bet that was a meat or dairy company
It always worries me when i see a video about a new technology and there are no problems or caveats shown. I feel the more informative videos at least have a section showing the challenges of applying the technology.
Like for example this technology will not feed the world, most of our calories come from grains which these setups cannot produce in enough quantities. They can help with food diversity, but a simple greenhouse in the outskirts of a city would have much higher impact than these tech and energy heavy setups.
its a con .
Yep just some good old fashioned running away with the investors’ money. If you can entice some Silicon Valley investors you’ll be laughing all the way to the bank. Which is why they’re yakking away about “high tech” this and that.
Edit: Ok so I’m halfway through the video and they’ve mentioned automation, ease of use and they’ve proposed that their product is worth millions of dollars.
Edit 2: Well at least he knows that if you can get public funding for your miracle product then you’re really gonna make some money.
Let’s wait and see if they manage to con someone I suppose.
We did have many issues. We had towers the leaked list nutrients rich water, until we got the angle just right. We had drippers that clogged until we perfected the cleaning cycles. We had to much sensitive gear in the pod, until we build the machine room design. And probably a hundred more items. We just kept working through them until we got them right with the goal of creating the most simplified and stable system we could. We talked about some of it while they were filming but I just think they couldn't fit it all in in the 7 minutes.
@@farmpod7545 First to subscribe! Looking forward to future videos!
@@farmpod7545 how much is a pod worth
Awesome stuff! I'm doing the same in Uganda with a low cost version of a very similar system. Urban food production reduces supply chains as it allows food to go from farm to table. It gets people in touch with their food and is just super tasty!
That's amazing! Good luck with everything you're doing!
If you get an opportunity to visit Kenya, come link with chamie farm in Nairobi we are also implementing aquaponics projects around the urban regions
I'd love to see more Peter, do you have any social media channels to follow?
this is dope. So many new innovative technologies on the horizon.
Universities have done this for almost a decade now, including the aquaponic inside containers. Right here on youtube. Many big universities like purdue also
Robotics 3d printing, A.i, and machine learning were not at the level they are today but I get where you were trying to go. Thats no different than the fact we had electric car capabilities 100 years ago but most people don't know there were electric buggies on the road until the gas vehicles won the nepotism fight of that day and postponed the inevitable. In any event I think they are doing a great job with their technology and I'm glad they didn't accept that offer. what that company tried to do is the same thing that happens all the time with new innovation- big company or player of the day stands on mountaintop of complacency, sees competition with something they perceive as a threat, then they either squeeze them out through their big buddies in government or they try to make them an offer they hopefully can't refuse.
Definitely! And for what it's worth, FarmPods and related technologies are already available! They've begun hitting the market in the last few years; it'll be exciting to see if they take off as the tech continues to mature, improve and come down in cost. There's so much innovation happening, it'll be really exciting to see how things change in the coming years!
@@dertythegrower and it hasn’t been used for commercial production because aquaponics are extremely unsustainable. God gave us soil, and we’re meant to use it holistically. Look at this system and you see what? Plastic, food imports that come from grain grown on fields, metal, electricity, more plastic. It’s not smart. If you really care quit eating unsustainable food products (40% of US land is used for animal ag) and do some research on truly natural and holistic agriculture systems. That being said, large greenhouses, although still using plastic and steel, use a much lower percentage than something like this because area increases at a faster rate than perimeter and they also require less temperature control because volume does too.
@@watchman727 My personal problem is how it is framed.
They act as if it were a completely new ground breaking idea.
While we have one of these things sitting around in our community garden.
It's exhausting to keep hearing about their invotive startup concepts.
Then you look it up and ah yes it's a technology that was developed by students or activists or hobbyists 10 years ago.
Thank you so much Mike for choosing something greater than yourself!!! Thank you for not selling out Humanity!!!
Feeding the world is a priority and I commend you for not selling out to big companies that want to shut you down!!
How do we help you to continue your great work!!!
its an interesting system, and I hope he can achieve his goal, but saying that he developed the concept is false. It has been done countless times before and aquaponics dates back to the Aztecs.
This version is way different since they added features so any lazy farmer can produce enough
Not the first 'shipping container farms', but kudos to their enthusiasm and motivation. Hope for their success, and more competition...
I'm currently building one. Been dreaming of an aquaponic green house since I was in middle school. Solar, wind, geo-thermically powered and all. This is truly the future of agriculture
awesome, do you have any social media channels we can follow your build?
It's been 3 years any updates ?
Sell to the masses by sizing for the number of people it can support and for the different climates they will be in. Then concentrate on making it affordable by selling plans to the DIY community selling only the critical components that would be needed. Keep refining to keep the cost as low as possible to the end user. That's how you benefit society.
The number of people one of these can support is less than one. It is an excellent idea don't get me wrong but you can't feed yourself on one shipping container worth of space, would probably need 5-10.
We are so glad to see that more and more people are finally setting up automated, and integrated greenhouses (in so many countries). The concepts and countless different prototypes have been around for decades. Thousands of videos can be seen here. I can`t believe a newcomer states this to be his idea. Outrageous and unthankful towards all the inventors, developers and firms who have fought for this and made it possible. Not a single aspect of the farm pot is new. Please let us give respect to the people who have earned it. Now I wish Farmpod all the best. We need you and many more firms like you...
I appreciate your point, but I think their idea is the part that makes it a package solution that comes setup and nearly maintains itself. If you're familiar with the various tech and concepts involved here, you know it takes many hours of research, fabrication, setup, and fine tuning.
@@LogicBob Yah but still it is just his version of a packaged solution.
Systems like this have been sold for quite some time now.
Still his idea but just isn't as astounding as he tries to make it sound lol
He is a salesman after all.
Works great as long as you have a reliable electrical supply
Just wanted to chime in. We have totally respect for all the agriculture tech that has come before us. We wouldn't be here without people like Don Bailey at UVI, Nate from Bright Agrotech, Tom Watson (inventor of the shower greenhouse), all the engineers on our team at Sandia Labs. They all worked with us to make this possible. They just didn't have time to go into it all in the video I think. And yes much of the component tech existed in different forms, Our goal was always to put it together into an affordable deliverable package so that everyone can benefit from them.
Lighten up! Do you know how many people were working on the electric light, the automobile, and airplane at the same time ? If the guy’s brain makes a connection he’s never seen before, the fact that someone, somewhere may have also had that idea before him doesn’t take away from his inspiration. In fact, it doesn’t matter who was first or before. If you want to talk about who gets the credit, it matters who gets to the patent office first.
if you could combine every technology that Freethink is showing, our world could be Garden Eden...
When you watch enough of these Freethink videos you start to realize that for just about every problem we have in the world - especially the basic needs like food, water, energy, shelter, clothing and transport - there are viable solutions. The problem that keeps coming up, if people open their eyes, is capitalism. This video is a prime example. This amazing technology and innovation that can localize food production all over the world was threatened to be bought out, that technology hidden and buried, if it wasn't for the decision to keep it going in the right direction. How many other great inventions and innovations have been created but then essentially bought out by capitalists? And you can't even blame the capitalists, they are just playing the game that capitalism demands of them within the system. If we don't change the system that incentivizes these negative behaviours then we'll never get to beautiful, sustainable future that is possible.
@@coolioso808 Naive comment. Yes, competitive forces can hinder a new innovation of coming to fruition.
Yes capitalism is the reason any of these technologies exist or have the chance to exist in the first place.
Go ahead and design a better incentive system, I'm waiting.
@@coolioso808 it’s not capitalism that’s the fundamental issue. Its human greed for money and power which will shine through in any style of government. The thing about capitalism versus a totalitarian style government is that businesses like this still have a chance to succeed although the odds are against them. In a socialist/communist system the government would already own the means of food production and this business would never be anything more than a dream.
@@Humanaut. Capitalism is unsustainable as a socio-economic system. How do you not know that by now? It doesn't matter how romantic capitalism may have been in the past, it has no sustainability as a system going forward. That's not ME saying that, it's Mother Nature. She won't allow it, or she'll show us what dystopia looks like for the vast majority of people. Every life support system is in decline. Check the data: Biodiversity loss, rainforest deforestation, ocean acidification, more extreme weather, droughts, floods, etc. That's capitalism's lovely incentives. How could you not think of a better system?
If you can't, here's one: resource based economy. This goes beyond any "-ism" people love to throw out there. It isn't socialism or communism because those systems still use money and politicians. I'm talking 21st Century economy where we aren't acting like children playing a board game. We use the scientific process and a collective inventory of Earth's resources to distribute them properly to meet people's basic needs, at minimum. No money, politics and bloody wars needed. See how that would be better? If you don't think so, pose a reasonable question or comment why that isn't technically possible and better than the system we have now.
@@majorkee3001 Unfortunately, capitalism doesn't exist in a vacuum. It's a system and systems create problems if they are not designed well. The propaganda around capitalism is strong. Most of us have no idea how much it affects our world view of what is possible vs. what is possible under the made-up restrictions of capitalism. Human greed and money did not exist for over 90% of human history. We wouldn't be here today if our human nature was to be greedy like how capitalism incentivizes ruthless competitiveness and insane levels of inequality and waste!
The incentives of capitalism are unsustainable on a planet with finite resources. And while you are at it, throw out all the old money-based systems as well. Don't need socialism or communism, they used money and thus still have the negative incentives for misuse and corruption.
But allow your mind to think past the fake and into the real. The real is what resources we really have on Earth and what we can really do with them to organize an efficient system, guided by the scientific process. The only centralization would be the inventory of Earth's resources, but then everything else would be regional or community-controlled, democratically without the need for bloody politicians. Want to talk about real freedom? How about no threat of money scams because there is money needed for basic needs to be met. People freed from their labor-for-income slavery - finally, real freedom.
I hope they seriously think about expanding. They can do the design and iterations. They don't have to build the things themselves. There are plenty of clients who would love something like this in their backyard (for fun or also for billionaires' apocalypse escape plan), and they will pay to hire engineers/contractors to do all the building. Then they'll provide data point back for more iterative design improvements.
That's an interesting idea! It'll be neat to see whether hardware or software becomes the best route to produce this. There's a lot of companies working on container farms, so hopefully they take a variety of approaches and we can see which win out over time.
With all the interests and orders coming in, we are now looking at having FarmPod built in multiple locations to make them available faster and more affordable. We were reluctant in the past as we want to endure the quality and the stability of the product.
There are a ton of freight farms already. I think all of this ‘’ we started this’’ is wildly ignorant. Their mission is amazing and what they’re doing is amazing, but they didn’t invent the wheel.
This has been around for decades yes
Doesn't matter. Some company wanted them buy them out, and destroy these dreams. Apparently the idea to buy out DIY food pods, must've worked back in the day. Some hippie took them money, and didn't try this idea on a bigger scale. Or maybe they always got bought out, and that was that. This time, these guys finally said no to the big money. And this time they have a video on youtube!
Yeah the trick is to make it like the building company Boxabl - where easy installation and something that would be low maintenance once operational and of course affordable
Thank you for sharing. Keep up the good work!!
have been following hydroponics and aquaponics from 2012 ; this is the most practical model to implement. Good job GUYS
I think they should make it all open source so that anyone in the world could replicate it.
especially since their core boards are running opensource rasperry pis ...
@ 3:41
It's a really interesting question--when do you open source things, and when do you create a startup to monetize them?
There are a number of pros and cons--here's a few:
Pros: You could potentially develop the technology faster, and get it out to more people more quickly.
Cons: You need a significant amount of money to develop shipping container farms - so you might not be able to do it without startup funding, and open sourcing the technology could make it less valuable since anyone could use it. Additionally, not many people in the open source community will have access to a shipping container farm to work on, so will a community capable of making valuable contributions develop around it and make it worth maintaining the project as open source?
@@freethink as a computer engineer who is actively doing hydrophobic systems. The control systems 100% do not have to be tied to the container. You do not have to have the exact same setup to have a stable contribution path. Nor would you want to. I guess. Is the goal to create more hydroponic systems in more environments to feed more people? Open source it. There are clean monetization paths for startups in this space. See group gets, see literally hundreds of products from hack a day.
It is 100% possible. The development path is just different. You couldn’t have a giant garage taking on debt like they are right now.
If the goal is to only sell prepackaged containers and that’s it. Then ye, I guess keep it closed. But I’ll tell you what. I’d never put that in my backyard. Most business would also like some flexibility.
my shed? Sure. Roof. Sure. Trailer. Sure. Most these systems require very little alterations from the control systems point of view.
Open source is coming to this space if this container group wants it or not.
@@freethink shipping container, $2500 USD, poly greenhouse $1000 (generous), Raspberry Pi, assorted relays, temp sensors - $100, super fancy water monitoring kit $1000. Solar panels can be bought second hand for under 25 cents a watt. Even new panels are that cheap. Batteries are big investment. I know because my project is open source and I do use a Pi, solar, batteries, and assorted sensors. Just no shipping container or fancy water monitoring yet.
I've been growing food by aquaponics for 6 years now. I thought of using shipping containers, but never thought about having the greenhouse on the roof. Nice idea!
What all can u grow ? ... Like all the Vegetables ? cuz in this video I just saw chillis and salad stuff .
@@ADITYAKUMAR-jk9ry It depends on the style of Aquaponics, in the video they used a vertical racking system. This is best for leafy greens and plants that are lightweight. You can get more production and a quicker turn over this method. Other methods are Deep Water Culture (Dwc), or flood and drain. All have advantages, and disadvantages from one another.
@@ADITYAKUMAR-jk9ry Also to answer your question. You can grow everything except potatoes because they produce underground in mass.
@@jamaljenkins153 Actually.. You can also grow potatoes and root vegetables but i highly suggest using the aeroponics technique instead of media.
Substitute hydroponic nutrient solution with fish nutrient solution and you have a Air-Aquaponics potato LOL
Keep this our little secret Patten pending ;)
@@johnsnow5955 I have seen aeroponics done before, I just don't have any experience with that method. I don't really consider it Aquaponics, because you can't fully filter the water. It would take a massive amount of potatoes to filter aeroponicly. I think it's less work just putting potatoes in the ground. I did like the hammock aeroponics method though. I would love to see someone do it though John.
Off-the-shelf builds are the best. He just put the best design for the products.
Really love the fact he didn´t sellout, because his vision wouldn´t be carried on, this is a great innovation.
A great idea. Aquaponics is a great method too, but I would also work on a system that looks after the fish. Having fish swimming circles in a plastic "bucket" just to make poo is harsh.
I wonder if there is a way to not use fish at all.
@@bhaveshtailor3613 fish is great protein
Far the most important thing that you NEED absolutely to know and forever keep in mind is at 4:40 and it lasts about 5 sec. !!!
Very important if you skipped or missed it go back it very very important to see in what world we live.
What a real hero looks like in 2022. Thank you for the inspiring story.
This is really cool, unfortunatly, I'm guessing the average person cant afford this device.
There are 8 billion people on this planet.
There´s one container underneath missing.
The container for insekts ( insekt breeding ) to feed the fish.
And if you want to make it perfekt, ad another container for mushrooms too ;)
We have a company in Australia that houses theirs in a shed with near %100 water retention… in fact the humidity in the shed provides the top up for the water tanks.
It’s a great movement
Do you have a name of the company?
@@aaronbrent-fulps2495 no I don’t on hand … I’ll have to go digging for it.
Yes!!! I’ve been having a vision of localized vertical farming in cities that grow food more productive food than farmers and to normalize front Lawn gardens as well as suburban farmers markets in which people can go to a place in their city and sell the extra foods they grow therefore it’s more organic and the city helps give these people patented licenses to sell them
More productive than farmers? You live in a legal weed state perchance?
I just want a system where I get food for minimal work and mainly uses my grey water because I don't want to spend extra money.
Huh what else on the bucket list? a rainbow that rains skittles.... in reality you will need about 20 acres to sustain yourself
I love st croix and the fact that they are helping out that community with this brilliant idea that will withstand those hurricanes is amazing!! Next step is getting all those homeless animals off the island to loving families! ❤❤ this is just amazing
I want one so bad! I'm disabled and need a new activity I can handle. I came across your video while researching hydroponics and aquaponics. Your farm pod is perfect for me.
Amazing idea, I hope this blows up phat. Best of luck to this team. You got this
This is so amazing!! Reminds me of the work that’s happening at Oko Farms in NYC. Just imagine if he transitioned to the non profit sector!! Grants to create pods in urban communities, programs and jobs to incentives green jobs to the urban youth! Plus that same work with the private sector and schools! This is really amazing work here!
Oko farms looks super cool, thanks for sharing!!
@@freethink I’d want one outside my house in the country
We are currently working with governments and schools and have setup a non profit to better help with that mission. We are also creating open source grade specific curriculums to turn farm pods into classrooms for both agriculture and stem learning.
@@farmpod7545 That’s so Amazing! Your work is truly inspiring! Adding you on Instagram now! Keep up the great work 😊
Lol if you park these where the "urban youth" live they will be looted for valuable parts within hours.
To the *incredible person* seeing this, I wish you all the best in life❤ don't over blame yourself, accept things and go forward. Don't let others define what “success” is for you. Get up, learn the skills needed and get after it, all the keys to a happy life is in your hands. Keep pushing.
ebegging?
Like it. 2 things: it seems too small to me, 4x the size could make it more economic. And why a shipping container? Maybe good value, but is it ideal?
Small spaces in the inner city.
Who cleans filters? Is there a service to replace or clean media? How are you cooling the shipping containers? In high wind area's how are you preventing tipping? What fish are you using that is legal in all 50 states? Are replacement parts easy to source from your company or third party?
This is in line with whats happening in Africa for sure, urban farming is the future, small farmers making a comeback.
I agree and am using this in my model to end homelessness and hunger, while achieving so much more. Hopefully soon everyone will have heard about my new nonprofit organization, and the concept behind it.
Thompson Family Homestead inc.
What's capex to setup. How sustainable it is on harsh ambient climates and what plants are viable.
Mike you’re the man, faith in humanity restored! 🙏🏽
Using fish reduces chemicals. What about the pipes you use? Are they food grade? I like this and willing to buy. Just would like food grade pipes to reduce chemicals in my food
Great idea. Think about doubling your grow area up top. Widen over the width of bottom pod.
The sucess of this is making it as simple as possible, 5 hour labor per week is a lot, also how much food production does it bring to a restaurant?
I am all for a small business and innovation… But there is one thing these aquaponics operations always leave out when they tell you how wonderful their system is. Inputs. If the fish provide the nutrients for the plants, what provides the nutrients for the fish.? It is usually GMO field corn number 2 based fish feed. Grown on a monolithic mega farm with lots of diesel fuel and petroleum based fertilizers. But I guess that's an inconvenient reality and we all can't feel good about ourselves knowing it, so forget I said anything.
Why couldn't you dedicate part of the space to growing the food for the fish? Don't they eat greens?
Maybe have one tank only for duckweed?
can you imagine modern homes incorporating a farmpod room? Ultimate food sustainability
I am a total cityboy who has never been interested in growing vegetables. However, that’s exactly what’s I’ve been thinking about doing lately after learning how my processed foods lifestyle has directly created the degenerative diseases that are killing me and inevitably all of us. I love what these men are doing and how they are standing athwart big agriculture and it’s relentless drive to poison us all for profit. I want a farm pod just like these, only smaller; maybe small enough for just my family or large enough for my neighborhood.
Do I sound like a greenie? I’m not. My philosophy is, “Big is the New Bad.” Big agriculture. Big tech. Big medicine. Big media. Big government. Big business. Big industry.
In a word, globalism. Power concentrated on the hands of the few.
How do you feed the fish? What kind of fish feed do you use? Depending on your answer here, this can be a complete waste of time, or a wonderful idea. I remain to be convinced of the second one...
Fish are omnivores in most cases and can handle a very wide verity of food from DIY home made to bulk processed pellets used in raising other fish on farms.
You could put duckweed in the tanks. Don't know how wise that is as I don't know what kind of nutrients it provides, but there are surely a variety of aquatic plants that could live in the same tank.
The food produced in hydroponics quality depends on the plants being fed the correct nutrients. Because their environment is ideal for plants, it's also ideal for pests.
There are also very toxic fish farms. In fact we have been strongly advised not to buy farmed fish.. A chap in South Africa has been selling container aquaponic farms for years.
Do you have an energy audit on this system?
Schools. Yes. I was very lucky to have an amazing science teacher in the sixth grade (and fifth grade) who was very into hydroponics. Part of the course was for every class to setup the hydroponics garden, plant seeds and at the end of the semester we’d have a salad. I’d never heard of growing things this way. It made perfect sense. Plus no soil to deal with. Higher yields. We had huge tomatoes better than any tomato I’d ever had. I think about hydroponics and our garden a lot. I’ve always wanted to setup a garden like this. Self contained with fish providing nutrients. Solar and smart monitoring systems.
I think a lot of homeowners would be into this. Sell kits. Nice looking greenhouses. Something people can put in their yard. Make the pump house and fish tanks be in a shed. Or have the option to have your own outdoor pond that’s lined for this. Be able to customize it to your land. And then ship in stages with detailed plans. Last step ship the fish. Have smart monitors linked back to the company and have the company monitor each growing periods and give advice on ways to improve. Have cameras in all areas. Market showing a Timelapse of plants growing, fruits and vegetables exploding. Be able to control each section as to water amount, hours of light per day. Keep it on 24/7.
Sell the plans and equipment. You’d be the place for service and repair. Have a kit that comes every quarter with new planting materials you’d need. Have the customer plan their crops for the year based on yield they want.
This should be like ikea.
Wow, the world needs more of this kind of people.
Mike is a genius! And those greens taste incredibly fresh!!
Thank you for your innovations. We need more people like you in the world. Thank you for not taking the bait from ignorant greedy companies that only want to shut it down and make more profit for themselves.
The biggest advantage of such systems is the level of freshness you'll nether get any other way. I mean, the taste of the salad made of green which has been growing 5 minutes ago is not possible to confuse with anything.
We have something very simular here in Berlin for some years now. You can buy herbs produced there in regular supermarkets. The major problem is the fish food. It is certified but its still animal based and from the ocean. Innovation in this area would be cool.
There are already several solutions and they would actually create more jobs. To my mind the problem is that someone like the Gates Foundation will come along and buy all the sectors involved and gain total control through an organ like Monsanto. In my humble opinion a new world order where there are NO elite, no super rich, no all powerful people must be created and encouraged at all costs.
Oligarchs and the world's richest must be such a foreign concept and unappealing that everyone must endeavour to never be seen as being on their way to being one.
@@adnel4142 dude get a job, you spend too much time on the internet
Hi Lisa, I am from Munich and I am really interested in starting a business with food growing. The company your are talking in Berlin doing similar stuff, could give me a contact please? I contacted FarmPod but they did not contacted me back for business opportunities in Germany. I think we need to more of this business running as the future plans are not looking good. better to be prepared. Thank you Lisa & take care
We have this on the south side of Chicago for at least 5 years. Look up Emmanuel Pratt.
Just so much potential in this. So many efforts like "roof farms", etc. Hopefully one of this initiatives and startups will start taking off Tesla style and make the world more conscious of the problem at hand. So many issues can be addressed by just reducing farmable land and distances.
interesting concept, though i´m not sure why they insist on using shipping containers instead of building their system inside of already existing structures - for example, there´s a very similar set-up in a former brewery near my hometown. the fish swim in the old brewing kettles and the entire roof is one huge green house. they produce enough to supply their own restaurant and have plenty surplus to sell, making a decent profit - which is important too if you want a concept to spread beyond being a prototype
Simple: because then they would need to offer a custom solution for every sale. With the shipping container, they have a ready made product.
can these systems be applied on flat topped urban buildings?
I hope it all works out for them. They deserve it
Kudos to you that you didn’t step away. People may not realize that major players in the food market don’t want people like us to survive.
We understand too about the lack of funding. We’re kind of in the same struggle; with banks not wanting to give large loans to us, but will to a tech company almost guaranteed to fail. And investors are tough because they want a 100% sure bet and not willing to put any risk.
Let’s hope that this time next year that both of our companies are major players in the aquaponics market.
Sell shares in your companies. In South Africa there is a system called stokvels. Everyone contributes X amount every month. Every month someone else get the kitty, interest free. So there must be at least a few million businesses needing capital. Everyone pays $10 into the stokvel and every month a different block of entrepreneurs get their share of the capital. Interest free. Risk free. Trust is essential and you must pay your $10 for the year no matter what.
I completely agree with this man, and his idea has been my idea but I want to work with farmers and warehouses
Great Vibes from you guys...Much love to real solutions. Best of luck.
I'm a materials engineer and I'm excited about this
There should be a link to their website or something in the description
they run out of money several times? All the technology is all ready available. Why the high cost for development?
more people should know about this, what a great idea
Brilliant idea! Good luck for the future.
Wow. These guys are total legends!
Absolutely amazing! Keep up the great job!
Where does the fish-feed comes from? We are currently building a big farm in Ghana, using Aquaponic together with NewGrowingSystem robotic greenhouse. But we also produce the fishfeed from waste. So this farm will be 100% sustainable, because no external energy will be needed. All we need comes from the sun, rain and waste. We are turning waste into energy, food and feed.
just didnt expected good ending, good job.
This idea already exists in a more efficient way in the Venus Project by Jacque Fresco! But hats off to these guys anyway!
One of the many challenges facing the Venus Project is in 'the how' of successfully transitioning from our current system, to a RBE.
"This company wanted to buy them, to shut them down" is exactly the reason why the VP hasn't seen wider adoption, it's core technological concepts - such as mass modular design and a primary focus on renewable energy - have been adopted by many corporations, but lack the guiding principles of the VP.
Partnerships with companies such as farminapod, would be a step in the right direction.
@@LeoLoughlin I agree. Collaboration is the way forward. But corporations and companies either get scared about RBE and the subsequent demise of the monetary system or they just want to perpetuate the current social order.
"..worked the first time..."
Every programer ever: "aight Ima head out..."
Underrated amount of viewers
What size is the container? How much food can be grown in this container size and how many fish are required? Also, how many people can this particular size greenhouse feed?
I love this. Please be successful. It obviously cannot replace every type of crop, BUT i think it is much needed change.
There are several companies doing this. Same model except this is contained into one standard size. Which probably doesn’t scale efficiently. Opposed to designing one big greenhouse one central pump house.
As a non-vegan you may not have consider or thought about this, but fish are actually thinking feeling intelligent sentient creatures, and this is enslavement and exploitation. its really sad and will in the future be looked down upon just as we now view slavery. there are other ways of achieving these farms without using other sentient beings to further our goals without their consent. the exploitation of non-human animals needs to end and will eventually end as we all come to learn of the depth of cruelty we are committing upon these innocent beings. they are not somethings, they are someones.
I respect this view but I don't wholly agree with it. I see aquaponic farming as a necessary step in the direction for animal and cruelty free farming. In your opinion, is the ethical impact of using fish in a system like this diminished if their environment mimicked their natural habitat, with artificial currents, reefs and daily light changes (and they weren't being eaten)?
@@jmcg3267 the ethical impact would not be diminished since we are still exploiting the fish without their consent. Its a mindset that drives something called Speciesm and its a real problem for animals sadly.
also, cruelty free farming already exists. there are already vertical farms that use water and not fish. using fish is not at all necessary.
It’s gardening, K.I.S.S. Method always is the best.
This video was super inspiring! Thank you!
I do not buy the story of refusing selling deal. I don't think we should convert parking lots into mini farms - we would end up building new parking lots. How much this container costs, and how much an hectare of land?
That's fantastic.one would think if a shop has that and sell the products. As producer and seller. And less logistics are needed the shop could be even cheaper than industrial food. But make more money themself. Selling healtier and more sustainable food. It would be a win win situation for the shops and the customers.
Excellent content, thanks for sharing 💚🌍
how do you heat it? I’m in the Northeast. To grow all year round you need heat inside the greenhouse. The cost of the heat is usually the problem.
Thanks for the video. Haven’t been back there since 2001 and wow it has changed. I’ll have to visit on my way back to Dumaguete.
Love this idea! I truly hope that this will be implemented in as many places as possible!
NIGHT IDEAS ARE THE WORLD CHANGING IDEAS, I HAD SO MANY OF THEM, BUT BECAUSE I LIVE IN COUNTRY WHERE I LIVE, NOTHING CANT BE DONE TO START ANYTHING.
this is awesome i have been trying to come up with something like this myself, as i wish to live off grid and live on a rural property but have controlled growing for better results for the least work for a more relaxed lifestyle and so i can plant more trees then food on the land i seek to buy , this just makes so much sense , maybe once i have found the perfect rural property they can ship me one of these systems as i live in Australia , i hope these guys stay true to their mission , they can change the world with this . keep up the good work guys
Great video! Great idea! Hope it goes mainstream! Worked in Big AG for 3 years. Look at what's going on in North Korea with food now. Now reading American food prices might be on the rise. Time for everyday citizens to be less dependent and more self reliant. Food is the 2nd highest expense for most Americans after rent/mortgage.
People are too lazy to produce their own food. Going to the supermarket is so much easier. Part of being the technologically advanced.
@@adnel4142 certainly cannot produce my own reeces cups.
I really like this one. Noticed the ground solar panels, presumably to avoid shading the plants.
Long term, FarmPod have to be hanging out for specific wavelength, transparent solar film tech to mature & become cost effective, so they can get power from solar film around the greenhouse, using wavelengths the plants don't need.
visionary! sending out the love ❤
I've seen similar things in Dubai in 2015, only hydroponic instead of aquaponic.
The biggest problem is that exports from intensive agriculture are almost always cheaper and most people won't have the money to choose local food.
Because Aquaponics hasn't reached economy of scale that modern agriculture has.
With enough investment it will eventually overtake it.
@@johnsnow5955 true, but again it's not with a few containers you can reach that kind of economy of scale, meaning, this kind of project will only career to people with a front lawn and enough money to buy the equipment.
Plus up to now many big hydro/aquaponics projects went bankrupt after using all their capital buying huge buildings instead of setting up economically sustainable farms.
That's because we are not loading the real cost of growing food on masisve mono culture farms, namely its impact on the environment. Whether it's local land erosion or the real cost carbon emissions. These kind of systems are by no means perfect but we are also not doing true like for like comparisons. It's time we start having honest conversations about that!
@@daPoter very true, however given the current economic model, doing that would starve a lot of people, so fixing it isn't easy
@@RobertoMaurizzi we don't have a lot of choice, but to at least keep trying to make change happen. Even within the current economic system we can shift subsidies towards more local and sustainable food production. What if in the process we drive down health care related costs because now starch and sugar based diets are more expensive (with reduced obesity figures as a result). It's same with homelessness. It is cheaper to give a homeless person a home than to pay for all the public funding/support needed to sustain a person on the street. The problem is not economic but rather social and political in nature...
The Rasberry-Pi is the best part. Nice!
I just discovered this channel. I feel like the videos are way too short. I would watch an hour-long documentary about this.
Keep up the great work.
Inspirational!
Does it run exclusively on solar, or does it need mains?
It's it completely self sufficient or does it require nutrients for the fish? Sustainably sourcing fish feed is still a problem or no?
How could it run on solar when the greenhouse is on top. Also of course the fish need food. The fish poo feeds the plants, the plants clean the water and return it to the fish, but the fish still need to be fed. it is just like traditional farming, but instead of applying fertilizers to the ground, you are applying fishfood to the fish, who convert it to fertilizer.
@@PeterSedesse I met this hippie on a bus once, who explained how they had built a completely closed loop "mini eco system" that basically produced fish and plants from sunlight. They would feed (some of?) the plants to the fish, and take out fish to eat when they grew too large or too many. I mean, that's kind of how the planet works, right? So it should be possible.
@@RasmusSchultz You could use duckweed or algae to feed a limited number of fish, but you would still need to add minerals. You would also need to power pumps to circulate the water. Tilapia require 300 days to reach harvesting size, so in order to eat 1 10oz tilapia each day, you would need to house 300ish fish which would require about 1000 gallons of water, which to maintain healthy water needs to pump 1000 gallons of water every 15 minutes ( industry standard). On top of that, you would need thousands of more gallons of water to produce the algae/duckweed. So you are talking about maybe 5000 gallons of water, a very strong pump running 24/7 in order to eat 1 fish a day. In most aquaponics systems they do not harvest any fish for this reason. And again, what you ' can ' do as a cool hobby experiment is not the same thing as being economically viable on a large scale. The grow area above a 20' shipping container will not produce anything more than some side salads for a family of 4.
Excellent product! Excellent service! Excellent company development!
Working on a aquaculture greenhouse myself...
it’s simply wonderful to see people ahead me...
Already making it real!
Once production is up and running looking forward to seeing models!
I would love to have one of these are two of these connected to a restaurant that patrons could choose their own vegetables, they would have for dinner.