Something Smells Fishy

This excerpt is from my upcoming novel From Here to There: Green Shoots

Danielle rode up to the large building and locked her Cannondale, ‘Rosy,’ to a rack containing several other well-used street bikes. A double wide sliding steel grey door was set into an expansive wall of interspersed metal and wooden sections. Windows lined the top few feet of the wall providing no hint of what was inside. The small sign on the metal door read ‘Future Foods’ with T. Lapia & Hy A. Senth Inc. in smaller letter below.” She looked down to her phone to make sure this was the right location, then proceeded to knocked on the door and waited for a response. Hearing none after a full minute she knocked again. This time she heard a muffled voice from inside the building. Unsure what to do, she pulled on the handle and was surprised to feel it begin to slide easily. As she slowly opened the door wider, a blast of warm humid air washed over her face.

“Come on in and shut the door. I’ll be right there.” She heard a deep resonate voice from deeper within the building.

Danielle stepped fully inside the large metal structure and slid the rolling door closed behind her. She looked around and began to take it all in. The space must have been over an acre and was filled with tanks of all sizes and tall structures overflowing with green. She heard footsteps as a muscular man with broad shoulders and coconut brown skin approached. His bright eyes sat atop a wide smile. “Danielle!”

“Robert?”

“The man with the tan. In the flesh.” He acknowledged.

“Wow, it has been years.”

He extended his arm in greeting.

“I had no idea you were working here? Good to see you again.”

“You as well Dani.” Robert beamed.

“Seems we both landed on our feet after school. And now you are working here?” She glanced down and noticed he had put on a few pounds in the intervening years.

“Yep been the lead fish herder for just over a year. It was part of the last stimulus bill. Local food production you know.”

“Fish? Ahhhh … that explains the aroma. And food you said?”

The sounds of rapid steps could be heard as a tiny Asian woman in her sixties quickly approached them from the depths of the building. Both she and Robert turned towards the approaching woman.

“Danielle, this is Dr. Okamoto, our facility Director.” Gesturing towards Danielle he continued. “And Dr. Okamoto, this is Danielle Woodson with the Governor’s Office.”

She addressed Danielle. “Good to meet you Miss Woodson. I was looking forward to your visit.”

Danielle took a look around the facility and after a few seconds said “I have been tasked by Governor Osborn to help identify businesses who are addressing a number of environmental challenges while reducing the amount of water required to solve then. I was strongly encouraged to visit your facility!” Sweeping her arm around to encompass the entire building.”

Robert responded. “Okay, let me show you around and then we can stop off in Dr. Okamoto’s office at the end if you have any more questions.”

“Sounds great.”

Dr. Okamoto bowed slightly and turned to head back the way she came, while the two of them started walking over to the first group of tanks. “So, what exactly do you do here?”

She had taken out a tablet and began taking notes as they talked.

“Most people are familiar with?aquaculture?where animals are raised in a controlled farming environment.”

“Yes, I have heard of that.”

“And then there is?hydroponics?where plants are grown without soil in a nutrient rich liquid solution.”

“I have heard of that as well.”

So, by combining these two concepts, you get?aquaponics?where we raise plants and animals in a symbiotic virtually closed loop system.”

“That sound interesting.” Danielle said to the large man as she looked up to him. “Is this an idea that you or Dr. Okamoto developed?”

“Oh heavens no,” he said with a laugh. “The earliest use is believed to have started in one-thousand AD among ancient Aztecs in central Mexico. They lacked space to grow their own food since their settlement is located on the shores of the freshwater lake, Lake Texcoco. What we are doing is to improve those early systems using modern technology.”

“How did you end up working here?”

“Graduating with a degree in Aquatic Biology, I only had a few serious options. I could have stayed in school and become a professional student, work in a lab which did not sound very interesting, or join a startup like Future Foods. When I saw the job listing, I thought it would be fun.”

“And is it?”

“Dani, what we are doing here is going to literally be the future of food!”

“Oh really?”

“Damn straight!”

By this time, they had arrived at a row of small fish tanks which were filled with hundreds of tiny fish. They swarmed at the glass as they approached. Obviously excitedly recognizing Robert as a provider of their food.

“The magic of the aquaponics system is the collaborative nature between fish and plants. We feed the fish, the fish poop into the water, the water feeds the plants, and the plants feed us. It is like a never-ending dance between plant and animal!”

Danielle admired his excitement and passion as he described his work. Pointing to one of the nearby fish tanks he continued, “So, we raise the fish starting here with the hatchlings. As they grow, we move them into these larger tanks and then into the pools where they can grow to full maturity until we harvest them at about five to seven months at roughly one to two pounds each.”

“Harvest them?”

“Yes, we harvest on a weekly basis and sell them in a retail store just down the street.

“One of the goals of my investigation is to understand the potential of taking promising start-ups and understanding how they can scale. How big do you think you can get?”

“We could of course just add more tanks and grow racks but larger may not be better. Instead of growing big I think we should replicate facilities like this all over the city.”

“Wouldn’t it be more efficient to just build one large facility?”

“I am not so sure. In our model each aquaponics facility easily fits into a neighborhood and having food so close to users cuts back on transportation for everyone. Besides, who doesn’t want their own neighborhood fish store?”

Danielle’s mind was racing and she could feel an excitement she had not felt in a while. This could address a number of issues the city was dealing with. Local food production, local jobs, added tax revenue and a more resilient system than trucking in food from hundreds or thousands of miles away.

As they arrived at one of the largest pools, the surface of the water began to boil as the fish saw Robert beside the pool. “Ahh it is lunch time isn’t it. Okay.” Robert grabbed a pitcher filled with small green pellets off a nearby shelf. He walked up to the edge of the pool and began tossing the green pellets across the surface of the tank.

“And what are you feeding them?”

“Oh, it is a custom recipe. Bugs, greens, seeds, and some of their brethren who passed away of natural causes.”

“You are feeding your fish, fish?”

“It is the circle of life.”

Danielle found herself contemplating that idea.

???????????“Any questions before I hand you off to the plant folks?”

???????????“No. This has given me plenty to think about. Thank you again Robert.” Danielle leaned in and gave the big man a gentle hug. “I will definitely reach out if I have more questions.”

“You know how to get ahold of me.”

As they separated another one of the workers stepped over and greeted Danielle. “Miss Woodson. Good to meet you I am Helena Micksmithy.” The two women shook hands.

“Please follow me,” she said

The two strolled towards the far side of the building where large glass windows lined almost the entire wall of the building. This section was filled from floor to nearly the ceiling with sturdy scaffolding structures filled with trays of growing plants, each tray several feet above the one below it. The gentle sounds of falling water filled the air.

“This part of our building is devoted to growing plants fed by the wastewater made by the fist. We think of this as a water purification process where almost all the work is done by the plants. We just make sure the plants stay happy and healthy.

“So how exactly does this work?” Danielle asked.

Helena looked up and pointed towards the top of the structure. “The water is first pumped up to the top beds and then slowly makes its way all the way down here to the polishing tanks.”

“How long does that take?” she asked.

“About an hour.”

“And what are you growing?” Helena stepped over to a small demonstration pond filled floating plants with deep green heart shaped leaves and shiny purple flowers poking up in several places.

“The top two grow beds are completely filled with these plants which we harvest every other day.”

“What happens to them?”

“Several things. These are?Eichhornia Crassipes?also known as Water Hyacinths. In many parts of the world, they are considered an environmental nuisance.”

“Why is that?”

“Because. They grow so frickin’ fast.” Plants in a pond this big, pointing over to one of the fish ponds she had just seen, “Can double in volume in just a week. Especially if they get good nutrients. And they do. The fishes take care of that part exceptionally well.

“Because these plants are so good at extracting nutrients from the water, we continually harvest, dry and grind them to add to our our fish food mixture and we compost the rest to make a soil amendment we sell to the public.”

They continued walking down the aisle between two of the tall grow bed towers. “In the lower beds we grow primarily micro-greens that we also sell in our storefront, to a number local restaurants, school cafeterias, and some of the gourmet markets.” She plucked off several leafy greens and offered them to Danielle. She hesitated for just a moment before taking the greens and popping them into her mouth.

“Mmmmmm. These are delicious!”

“It is our own special blend of arugula, kale, and collards.”

Danielle saw that several workers were busy trimming the greens on a higher level and placing them into large baskets.

“Because of the high nutrient levels in the water we are constantly harvesting and shipping these out the door.”

“This is very impressive.”

“Thank you. Did you have any other questions for me?”

“Not at the moment. Thank you for your time.”

“My pleasure. Let me take you to Dr. Okamoto’s office.”

“That would be great.”

Danielle was escorted by Helena back to a glass suite of offices where Dr. Okamoto was talking with another one of her staff. When she noticed Danielle standing on the other side of the galss, she finished her conversation and motioned for Danielle to come in with a wave of her hand.

“Please have a seat.” Motioning to a wooden chair at the edge of her large desk that looked like it was made out of a recycled door. “Would you like something to drink?”

“No thank you I’m fine. I don’t want to take much of your time but, I do have a few questions.”

Danielle took a seat and got right to the point. “Dr. Okamoto what you have created here is truly amazing. I had no idea this was happening right here in our city.”

“Thank you very much for your kind words. We have been – how do you say – flying under the radar until very recently. We wanted to make sure the results were solid before making any announcements,” said the demure scientist.

“As you already know I have been tasked by the Governor to research businesses that can increase both our sustainability and our resilience while reducing the amount of water we use. What you have created here is truly remarkable.”

“Thank you. Did you know that Aquaponics uses ninety percent less water than traditional agriculture?”

“Really? That’s amazing and exactly what we are looking for.

“With our exit from the Colorado River Compact the Governor is looking for any way we can reduce our water usage. Do you have plans to expand?”

“Yes, we expect to grow but not this facility. In the next few months, we will be looking for a second location.”

“That sounds very exciting.”

“It is, but we still need to convince our investors of our profitability before they agree to sign any new checks.”

“How many people are on your staff?” Danielle asked as she looked over her questions on the tablet.

“We currently have a dozen full-time employees plus an ongoing rotation of part-time interns who receive class credit for their work.”

“Do you have any production data you can share with me?”

She reached over to her desk and picked up a sheet of paper and began to scan it. “In the last few months we have harvested just over two tons of micro greens and five hundred pounds of fish.”

“That would make a lot of dinners.”

“Less than you imagine but definitely a good start.” Dr. Okamoto replied.

“Where do you see yourself in five years?”

“My ultimate vision would be to have one of these systems installed for every five thousand residents. Here in Colorado with a population approaching seven million people that would mean building fourteen hundred facilities like this to provide fresh greens and fish for the entire state.”

“That would be amazing. I’m curious, this facility must use a fair amount of energy with all these pumps, lighting, and all the monitoring equipment I see.”

“You would be surprised. We have a photovoltaic system on the roof that supplies almost seventy percent of our electrical needs and we also have a micro-hydro turbine that uses the flow of the sewer line that runs under the building to generate the rest of what we need. Most months we run a small surplus which we sell back into the grid.”

“So, you are essentially self-sufficient in your energy usage?”

“For energy yes, but the vast majority of our parts are produced elsewhere as well as the food we feed the fish.”

“That’s very impressive. What would you need to be able to replicate this facility across the state?”

The stout Doctor thought about the question before answering.?“Two things primarily. Preferential zoning and capital.”

?Danielle made a few noted on her pad and looked back up to the woman. “Are you willing to send me the data we have been speaking about to be included in my report?”

“I would be happy to. Stop by the front desk and make sure we have your contact information, and I will see that the information you want is sent in the next day or two.”

“Thank you again for your time Dr. Okamoto. You will be hearing from me again.”

The two women shook hands and bowed slightly. Danielle turned and headed for the front of the building.