1. Urban Agriculture Sustainability Education at the Potomac Middle School Mr. Rosiak Mr. Donovan Mr. Barnes Science Day 2015 Potomac Middle School April 24, 2015 Mrs. Alfie Turner, Principal Mr. Brian Coleman, Assistant Principal Mrs. Latanya Haskins-Ladson, Administrative Intern Dr. Steve Walts, Superintendent

2. About the Presenters and Potomac Middle School

3. Sustainability Education at the Middle School Level What is it, why is it important, and what are we doing at Potomac Middle School?

4. What is Sustainability?  The United States Environmental Protection Agency defines sustainability as creating and maintaining the conditions under which nature can exist in productive harmony, which permits the fulfilment of social, economic, and other requirements of present and future generations.

5. Why does it matter?  Humans continue to utilize natural resources at an alarming rate  Significant concerns about the unintended social, environmental, and economic consequences of rapid development  Sustainable communities manage to eliminate these concerns by thinking about how to reduce their environmental footprint and become self sufficient  Urban farming is at a sharp decline and our food output may not match need within our lifetime

6. Why is the Urban Agriculture Program at PTMS Important? Why bother with an Aquaponics system?

7. USDA Defined Food Deserts Income Requirement  Poverty rate at above 20%  OR  A median income at or below 80% of area median Access Requirement  In suburban areas, a community is defined as low-access if 33% of population lives more than one mile from a supermarket or large grocery store

8. Food Desert Meets Income But not Access Meets Access But not Income United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service Food Access Research Atlas Search for “22026” (school zip code) LI&LA Layers: L1&LA at 1 and 10 miles L1&LA at ½ and 10 miles Component Layers: LA at 1 and 10 miles http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-access-research-atlas/go-to-the-atlas.aspx Modified to show approximate location of Potomac Middle School

9. Restaurants within ½ Mile of PTMS

10. Restaurants within 2 Miles of PTMS

11. 2015 Mega Drought  NASA Drought Study NASA Drought Study

12. United Nations FAO  A revolution in agriculture is vital to meet world food targets.  Food production levels must double in order to feed the world population by 2050.  Water conservation helps in reducing chance of future wars

13. War over Water  Countries will begin to fight over water, not oil  Water is vital to survival and will be worth fighting for  Potential hot-spots could include  United States and Mexico  Senegal and Mali  Bangladesh and India  Israel and Jordan  Egypt and Sudan  India and Pakistan

14. Why Aquaponics?  Easily scalable  Productive year-round  Up to 10 times faster growth than traditional soil garden  Conserves water and other resources  No pesticides or herbicides required  Economical

15. Aquaponics

16. Traditional Gardening vs. Aquaponics Traditional Soil Garden  Daily watering  Use of fossil fuel powered machinery  Uncontrolled environment  Bugs, deer, squirrels, etc.  Labor intensive  Compost, fertilizer, or other nutrient rich medium needed  Takes up to twice as long to grow Aquaponics  90% less water than soil  Can be designed to run on renewable resources  Controlled environment means no pests  No weeding or heavy labor after initial build  Fish fertilize plants  Can grow in half the time

17. Price Comparison on the EWG “Dirty Dozen Plus” ProduceConventional PriceOrganic PriceNotes Apples (gala)3.034.403lb bag Strawberries 2.892.99Per pound Grapes (red seedless)1.803.02Per pound Celery 1.111.37Each Peaches (yellow)2.042.81Per pound Spinach (baby) 2.507.28Per pound Bell Peppers (green) 0.791.93Each Nectarines (yellow)2.342.78Per pound Cucumbers 0.651.47Each Cherry Tomatoes 1.983.50Per pint Potatoes2.525.225lb bag Kale 1.041.33Per bunch Collard Greens 1.721.99Per bunch Data from USDA Agricultural Marketing Service Report, National Fruit and Vegetable Retail Report for 9/14/14. Items listed in BOLD should be able to grow in an Aquaponics system.

18. PTMS Aquaponics Systems

19. Desktop Aquaponics Each attendee will leave today with their own desktop aquaponics system.

20. 20 Gallon Stand System “Showpiece” for Potomac Middle School

21. 300 Gallon System