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Erie Aquaponics

Erie Aquaponics. A Venture of the Urban Erie Community Development Corporation. Urban Erie community development corporation.

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Erie Aquaponics

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  1. Erie Aquaponics A Venture of the Urban Erie Community Development Corporation

  2. Urban Erie community development corporation • The UECDC is a non-profit organization that provides educational services and employment preparation skills to the impoverished, disadvantaged and at-risk individuals of the Erie Community. • Erie Aquaponics was launched in association with the UECDC. The efforts of Erie Aquaponics, a for-profit business, will dovetail with the programs of the UECDC to bring much needed jobs to the area, and additionally to provide opportunities and training for business ownership.

  3. The neighborhood • The UECDC serves residents of public housing and many New American refugees and immigrants, primarily from Africa, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe. Almost 40% of residents in the Census Tracts serves live below the Federal poverty level. The number of youth in poverty exceeds 50%. • Erie Aquaponics will help the neighborhood in two ways: by providing living-wage jobs for people in the area and by providing access to healthy, affordable foods in one of the most impacted food desert areas of the tri-state region. • Fresh produce will be available weekly at a farm stand on-site and additionally through a CSA (community-supported agriculture) outlet.

  4. Aquaponics overview • Why choose aquaponics? • It is a viable, emerging food industry. We project that the aquaponics industry will see strong growth over the next 5-10 years. • Aquaponics produces more food per square foot than either hydroponics or conventional agriculture practices. • It offers a controlled environment and requires no pesticides, thereby producing a healthier product. • Aquaponics provides self-circulating systems whereby the waste water is reused. • What is it? • Aquaponics combines the technology of hydroponics systems (the process of growing plants in a soilless growing medium with added nutrients), with that of aquaculture (raising aquatic organisms such as fish).

  5. Fresh vegetable Production • Erie Aquaponics will be primarily a vegetable farm, producing head lettuce, gourmet salad blends, basil, and other herbs. Approximately five percent of product sold will be the fish themselves – fresh yellow perch and tilapia. • Production will be located at the Joyce A. Savocchio Business Park. Initially one 12,000 sq.ft. greenhouse will be built, with plans to expand to eight times the amount of production in the future.

  6. Worker-owned cooperative • Worker-owned cooperatives have proven to be successful wealth-building models on both the international scale – such as Mondragon in Spain – and the local and regional scale, such as with the Cleveland-based Evergreen Cooperatives. • Erie Aquaponics will be a for-profit company made up of a Board of Directors and Worker-Owners. Each Worker-Owner owns a share of the company and gains from its success. The cooperative aspect of Erie Aquaponics is a key element to building wealth, self-sufficiency, and leadership skills in East Erie.

  7. Community partners

  8. Contact • Annie Schmitt • Aquaponics Facility Manager • annie.aquaponics@gmail.com • (814) 899-3904 • UECDC • 2046 E 19th Street, • Erie, PA 16510

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