April 2015 Newsletter
Number 16
Table of Contents
Get our March 2015 Newsletter
Get our January 2015 Newsletter
Go to our TV Channel
Watch for the new Food Documentary, The Need To Grow
Celebrate EARTH DAY 2015
Make a Pledge for Meatless Monday
Grow Your Own Veggies in a Food Forever Growing System
Introducing Garvin's Greens Geodesic Domes and Hoop Houses
Watch Planet Earth on Earth Day
A Word From Our Editor, Grace Sylke
Once again important and timely topics have usurped Part 2 of our new Series on "Obesity in America". We promise, it's coming soon. 

We just had to acknowledge EARTH DAY and the FOOD REVOLUTION Summit, which are both happening this month. 
Quick Links






Get Links to all of our 2014 Newsletters from our
Here they are all in one place. Our first year of News-letters full of incredible information about Aquaponics and our Food System. 
Here's our March Newsletter in case it was missed. 
This is an informative look at all of the Food related Programs that we are running in the U.S. including who these programs serve and the costs of those services.
Here's our February Newsletter in case it was missed. 
This Newsletter is all about our enclosed growing and fish raising areas, which include our Growroom and Fishroom featuring our latest evolution in Seed Germination, the SIT (Seed Incubation Table).
Here's our January Newsletter in case it was missed.
This Newsletter features our latest change in the Greenhouse and it's a real innovation. Our retired aerospace engineer turned Aquaponics Systems Designer, Oliver Duffy, just keeps improving his designs never being satisfied to settle for almost great and certainly never following the pack. See what he's up to now in this informative Newsletter.
Catch all 4 Parts of Grace's Series on the FOOD REVOLUTION in the 
The Aquaponics Digest Magazine features an advanced digital magazine, publishing and marketing platform for the 21st century; and it's just getting started. 

Click on the above Link to learn how/where to get the Ap for your iPhone and iPad.

Aquaponics Digest Magazine is a must read for any and all Aquaponics enthusiasts.

It features articles by the field's leaders like:
Sylvia Bernstein
Aaron Woolf
Glenn Martinez and our own,
Grace Sylke.
Check Out Our 
We have several Videos on How To Do Aquaponics including two on installing our Food Forever Growing Systems in two schools in Tucson, AZ.
Don't Miss Our Pinterest Wall
It's full of original Art by our Editor including all of the Pixton Cartoons she created for this Newsletter.
Watch for the new Food Documentary, THE NEED TO GROW
It's still in production but coming out soon. It features famous food activists like Jeffery Smith, Vandana Shiva and we're in it. Click the Link and Check Out the Trailer.
This is your Invitation to come and sit at the 
FOOD REVOLUTION Table!

 

Dear Subscriber:

This Revolution is being waged by a group of incredible Revolutionaries who are biting down on the greatest threat to the well being of our country that has ever surfaced. They are gritting their teeth and going into the fray with everything they've got because they see no other way to keep our once great nation and our tough, individualistic point of view alive and well. 

We've just declared April to be FOOD REVOLUTION Month in honor of the FOOD REVOLUTION Summit that goes from April 25- May 3, 2015.

We don't like being the bearer of bad news; but the truth is WE ARE AT WAR! It's a war for our right to eat healthy, nutritious food that is not laden with pesticides, petrochemicals and GMO's. It's a war for our health, our lives and the health and lives of our children and grandchildren. And the sad truth is, WE ARE LOSING; and this loss is measured in lost lives.

According to an article on the Mercola.com website, "One in Five American Deaths [are] Now Associated with Obesity". The article goes on to say that:
  • Obesity-related deaths include those from type 2 diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, liver disease, cancer, dementia, and depression because nearly all have metabolic dysfunction as a common underlying factor
  • The only effective way to reverse these trends is to make changes in your diet and lifestyle; drugs are definitely not the answer
(Note: This is one statistic taken from Part 2 of the Series on Obesity in America, which is coming in May)

Here comes the 4th Annual FOOD REVOLUTION Summit sponsored by John and Ocean Robbins who are Co-Fouders of the FOOD REVOLUTION Network and the Annual Summit.

This On-Line Information packed Summit is absolutely FREE to Attend so don't miss the interviews with three of the world's top healthy food activists, Jeffrey Smith, Michael Pollan and Vandana Shiva. You can also hear from food savy doctors like Neal Barnard, MD, and Joel Fuhrman, MD; and don't miss Tony Robbins  and Paul McCartney talk about how healthy eating works for them in their busy lives.

If you missed our own informative 4 Part Series on the FOOD REVOLUTION, you can read it now by clicking over to our December 2014 Newsletter with Links to all of our 2014 Newsletters. 
It's BAAACK! EARTH DAY, 2015
Earth Day is almost here again (unless you've already made every day Earth Day), which is highly recommended. In honor of this Day, we decided to give you a little history about this special day of acknowledgement for our beautiful little blue home in the Milky Way Galazy.

 
Earth Day has grown up over the years since it was first inaugurated in the U.S. in 1970. Today, it has an entire Network of workers behind it called the Earth Day Network. Back in 1970, Earth Day was the brain child of a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, Gaylord Nelson, (June 1916-July 2005) who lived to be 89. 

Gaylord Nelson conceived of the idea for Earth Day

"after witnessing the ravages of the 1969 massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. Inspired by the student anti-war movement, he realized that if he could infuse that energy with an emerging public consciousness about air and water pollution, it would force environmental protection onto the national political agenda. Senator Nelson announced the idea for a 'national teach-in on the environment' to the national media; persuaded Pete McCloskey, a conservation-minded Republican Congressman, to serve as his co-chair; and recruited Denis Hayes, [an environmental activist] as national coordinator. Hayes built a national staff of 85 to promote events across the land. 


 

As a result, on the 22nd of April, 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment in massive coast-to-coast rallies. Thousands of colleges and universities organized protests against the deterioration of the environment. Groups that had been fighting against oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeways, the loss of wilderness, and the extinction of wildlife suddenly realized they shared common values. 


 

Earth Day 1970 achieved a rare political alignment, enlisting support from Republicans and Democrats, rich and poor, city slickers and farmers, tycoons and labor leaders. The first Earth Day led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts.

 
'It was a gamble,' Gaylord recalled, 'but it worked.' " (Quote taken from the Earth Day Network website: History of a Movement


 

To learn more about Gaylord and the Earth Day story go to Gaylord Nelson, Earth Day, the making of the modern environmental movement


 

As mentioned above, Gaylord didn't achieve this monumental feat alone. He teamed up with Denis Hayes, a young environmental activist, and together they launched that first 1970 Earth Day which became what is now the mother of many organizations and spin-off movements. 

Together this dynamic duo along with a group of environmental leaders turned a U.S focused Earth Day into a worldwide event in 1990 "mobilizing 200 million people in 141 countries and lifting environmental issues onto the world stage. Earth Day 1990 gave a huge boost to recycling efforts worldwide and helped pave the way for the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. It also prompted President Bill Clinton to award Senator Nelson the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1995) -- the highest honor given to civilians in the United States -- for his role as Earth Day founder". (Quote taken from the Earth Day Network website: History of a Movement)
 

Denis Hayes went on to found the Earth Day Network and was named a Time magazine hero of the planet in 1999, shortly before he coordinated Earth Day 2000, the biggest Earth Day to that date. Hayes presently works at The Bullitt Foundation where he has served as President since 1992. 


 

His newest book, COWED, was published this year, 2015, and is a treatise on "The Hidden Impact of 93 Million Cows on America's Health, Economy, Politics, Culture and Environment". It's a must read.
 

To learn more about the history of Earth Day and one of its coordinators, Denis Hayes, go to an article by the Daily Kos.

If you happened to attend or witness Earth Day Celebrations over the weekend of April 18th and 19th, then you realize that it's often celebrated on the weekend before or after the officially designated day, which is April 22nd. Some communities even celebrate all of April as Earth Month. This is a Day that has become so important it appears to have been placed on a sliding scale for celebratory purposes. There's even a term called "Earth Overshoot Day" describing events happening after the official Earth Day. 

And now there are a number of spin-off Movements associated with and promoted by The Earth Day Network including:

A BILLION ACTS OF GREEN: This is an International movement to protect the Planet and secure a sustainable future; and it's being accomplished by ordinary people doing simple things like showering together to save water or by supporting and joining the many Sub-projects, Petitions, Pledges and Actions under The Billion Acts of Green umbrella including:

The Canopy Project: "The Canopy Project plants trees that help communities - especially the world's impoverished communities - sustain themselves and their local economies. Trees reverse the impacts of land degradation and provide food, energy and income, helping communities to achieve long-term economic and environmental sustainability. Trees also filter the air and help stave off the effects of climate change." (Quote taken from the above Link)

The Climate Petition To Save The Planet: You can join the largest Climate Petition to save the world right here.

Support Environmental Education: "As of right now, the 2015 budget includes no funding for the National Environmental Education Act; important EPA grants; the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's) Bay-Watershed Edu-cation and Training Program and Environmental Literacy Grants; or the University Sustainability Program, among others." There's an easy form to fill out on this page to send this important message to your members of Congress. (Quote taken from above Link)

Use Less Energy: Save Money and the Environment! Did you know "the average American household spends more on home energy bills and gasoline than health care or property taxes"? Go to this page to "receive tailored tips for reducing your home energy use and see if you're a good candidate for solar without having to call a solar installer". (Quotes taken from the above Link)

Art and our Ecological Footprint: A Call for Submissions to "Footing the Bill": "This is an invitational crowd-sourced exhibition of artwork addressing the urgent need to live sustainably within the Earth's finite resources. Art Works For Change, along with Earth Day Network and Global Footprint Network, invite you to join the conversation on ecological overshoot. Submit a digital image of your original artwork (all visual mediums are welcome) for an opportunity to be featured in our online exhibition, which will open on Earth Overshoot Day 2015  in August." (Quote taken from above Link)
                               
More Actions and Pledges: This page lists a number of other Actions and Pledges you can take to become a part of The Billion Acts Of Green Movement.
Join the MEATLESS MONDAYS MOVEMENT!
Here's one more project under the A BILLION ACTS OF GREEN Umbrella-it's the Meatless Mondays Movement. Did you know that "producing one calorie of meat requires nearly twenty times the amount of energy as one plant calorie?" (Quote taken from below Link) 

Join the millions who have taken the pledge to not eat meat one day a week and become a part of the Meatless Mondays Movement!
Grow Your Own Veggies in an Aquaponics USA Food Forever Growing System.






If you're going to start eating less meat and more veggies, why not grow your own in an Aquaponics Food Growing System? 

These Food Forever Growing Systems will grow food in enclosed areas using Grow Lights or in Greenhouses using the sun. This is one of our five tanks in our enclosed Fishroom where we're raising about 150 Tilapia. These incredibly easy to raise food fish are fertilizing our 30'x8' Greenhouse and our 30'x8' Growroom where we are growing major amounts of lettuce, tomatoes, basil and other veggies. 
Above is our Greenhouse growing 3 kinds of Lettuce. We've shown this photo before; but it's worth repeating. Below is our Growroom growing lettuce under Induction Lights

Sitting on the fish tank in the first image above is our Automatic Fish Feeder, which is the single most important item that makes raising our fish so easy and almost maintenance free.
Looking for a Geodesic Dome Greenhouse for your AP System? Introducing 
Kenny Garvin Jr. is the Owner/Operator of this growing Art of Backyard Growing Company that features custom built Geodesic Dome Greenhouses in a range of sizes. He also offers some of the most durable, wind resistant Hoop Houses you will ever see.

We recently had the pleasure of spending a few hours with him and his family at his company's pristine location up in the White Mountains of Arizona where he showed us his nearly complete Demo Model of a 32' Geodesic Dome Greenhouse sitting next to a 10' Model.
Kenny uses an amazing new Greenhouse Plastic Film that has been popular in Europe for years; but has just become available in the U.S. 

It's called Polydress SolaWrap (with bubbles). "Known in Europe as LP Keder or Polydress, Polydress SolaWrap is now available in  U. S markets.  It's an insulated film that withstands the most extreme climates.  SolaWrap has a track record for over 40 years of testing in the Swiss Alps, the Middle East, and across Europe. SolaWrap provides an insulating effect that retains up to 95% of heat radiation while providing an R-value of 1.7. This energy savings is significant!" (Quote taken from the above page) 

This picture shows the massive amount of space available in his Geodesic Domes that range from  10' up to 44'. Aquaponics Farmers would definitely want to take full advantage of the Vertical space in the larger models. These Domes are all custom built by a builder who has over 20 years of customer service experience. 

His Hoop Houses are about as sturdy, steadfast and durable as a Hoop House could ever be. In his location, winds get up to 60 miles an hour on a regular basis so he had to design a Hoop House that was going to stay put and intact. 

And that's exactly what this Hoop House will do. There is nothing flimsy about this reinforced iron, foam wrapped Hoop House design. 

Here Oliver, Kenny and little Kenny are testing out the sturdiness of this amazing Hoop House; and it doesn't budge.

Kenny's goal is to provide the people he serves with a healthier more self sufficient lifestyle while making them happy, life-long customers.

To Order your custom built Geodesic Dome or Made For the Wind Hoop House, just give Kenny at Garvin's Greens a call: 928-2400-421or email him at:
kennygarvin@garvinsgreens.com

Tell him Grace & Oliver sent you.
Watch the BBC Documentary, Planet Earth Episode 1 From Pole to Pole 

Planet Earth Episode 1 From Pole to Pole - BBC Documentary
Planet Earth Episode 1 From Pole to Pole - BBC Documentary

In honor of our up-coming Earth Day, we wanted to share this incredible documentary from 2006. This is the first of 11 Episodes of awesome beauty. Five years in the making, it was the most expensive nature documentary series ever commissioned by the BBC and also the first to be filmed in  high definition. To see more Episodes, just go to Planet Earth on You Tube.
Thank you for following our Newsletters. We love bringing them to you month after month. Please remember to Forward this email to friends and family who are ready to learn and change the way we grow our food  and distribute our food. We are what we eat. Let's turn the tables around and become the healthiest society on the planet.

Sustainably,
 

Aquaponics USA/World

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