The Farming Technique That Could Revolutionize the Way We Eat

On an early June morning in 2010, I stood outside the Aquaponics research facility at the University of Applied Sciences, perched on a green hilltop in Wädenswil, Switzerland, 20 minutes outside Zurich. The lab director, Andreas Graber, had finally given in to my persistent calls requesting a visit. Graber, Switzerland’s most prolific aquaponics researcher, had been publishing on the subject for eight years — a long time in this young field.

Graber greeted me, and we stepped inside. The lab, bright and humid under its greenhouse roof, contained a few round fish basins, each about 6 feet wide. Fierce-looking fish, red and shiny, swam around inside. A host of instruments and sensors, connected to a small screen, dashed out data on oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in the water. Large PVC pipes led from the fish basins to a "water garden," an area the size of a small bedroom, canopied by huge banana leaves. Growing beneath them were about 10 different plants, including coffee and lemongrass.