Here at Green Bridge Growers, our mission to provide sustainably grown food is driven by an ideology of social justice. We not only believe in the power of organic and green growing, but we also believe that our food should benefit our community. About 1 million people in the state of Indiana currently face food insecurity.  This means that there are people in our community that are at risk of facing or are currently facing some type of food insecurity. But what does that mean to be “food insecure”? Who is most at risk of being food insecure? How does our venture at Green Bridge hope to contribute to addressing this issue here in the Michiana area?

Food insecurity is defined as a lack of sustained access to healthy high quality food. It affects every community in the United States, but those most at risk of becoming food insecure are low income communities, people with disabilities, seniors and children, rural communities, and Black and Latino populations. Food insecurity is often related to the issue of food deserts. The USDA defines food deserts by their proximity to food providers and not by a communities access  or continued to healthy or culturally appropriate food choices.  

It is important to recognize that any community of people regardless of age, race, and ability are susceptible to food insecurity, however, it is impossible to look at the issue of food deserts without talking about racism and poverty, as food deserts are often found in communities of color and low-income communities. While about 23.5 million people live in food deserts, nearly half are considered low-income. While food insecurity can also be tied to economic and race issues, food deserts in particular highlight how necessary food justice is for at risk communities. Both food insecurity and food deserts are intersectional issues that require intersectional understandings for them to be properly solved.

Although these might seem like big issues to tackle, the first step is to become educated about food access inequality and the vocabulary used in relation to these topics. At Green Bridge Growers, we address food injustice in our work through supporting other small business in the area that provide locally and sustainably grown food to the wider community. We believe that by providing healthy affordable food to our community we are taking a big step towards addressing food insecurity and unequal food access by providing our community with the option to decide from where and from whom they purchase food.

For more resources on Food Justice, Food Insecurity, and/or Food deserts check out these websites:

https://hungerandhealth.feedingamerica.org/
https://www.dosomething.org/us/facts/11-facts-about-food-deserts
https://foodispower.org/

So you’ve added koi (or another kind of fish) to your aquaponics system, and now your system is operational. At this point, you might want to consider adding aquatic plants to the tank where you keep the fish.

Aquatic plants provide oxygen for fish such as koi, so that the fish aren’t as dependent on air pumps to provide oxygen to the tank. They also help fight algae growth by limiting algae’s photosynthesis via their own photosynthesis. Pond plants also create shade for koi, which helps keep them cool when it’s sunny. And pond plants help to filter pond water, removing any nitrites or any other chemicals that might be poisonous for the fish.

Some examples of pond plants that are great at oxygenation include water lettuce, parrot’s feather, and cabomba.

Another kind of aquatic plant for koi is marginal pond plants. Marginal pond plants are plants that are potted and submerged a few inches in the water. These plants add greenery and beauty to the aquaponics system. They too help filter the water in the tanks, but they need a shelf to be placed on.

Floating plants are ones that float on the surface of the water. An example is the water lily. The pad floats on the surface of the water, and the stem and roots extend down into the water. Water hyacinth and azolla are other examples of floating plants.

To prevent the koi from eating all your pond plants, you have a few different options. One is to build a shelf into the edge of the pond or fish tank. Put a potted plant on the submerge board to create the appearance of a natural pond plant, and then put stones over the soil to protect from rooting koi. But you will still need a barrier between the koi and the plant. You may need to stack stones or rust-proof wire around the pot.

Smaller plants you can float in the water simply by putting a flotation ring around their pot. But for plants like water lilies that have long, extended roots, consider putting wire mesh around the stems to protect against hungry koi.

In our experience, happy koi also need to receive immune boosters to help their overall health. We provide our fish with vitamin C and garlic to keep them healthy and prevent disease. Another step we take to ensure the health of our fish is to get to know their habits and behaviors and to treat any problems from the start. We enjoy our koi and hope that if you venture into aquaponics, you will too!

For Autism Acceptance Month, we share an essay originally published in Olliebean by Judy Endow, an autistic adult who is well-known a leading advocate for those on the spectrum. Our team thought her insights are especially important because they focus on the assets of autistic individuals and what they contribute to the community. With this piece, you'll see why Judy is one of our favorite bloggers writing about the need for widespread acceptance and awareness of those with disabilities. 

"One thing that happens when a person is diagnosed with autism is that people start evaluating how that person doesn’t measure up. In fact, this needs to happen in order to receive an autism diagnosis. A diagnosis is important in terms of securing needed supports and services.

The measuring doesn’t stop after the diagnosis is received. As autistic children grow up they are assessed and measured many times over and for good reasons. Every needed support and service means the autistic must “qualify” to receive it. If an autistic child needs help in school they must meet the criteria to receive an Individualized Educational Plan – basically a plan with goals and outcome measures to put the student on the path towards the free and appropriate education that he cannot be denied according to law in the United States.

All of this is good and makes sense. What doesn’t make sense is when we take these measures of shortcomings and use only these shortcomings to think about autistics. When this happens autistics are thought of only in terms of their deficits and difficulties. While being found lacking and having deficits and difficulties as measured against typically developing peers is of utmost importance in the diagnostic realm and in terms of getting educational, medical and support services, this is not the sum total of an autistic person.

This is very important because what we need to have a diagnosis along with the medical, educational and support services that follow are very different from what we need to have a meaningful and productive life. I will make this personal now, using my own life for you to see an example.

You see, I get my diagnosis and supports based on what’s wrong with me, what I can’t do, and what my difficulties are in daily life. These things are easily measured against the neurotypical norm. So, that is how most of my life I have only known who I wasn’t and what I couldn’t do.

“Because there is not a good way to measure the things that make me be me those things go unmeasured. Instead I am measured by the yardstick of what makes you be you and am found to be lacking” (Endow, 2013. pg. 44).

But then, just like you, I live out my daily life according to what I CAN do, what I am good at and what I enjoy in my day.

In my everyday life as an adult it matters a whole lot what I CAN do because my capabilities have allowed me to earn a living. It matters more in my life today that I can write books, do public speaking and run my own consulting business than it does that my speech was delayed, I was institutionalized as a child or have a classic autism diagnosis.

It matters today what I am good at and what I enjoy because this has led not only to me running my own business, but in addition is the basis of my friendships with others and the hobbies and interests I pursue. Together, my work and my friends intersect with my hobbies and interests, bringing me a full life with a depth of meaning.

Autism is my diagnosis and indeed is so pervasive that it cannot be separated out and thus, I not only have autism as a diagnosis, but I am autistic in my identity. My diagnosis is about who I am NOT and what I cannot do – a measure of my limitations, deficits and difficulties.  Being an autistic woman is about who I am – a human being who IS, who CAN and who DOES – measured by living a full life in her own way in this world.

I had to learn how to outsmart the hard of my autism to live a full life as an autistic. It took several decades. Today my life is about who I am and what I CAN do. It is about the real relationships with colleagues, friends and family. Today I still have limitations, difficulties and deficits, but they do not define me. Instead they inform me. I can plan my life accordingly, ensuring supports, down time and accommodations so I can be the human being I want to be in this world. Today I have a full and meaningful life. I am content and happy and I am still just as autistic as I have always been.

My advice for younger autistics and for those who love and support them would be to look at who you ARE as a human being. Ultimately, this will become more important than your autism. Most of the time people around autistic children focus in on what they cannot do so as to make those areas of life better. In doing so autistic children grow up knowing who they are not. This is not a good basis for living a meaningful adult life because as adults, our work, our friends and our pastimes are based on who we are, what we can do and what makes us happy.

Therefore, I think it is of utmost importance our children learn this along the way. It took me most of my life to learn this. I hope by writing about it people supporting today’s autistic children will be sure to teach them who they ARE in this big wide world because one day that will become more important than their diagnosis of autism."

REFERENCES
Endow, J. (2013). Painted Words: Aspects of Autism Translated. Cambridge, WI: CBR Press.

Endow, J. (2009). Paper Words: Discovering and Living With My Autism. Shawnee Mission, KS: AAPC Publishing.

Originally published in Olliebean August 14, 2014. 

Another contribution of bees is that they also keep our cities healthier. By pollinating trees, wildflowers, plants in gardens and parks, and more, they provide us with a cleaner environment. That’s because plants:

• Draw carbon out of the air and fix it in the ground
• Suck up toxins and pollutants from stormwater
• Clean chemicals and smog out of the air so that we don’t breathe it
• Keep cities cooler through evapotranspiration
• Provide natural views and environments, which are psychologically soothing and restful

Here are several tips for helping establish a healthy habitat for pollinators:
-Consider the soil characteristics, sunlight, drainage, and other factors when choosing plants.
-Plant a variety of different flower colors and shapes to attract many different kinds of pollinators.
-Choose native plants if possible. These plants will be better adapted to the native pollinators, as well as to the soil type, climate, and precipitation. Also, in planning your garden choose flowers in the blue-purple range which are very attractive to bees, and flowers that produce pollen which bees will seek out.
- Use chemical-free pest-management practices to avoid destroying pollinator habitats.
-Select plants that flower at different times of the year, so that these plants can provide nectar and pollen to pollinators throughout the growing season.


At Green Bridge Growers, we are extremely conscious of the priority of pollinators on our farm and in how we design and locate our crops to maximize the presence of bees. With support from South Bend’s Tri Kappa Foundation, we have built beehives at our farm to draw bees to our site and we’re also planting pollinator gardens and have areas on our farm that have been planted with bees in mind. We are happy to do our part to protect, nurture, and develop the pollinator population, and hope you’ll do the same!