Wozuthi

Decentralizing the food and electric system for individuals and earth.

Wozuthi in Lakota means "plant house." If we want to leave anything behind for future generations, we all should be striving to have our own plant house. Food and electrical industries are centralized systems that create an individual dependency on large corporations to mass produce and deliver. Every individual no longer can live without mass production. The centralized food systems mass produce food with processes that remove all nutritional value, which is the cause for increase diseases. The corporations have no connection to the land, water, air, or sun. Without the connection to the sources of life, corporations are depleting all natural resources and fossil fuels for the interest of wealth. Corporations with centralized systems have the money and power to influence politicians, guaranteeing laws benefit mass production, ultimately leading to mass destruction of mother earth. Centralized systems reinforce capitalist values that include, authoritarian, individual emphasis, looking out for ones self, information is power, and conquest of nature.  

By decentralizing two basic systems, food and electricity, individuals will no longer depend on centralized systems. By the development of aquaponics, vertical farming, and renewable energy, we are not only taking steps away from system dependencies but we are taking steps towards saving the planet and species including mankind. With available the water on Standing Rock, and the ability to produce electricity from the sun and wind, I will build a system that raises aquatic animals in tanks and cultivating plant in the waste water, powered by renewable energy. Aquaponic projects can vary in size, I want to build an aquaponic system that can sustain a family of 5, year around with the ability to expand if necessary. Decentralizing systems is aligned with Native American values, cultivating communal emphasis, taking care of each other, sharing information, and harmony with mother earth. 

By raising our own food at an individual local level with aquaponic, we can control the processes, assuring we consume foods with high nutritional value. This will decrease diseases within our populations as well as decrease the dependency on corporate centralized systems. Utilizing the sun and wind to power the system will eliminate the need to be on the power grid. This will be a pilot project to develop the skills necessary to replicate the system in order to transfer to others within our community and eventually throughout our Nations. The excess food that is produced, fish and plants, can be shared with the community and schools and/or sold (farmers market) to create a viable business to sustain the project. 

This is a new application of an existing technology, aquaponics. Aquaponics and renewable energy production are two technologies that exist. Combining these two technologies to decentralize systems is advantageous to our community and population because we don't have a wealth of resources and it will allow us to produce nutritional foods at no cost. 

Solar and wind technologies will generate the necessary electricity to operate pumps to transfer water from fish holding into plant growing beds, recycling water and providing nutritional value to fish and edible plants. 

Convert our existing garage to a year round aquaponics system with holding tanks, piping (plumbing), plant beds, and solar/wind power. 

Design the system within the available space, purchase the necessary equipment, and retrofit the existing building. 

As a pilot, the first year learn the best practices, understand the economics of the project, and develop a model that can easily by duplicated for other families. Scale the model to be very affordable and create multiple individual reliable nutritional food sources, resulting in reducing hunger and diseases. 

It is in the concept stage and I don't have any highlights. I have been gardening for the past 20 years growing our own vegetables but the gardening season is very short in North Dakota. I have experimented with different gardening methods evolving to no longer tilling the earth but growing in garden boxes. Gardening is very competitive, especially among other gardeners but I only grew vegetables for our family never seeking highlights or accolades.   

An aquaponic decentralized food system can vary in cost. It can be a few thousand dollars to several thousand. As a pilot project, taking the cost of a learning curve out, I want to explore building a very small affordable system for an family of 5. The more people grow their own food, the healthier they will be, and the less depend they will be on the systems that destroy mother earth. 

I live in the community of Cannon Ball, ND, which has approximately 900 residents, with over half being under the age of 18. We currently own and operate Hawk's Corner, a small country store that offers food items to the residents. We purchase our process food items from a national grocery chain, a centralized food system. Hawk's Corner has a garage on the property. We are willing to assist others in our community experience food sovereignty but currently this project is in the concept stage and we are not serving anyone with it. Only through a centralized system. 

In the next 12 months, I want to have a pilot project complete setting an example on sustainability serving one family. Then each year build 10 projects per year so by the end of three years we are serving at least 50 people. The vision is to help all 200 house holds in Cannon Ball. 

I am interested in exploring the best practices with aquaponics. Having a system that can expand to other homes in the community, or nation. This will allow us to offer equipment for the independent systems, our market will be individuals ready to grow their own food utilizing aquaponics. As an individual family, they can offer their excess food for sale in other markets. We want to assist those in our community who have very little resources not only with food but with a modest income. We will be a distributor of holding tanks, piping (plumbing), pumps, lights, plant beds, fish food, solar panels, wind turbines, plants, and fish. The world will soon be decentralizing if we want the planet to thrive.

I am applying to solve because I have an idea that will allow our nation take the necessary steps towards self sufficiency and protecting mother earth. MIT and the Solve project has the ability to advance the combination of existing technologies with aquaponics and renewable energy for decentralization of systems.

Our project is very doable, I know we can find the resources to make it happen. We have the land, building, and the will. We will find the financial resources. After the pilot project is complete, some barriers will include; decreasing the existing dependency on centralized systems, changing our behaviors such as eating differently, and getting the community members to invest into their own project. Solve can help by educating the benefits of decentralization and the advantages of food and energy sovereignty. World trends are taking us into the third industrial revolution and Solve can share what that means.