The new 2019 Canadian food guide recommends that Canadians prioritize plant-based proteins. Which leaves many of us wondering how we are going to get those plant-based proteins. And which plant-based proteins are best. Or how they compare to animal proteins. And what the environmental impacts of using plant-based proteins verses animal proteins. There are many questions that a conscious consumer might ask themselves, and we’d like to try our hand at answering some of them for you here. Do you want to know when our next blog is out? Sign up for our newsletter! The New 2019 Canadian Food ..read more

When it comes to growing nutrient-dense plant-based foods, aquaponics does a fantastic job. These sustainable growing systems can easily produce a wide variety of organic and sustainable crops. And they can be built almost anywhere, including in your local community! It is easy to head down to the store and grab a bag of lettuce, some tomatoes, or a packet of herbs without putting much thought into how those food items found their way into the store. If plants could talk, what kinds of stories would they tell? Some plants might tell tales about long and dangerous voyages of which many of th ..read more

There’s a reason why parents harp on their children to eat their vegetables – and it’s not to torture them. In 2019, Canada has decided to side with parents in the new Canadian food guide. The new guide boasts about the importance of a plant-based diet. It advises Canadians to move away from depending on animal products like high-fat dairy and meat for their protein intake. There are many easy plant-based whole food options to consider. Want to know when our next blog is out? Sign up for our newsletter! Food Guide Progression The Canadian Food Guide from 1977. Many Canadians were ..read more

The new Canadian food guide has taken a stance on the food products available in Canada. The new guide says that not all food is what it claims to be, and that it is up to the consumer to ensure that a product is healthy. It hints that food companies are using food marketing to affect a buyer’s decisions. Want to know when our next blog is out? Sign up for our newsletter! Is this a “Good source of 7 Vitamins and Minerals?” Most organizations (the Canadian government included) use marketing to have an effect on people’s decisions; but in the world of food, flashy packaging and good us ..read more

A driving factor for advancements in agri-tech is to bridge the food security gap by creating new ways to grow food in food-insecure areas. Aquaponics can bridge the food security gap by allowing communities with poor growing conditions to create market gardens. Market gardens are smaller local farms that produce the crops needed for their specific market or community, effectively mitigating one of the primary causes of the food security gap: transportation and reliance on truck farming. Canada is a big place. It’s the second biggest country in the world to be exact. With a total population ..read more

What Does Aquaponics Mean? When the word aquaponics first rings through the ear-drums, it can leave behind a trail of questions. That trail can quickly manifest into a stream of inquisitive thoughts that pander on – seemingly infinite. Aqua means water, and ponics means works. Waterworks? Hydro means water too, though. Hydroponics also means waterworks, but what does hydroponics really mean? What’s the difference between aquaponics and hydroponics? Want to stay informed with our newsletter? Aquaponics must be different from hydroponics somehow, but how? Aqua-what-now? Aqua can ..read more

Cannabis Pioneers Anyone who is interested in aquaponics, and is also interested in growing weed definitely needs to know about what Green Relief is up to. They’ve been up to it for going on three years now actually. They are growing cannabis using aquaponics. Aquaponics is inherently organic, it is highly sustainable, it provides two product outputs (Fish and plants), it can boast faster plant growth than hydroponics, and it uses hardly any water. The list goes on. The real question is: why did it take so long for people to start doing this? Want to stay informed with our newsletter ..read more

Seasoned gardeners and farmers know how to keep their plants thriving, but all growing methods have drawbacks. That’s why every for the growing season, seasonal growers need to reassess how they are going to approach their growing methods. Conversely, that’s why year-round growers (vegetable forcers) need to reassess their system’s growing methods for optimal outputs. How? When it comes to growing, there are a lot of restrictions. There are environmental restrictions, space restrictions, and time restrictions. Any veteran grower knows that when it is time to start a new growing season or ..read more

Aquaponic Technology and Agricultural history Aquaponic Technology has advanced considerably in the past 40 years. It has come a long way since humble beginnings as part of Aztec and Asian cultures. The ability to comprehend farming vegetables with fish could not have arisen without many generations of peoples first laying the groundwork. In 10,000 BCE, humans were finding ways to grow and harvest food. Five-thousand years later, and irrigation revolutionized how Mesopotamian culture approached agriculture, contributing to the rise of cities. Agricultural systems have determined the pros ..read more