Free Republic

On a 13-acre plot of land located a mile north of Holyoke, Jose Varela is quietly pushing the boundaries of both agriculture and aquaculture. The career trucker and operator of EVD Trucking is setting up an aquaponics operation on his family’s property, and has his sights set on providing sustainable, locally-grown produce for Holyoke businesses. “We’re the only ones I know of that are doing this locally,” he said. Aquaponics combines hydroponics — a technique that grows plants in a nutrient-rich water solution, sometimes among rocks or gravel, rather than soil — with traditional aquaculture, creating a system of food...

The Most Frequently Mislabeled Fish Dina SpectorDec. 11, 2012, 12:46 PMIf you live in New York, and buy or eat fish, then at some point you probably received something different than what thought you were getting, The New York Times' Elisabeth Rosenthal reports. A surprising number of mislabeled seafood items end up in grocery stores and restaurants, a new study by conservation group Ocenana revealed. More specifically, researchers found that 56, or 39 percent, of 142 fish samples DNA tested were were different from what they claimed to be. Fish labeled as white tuna often turned out be escolar (a...