In the Bible, floating along in the Nile Valley, was a little baby named Moses.
On the corner of 29th and Wabash in KCMO, floating along in a different Nile Valley, is food.
And, just as Moses led his people out of the desert, the people behind Nile Valley Aquaponics, which celebrates its Grand Opening today, are leading a community out of a food desert.
On 4500 square feet of real estate, Dre Taylor and his hard-working supporters will eventually, produce over 100 thousand pounds of food each year.
It is really a nutrition high-rise: fish on the first floor, this morning it was 1000 crappies, doing what comes naturally and producing waste.
Urine and feces is the fertilizer that helps the next several levels grow vegetables.
This type of farming uses less than 10 percent of the water of other agricultural methods and produces food that is 100 percent organic.
While big things are happening inside this greenhouse-like structure, something wonderful is also sprouting outside: community gardens.
People in the neighborhood can help themselves to delicious, nutritious fruits and vegetables throughout the season.
For Dre Taylor this is about feeding people in the most literal sense of the phrase, but it is also about encouraging economic development and building a future for young people throughout the community.
That earlier Moses said “Let my people go.”
In this Nile Valley it’s all about letting the people grow...in every way.
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Joel Nichols can be reached at joel.nichols@kclive.tv.
