The Church of Brotherly Love

The Church of Brotherly Love will build a community of aquaponic farming homesteads housing Pastors to feed families in need, within WA state in order to create the largest sustainable non-profit food drive within the United States.

This community will be sustainable without government assistance, and it will show the world how to heal. This community will grow their own food and conserve 90 % of their water through innovative aquaponic farming techniques.

Designing an Aquaponics System to Sustain 70 People with 2,000 Calories Daily

To create a 1,500-1,600 square foot aquaponic greenhouse that can provide 2,000 calories daily for 70 people (or 140,000 calories per day in total), we need to focus on high-calorie, nutrient-dense crops and fish while optimizing space and labor. Here’s how this can be accomplished:

1. Key Components of the Aquaponic System

Greenhouse Size: 1,500-1,600 square feet of space, including both fish tanks and plant beds.
Aquaponic System: A system that recycles water from fish tanks to irrigate and fertilize plants, providing efficient nutrient cycling.
Fish Type: Tilapia or Channel Catfish, which are fast-growing, hardy, and offer a good protein source that meets biblical dietary guidelines.
Caloric-Dense Crops: We will focus on the most calorie-efficient crops that thrive in aquaponic environments, such as yams, potatoes, rice, mushrooms, and leafy greens.

2. Nutritional Needs

Assuming each person needs 2,000 calories per day (within a range of 1,600-2,400 calories), the system must provide 140,000 calories daily for all 70 people.

3. Crop Selection for Maximum Calorie Output

To meet these caloric requirements, we must focus on high-calorie crops while ensuring a balanced diet. Below is the breakdown of each component:

1. Fish (Protein):

Tilapia or Channel Catfish are ideal for this system.
- Serving Size: Each serving (5 oz) provides 150 calories. With 2 servings per day for 6 days a week, fish will provide:
- 300 calories per person/day.
- This amounts to 21,000 calories daily for 70 people.

2. Carbohydrates (Yams, Potatoes, or Rice):

Carbs will provide the bulk of the calories.

Yams: Each cup of cooked yams offers around 177 calories. With 2 servings per person/day, this equates to 354 calories per day per person.
- Total calories: 24,780 calories daily from yams for 70 people.
Rice: Rice is another carbohydrate option. With 412 calories per 2 servings (1 cup each), it’s the most efficient option for caloric density. Using rice would yield 28,840 calories daily for 70 people.

3. Leafy Greens (Nutrient-Dense):

While low in calories, leafy greens provide essential nutrients like vitamins and minerals.

Lettuce, Kale, Spinach: With 3 cups per person/day, greens provide around 50-60 calories per person/day.
- Total: 4,200 calories daily from leafy greens for 70 people.

4. Mushrooms:

Mushrooms are nutrient-rich and provide additional diversity in the diet.

Mushrooms: Two cups of mushrooms per person/day provide around 30 calories/day.
- Total: 2,100 calories daily from mushrooms for 70 people.

4. Space Breakdown and Square Footage

To fit all necessary elements into a 1,500-1,600 square foot greenhouse, here’s the optimal space allocation for each crop and the fish tanks:

Fish Tanks (Tilapia/Channel Catfish): Around 300 square feet for a 1,500-gallon tank to provide fish servings.
Yams/Potatoes: 700-750 square feet for root crops, which are the most calorie-dense and sustainable option.
Leafy Greens: 200-250 square feet for high-yield greens like lettuce, kale, and spinach.
Mushrooms: 50-60 square feet for vertical mushroom growing systems.

5. Labor and Maintenance Requirements

Given the size and complexity of the system, maintaining the greenhouse will require more man hours:

Fish Management: 1-2 hours per day for feeding, water monitoring, and overall fish health.
Plant Maintenance: 3-4 hours per day for checking nutrient levels, maintaining plant health, pruning, and general system upkeep.
Harvesting: 2 hours per day for gathering ripe crops, which can be done on a rotational basis.

Total Man Hours: 6-8 hours per day to manage the system and ensure steady production.

6. Total Daily Caloric Breakdown

Fish: 300 calories per person/day (total: 21,000 calories).
Yams or Potatoes: 700-800 calories per person/day (total: 49,000-56,000 calories).
Leafy Greens: 50-60 calories per person/day (total: 4,200 calories).
Mushrooms: 30 calories per person/day (total: 2,100 calories).

Total Calories: 140,000+ calories daily for 70 people.

Conclusion

To provide 2,000 calories per day for 70 people using a 1,500-1,600 square foot aquaponic greenhouse, the setup would require:

Fish (Tilapia or Channel Catfish): 300 square feet of tank space.
Carbohydrates (Yams or Rice): 700-750 square feet for root vegetables or grains.
Leafy Greens: 200-250 square feet for nutrient-dense greens.
Mushrooms: 50-60 square feet for additional nutrients.

With around 6-8 hours of labor per day, this system can consistently meet the nutritional needs of 70 people, providing both high-calorie and nutrient-rich food.

Is this a good life for a preacher to live? Consider having the option of being able to study the Word of God with no distractions other than harvesting mass amounts of food and providing to the people you shall preach to. I say it is the best life I can think of. It's a life I am determined to provide for men who seek to dedicate their lives to Jesus.

Now consider outreach. If we sponsored a pasture from another country not only would they be very grateful for these opportunities but upon returning to their countries they could replicate this model and solve world hunger. This plan starts very small with one Pastor growing food and feeding up to 70 people daily while preaching the Word of God. He will have the opportunity to bring help from his own peoples of his choosing who want to offer it. This community will form with the dedicated house to Jesus first.

Every home after will house a Pasture and build a community.

What is the "American dream? How much different is the American dream from those born in our country to those whom wish to migrate here and live it. What does our country represent to the rest of the world. What do we want for our country to represent to the rest of the world.

For some Americans the dream is to be extremely wealthy and powerful. For many the dream is just to own their own land and be able to retire somewhere within a peaceful community. To even get to that point for the average American born into poverty this can take a lifetime if it's a goal and that is if everything goes well. For many this is never achieved. For first generation immigrants this is rarely achieved even through a lifetime of hard work.

When an honest hard working man legally migrates his family to the United States of America and begins a new life he usually starts with nothing in extreme poverty and must take whatever job is available to him regardless of his own education and skills. This leaves little to no time for them to develop within our country, further their own education, fulfill their spiritual needs or gain a real sense of diverse American communities. They will generally stick to parts of our country that represent their own cultures and subcultures within America because they are forced to in order to maintain a sense of community. This creates more and more segregation within our nation.

Is there a place in America that really represents the American dream? I say no. There really isn't so we should build one. We should build one as an example, as a social experiment and as a project that could find solutions to real world problems like "world hunger". As a project to better humanity, we should build this place. Mimicking this plan around the world could create the real American dream for some who are never able to come here. It can just start with one Pastor and one greenhouse, then turn into many.

What can we achieve?

Find solutions to world hunger. Aquaponic farming not only conserves water for farming and produces more crops but it also produces many edible fish within the same ecosystem. This can be done on small scale homesteads within the community or large scale farms where some of the community members could work. We can learn so much this. This could literally be the answer to how mankind must eat in a few hundred years pending lower resources and climate change.

Goals and Objectives Short Term:

Full Pre-production of "The Church of Brotherly Love" documentary.

6-8 months - Land development estimate and model of homesteads with full cost estimate, mimicking the most effective aquaponic designs integrated with sustainable and energy efficient housing models.

Support your local Pastor and build one. Execute. Build more. More housing for Pastors. Communities see better results around them with the word of God having effect within their area more.