The Big Box Farm Project is aimed at ensuring year-round access to sustainable and nutritious food by converting an abandoned former K-Mart building into an indoor aquaponic facility. The project is operating in an area of the Midwest where there is higher level of poverty and increase access to nutritional food will play a key role in increasing community health and wellness as well as to stimulate the local economy and better the environment by promoting shopping locally. Additionally, the project focus on the reutilization of existing infrastructure.

The projected outcomes of our project by December of 2018 include operating a small scale aquaponics system to serve as a model for our long term goal of a full scale aquaponics facility. This small scale model will allow for experiments to be run on how to most efficiently run the system, as well as better plan for the operating cost and factors of a full scale system. This also provides an opportunity to bring campus and community together through outreach events. Building this relationship is one of the most important focuses for the project moving forward. Another focus will be on fundraising efforts for the purchase of the K-Mart facility and equipment.

The long term goal is to create a full scale indoor farming facility and food network for mid-Michigan. This network will provide nutritional local food for large hubs like schools and hospitals as well as for household consumption. The team aims to raise community health and ensure access to nutritional food no matter a person’s income level.