I’m obsessed with the apocalypse.
It’s not the most random of thoughts. Since the beginning of time, mankind has always been enamored in some shape or form with “The End”. Whether that’s the end of a dynasty, the end of a dark age or more dramatically, the end of the world. I’m not saying 10th Year Seniors is a doomsday prep hub, but I will say that every 10YS member I reached out to in reference to their apocalypse plan was able to give me one in full detail without the need for further context.
Distinguishing between a “regular apocalypse” and the “zombie apocalypse,” Shayne’s list includes a 9mm and a Bible, and Taige has an entire tactical manifesto that makes sense from cover to cover.
Contrary to popular belief, the apocalypse isn’t just about zombies. The apocalypse goes further than the undead roaming the streets in disorganized fashion.
We’re currently exactly one year into a global pandemic. A pandemic where we’ve seen millions of people dying. One where we saw our country screech to an almighty halt because of our dependence on the Americans. I may feel isolated in my opinion but I know I’m not alone when I argue that we’re probably currently in the apocalypse – or at the very least, some version of it.
I don’t make this statement lightly. After every major disaster, natural or otherwise, Bahamians always end up finding out just how ill-prepared we are for a future that doesn’t rely on the importation of goods. Want to know the similarities between 9/11 and Hurricanes Francis and Jeanne of 2004? With air and sea travel being compromised, they both showcased our subpar food storage system. At that time our food storage was only a few weeks. Today? We’re still not that prepared, making our current, overly- reliant system of food importation irresponsibly unsustainable.
Enter Eeden Farms, one of the newest hydroponic farming companies in the country, providing a wide variety of crops that can be grown and harvested any time of the year by using vertical container farming technology. Founded by Lincoln Deal, Gil Cassar, Scott Blacquiere and Carlos Palacious, Eeden is possibly one of the few companies in the Bahamas actively preparing us for a time when import of goods will be virtually impossible.
If you’re a fan of the Walking Dead, you’ll know that one of the main characters (Rick Grimes) temporarily lost his mind, put up his gun and badge, and became a farmer. At some point all of his plants died, and I’m thinking that a topnotch hydroponic facility would have saved him months worth of grief. I’m neither a scientist nor am I a farmer, and I’m pretty sure you can be both…but hydroponic farming, in the most laymen of terms, is when you don’t need soil to grow a mango in the winter.
With agricultural technology patented by Freight Farms, a U.S.-based company, Eeden Farms and its founders knew that they wanted to bring that same AgTech back to The Bahamas. In an automated and completely climate-controlled container, Eeden has the ability to produce the equivalent of a farm the size of 2.5 NFL football fields without ever having to leave the container.
This works out perfectly because in the event of a zombie apocalypse, I don’t foresee me wanting to leave the safety of the compound to scavenge for food. Eeden is the only company utilizing this very specific technology in the country, but they’re not the only hydroponic farm in The Bahamas and that’s important, because in a country that’s not self-reliant enough, we’re going to need more farmers – both amateur and professional. Everyone is going to have to get their hands dirty, literally, in order for us to be able to survive what’s coming next. Everyone needs to become a farmer.
The apocalypse isn’t just about zombies, even though I’m not ashamed to say that my eyes are wide open for them.
At its core, the apocalypse signals the end of one thing: tradition. The ways we’ve become accustomed to doing certain things and the social norms that are familiar to us. They find a very distinct way of phasing out, sometimes in a really dramatic fashion and other times in the slowest of fades. We see disaster movies and television shows, and we often think of what happens during, but we never really question ourselves about the after. Apocalyptic scenarios give us the perfect opportunity to rethink what has worked for us, what hasn’t worked for us and how we can eventually make things better.
Small and developing states like The Bahamas shouldn’t necessarily be living like it’s the end of the world, but we should always be preparing like it is. Companies like Eeden are critical to the discussion on sustainable farming and how exactly we’re going to feed an entire nation.
In my quest to create my own end-of-the-world action plan, I took the time to reach out to Lincoln at Eeden Farms and ask what they would grow in the event of an apocalypse. His perfect answer? Mangoes.
I’ve definitely found my bunker.
