My Secret Fish Farm
Diamond Bar, CA
2023, Junior, Poetry & Spoken Word
Climate Hero: Félix Hernández Barrera, Veta La Palma
In Andalusia, where the grass is green
There lives a family who prefers to remain unseen
They’ve built a paradise by replicating how Nature grows
Instead of polluting it, which is what everyone knows
Instead of feeding their fish chicken feathers and bones
They feed it phytoplankton that swims beneath the stones
They don’t need to grow feed as their ecosystem replicates the wild
It’s a farm that doesn’t feed its animals, which is a brilliant brainchild
Other companies claim to feed their fish “sustainable feed”
But how feeding chicken to fish is sustainable I don’t concede
But in the thick, rich marshland of the Guadalquivir River
This secret 27,000-acre fish farm will make you quiver
It once was a cattle ranch that destroyed the land
They killed 90% of the birds who loved to dance in the sand
But when the fish farmers reversed the flow of water to bring the birds back
They created a paradise for flamingos who love fish as a snack
You would think the farmers wouldn’t like it that birds ate 20% of their fish
But the truth is the birds made their fish a tastier dish
This fish farm is one of the most important private bird sanctuaries in all the land
Because the farmers care more about the planet than the profits at hand
The result of all this caring about all the right things
Is a fish so tasty even its skin sings
A crispy bite is sweet and clean
It tastes like the ocean of which my fish is queen
A fish’s skin is a purity barometer of its waters
This is a fish you’d want to feed your daughters
The amazing part is when the water enters this fish farm it has chemical contaminants
But when it leaves, it has no toxic inhabitants
So basically at Veta La Palma, in the heart of Spain
The fish farmers have created a paradise that boggles the brain
It’s a model for how all our food should be grown
I only wish it were not unknown
Reflection
When my teacher told me about a marvelous secret fish farm in Spain that doesn’t need to feed its animals, naturally cleans its dirty water, and created the most delicious fish you’ve ever tasted, I was so surprised I wanted to know more. So I watched Dan Barber’s TED Talk in which I discovered the way to create a better fish farm is to allow flamingos to eat 20% of your fish. In addition, the biologist says the best way to create a healthy fish farm is to focus on the natural relationships between living organisms. From this wisdom, I learned success comes from pursuing it indirectly and through unexpected ways. I felt so amazed I wanted to write a Seussian rhyming poem about this fish farm so more people would know these truths. In addition to writing, I love singing, acting, and flying in my aerial silks. When I create art, it calms me, and also makes me feel as though I am touching the universe.