“Some things are not what they seem at The Point, a community development center in the Hunts Point neighborhood of the Bronx.
What looks like a trash can is not for garbage. Instead, urban fish farmer Christopher Toole is raising tilapia in these water-filled bins, which he said should not be considered garbage cans at all.
“Well, first of all, I object to the term ‘trash cans.’ They’re food-grade bins, and that’s an important distinction,” he said. “We really are not trying to encourage people to grow fish in cans that have held trash.”
Toole is, however, hoping that New Yorkers will take to raising fish in the same way that apartment dwellers might consider starting an herb garden. He said that raising tilapia is easy and can be done in homes, in community gardens, “in the schools — any place you’ve got some space and there’s some interest.”
The issue of space is one reason Toole prefers to use what, in another setting, could be a garbage can…”
