Friendly Aquaponics, Inc

About

Susanne Friend and Tim Mann are the married partners in Friendly Aquaponics, Inc. We built Friendly Aquaponics, Inc's farm in Honoka'a, Hawaii the summer of June 2007, and operate it with our four children, Rose (10), Lucky (13), Jack (14-1/2), and Victor (20). My wife Susanne manages the farm, employees, and all administration; I herd the fish, dig ditches, and fix things. Our farm presently provides 650 pounds per week of organic vegetables to our local community, as well as 200 lbs per month of tilapia (fish) sales.

Friendly Aquaponics, Inc, was the first in the world to achieve USDA Organic Certification for its aquaponics systems in 2008, and the first in the world to achieve Food Safety Certification for its aquaponics systems in 2009. Since then, around 65 of our Commercial Aquaponics Training students have gotten their aquaponics farms USDA Certified Organic. The company holds regular aquaponics classes and farm tours to share the benefits of farming aquaponically, which Susanne and I jointly host and teach.

We knew absolutely nothing about growing plants before we began, and both had a long, sad history of killing houseplants. We both come from the business world, so farming is new to us. If we can do this, anyone can! In mid-2007, we became tired of having two businesses tied to the failing construction industry on the Big Island, and decided that we'd grow food.

What started out as our desire to make a good living from growing food has slowly turned into a crusade. We are committed to undoing the industrialization of our food supply. We stand for local, organic, non-processed, real food, and that is what we grow on our farm, to feed our family. We hope you join us, as America moves from being known as the “Fast Food Nation” to a country filled with “Slow Food Communities.” We believe if you do not grow it yourself, at least you should know the grower!

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