FOOD
above: Susanne Friend and Big Island organic farmer Donnie Mitts survey a crop of lettuce and young leeks. It takes about one month from planting the seed to harvesting a head of lettuce. below: Friendly Aquaponics raises white tilapia (shown here), suitable for warmer locations, blue tilapia for colder areas and Malaysian tiger prawns, which together account for about 20 percent of the farm’s annual income. opposite: With hydroponics troughs measuring 4´ wide, planting and harvesting from side to center is easily accomplished at an arm’s reach—no bending necessary.
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water back uphill to complete the cycle. “We have a completely natural system,” explains Susanne Friend, co-owner of Friendly Aquaponics on the Big Island. “It’s healthy and robust, all our required electric energy can be carved from alternative energy sources, the same water has been circulating for a year and a half, we don’t add water, and we’ve reduced our waste to zero by utilizing the fish poop and composting byproducts.” Susanne Friend and her husband Tim Mann had no formal farming experience when they broke ground for their aquaponic farm in July of 2007. Through education and research, the two have utilized and improved upon the Virgin Islands method of aquaponic farming and are now the leading commercial aquaponic farmer in Hawai‘i. At first, Tim and Susanne were growing an assortment of vegetables and selling to local markets when Susanne had an epiphany: retool their farm to grow an assortment of lettuce to supply their local Costco with an organic lettuce medley. She was fed up with buying Costco’s organic lettuce that wilted in a matter of days because it was grown by a mainland supplier and shipped to Hawai‘i compromising quality and freshness. After 13 months of negotiations, Friendly Aquaponics is now growing 600 pounds of lettuce a week for the national chain and looking to stock a greater variety of