The New Method of Sustainable Farming
Agriculture has allowed for unprecedented human development, but over the past few hundred years, humanity’s ever-increasing population has strained global resources. As the demand for food increases, the resources needed to grow—namely, land and water—are in shorter and shorter supply.
We simply cannot meet global demand using conventional farming methods. If we want to feed the world, we need to adopt a new approach.
What follows is an exploration of various farming methods, including conventional farming, greenhouse growing, and the Superior Fresh method. We’ll compare product(s) and growing processes while evaluating food safety practices and long-term sustainability.
Conventional Farming
On a conventional farm, food is grown in the ground, and farmers use chemical inputs like fertilizers and pesticides to nourish plants and fight pests. The land is often heavily tilled, irrigated and monocropped, so the soil is quickly depleted of nutrients. Conventional farming is generally regarded as resource and energy intensive but highly productive.
Process
Because crops are grown outside in the earth, they are subject to seasonal and geographic limitations. In the United States, planting typically occurs in early spring, with harvest taking place in the fall (though there is significant variance depending on location). Arizona and California dominate domestic lettuce production, producing upwards of 90% of all lettuce grown in the U.S. Because lettuce grown outside “likes it cool”, growers will often seed and harvest twice per year: once in the spring and again in the fall, avoiding midsummer temperatures. A head of lettuce can be harvested 65-160 days after seeding.
Once harvested, there are many resources to required to get that head of lettuce from the farm to your table. Because the product is perishable, it must be kept cool to retain freshness. It is transported from the field to a processing facility, where it is cut, washed in cold water, then centrifuged to remove excess water. At this point, the product begins to decay. During this stage it may also be treated with “a chlorine-containing compound and/or an antioxidant to preserve during washing or before packaging.”[9] The lettuce is then packaged and shipped via refrigerated truck.
Lettuce grown in California travels over 2,000 miles and spends 4-6 days in transport before hitting grocery shelves in the midwest. Considering produce loses 30% of its nutrients a mere 3 days after harvest[11], this means midwestern consumers are receiving a product that has significantly less nutritional value.
Food Safety
Foodborne illnesses kill 3,000 and sicken an estimated 48 million people per year in the United States. Over the past decade there has been a dangerous increase in outbreaks linked to produce—specifically lettuce. The federal response to the foodborne illness crisis was the The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), signed into law in 2011, which authorizes the FDA to regulate food safety at the farm level.[16]
The FDA created seven categories and corresponding rules, one of which is the Standards for Growing, Harvesting, Packing and Holding of Produce for Human Consumption, known as FSMA Rule on Produce Safety.[17] Within this rule there are several key requirements, namely:
Agricultural Water - rules mandating the testing of water that is directly applied to produce and water used for tangential purposes (e.g. for washing hands during and after harvest, on food-contact surfaces, to make ice, etc.)
Biological Soil Amendments - guidelines for the use of raw manure and stabilized compost
Sprouts - specific rules to help prevent the contamination of sprouts, which have frequently been associated with outbreaks.
Domesticated and Wild Animals - rule addressing compliance for grazing animals, working animals, and intrusion by wild animals
Worker Training and Health and Hygiene - requirements to prevent contamination by humans
Because conventionally farmed food is grown in the ground, it is at risk of being exposed to a myriad of pathogens; one of the most deadly recent outbreaks was traced back to feral pigs running through a field of cantaloupe.[15] In 2018, romaine lettuce was linked to several foodborne illness outbreaks including an E. coli O157 outbreak that was linked to the California farm’s agricultural water reservoir.[20] The chemicals applied to non-organic produce do not necessarily kill pathogens, nor do they protect against contamination by foreign bodies.
Romaine and other lettuces are particularly vulnerable to contamination because they do not go through a “kill step” during processing. A kill step is a phase in the food production process where a food product is treated (usually with heat) to ensure that any foodborne pathogens are killed. Because foods like romaine are consumed raw and do not undergo a kill step, the risk of contamination is greater.
Environmental Impact
A conventional farm is a very resource-intensive operation, requiring significantly more land and water than other farming methods.
Conventional farms prioritize production and yield at the expense of soil quality, plant health and environmental sustainability. Monocropping is harmful to the soil ecology,[19] water use on a conventional farm is incredibly inefficient, and drainage from chemical treatments like pesticides and fertilizers can contaminate local drinking water and impact adjacent ecological systems.
Because of the toll it takes on the environment and the sheer amount of resources it requires, we do not believe conventional farming to be a sustainable method of food production for the planet.
Greenhouse Growing
The industrial agricultural system is deeply flawed, and the demand for alternatives to conventional farming is increasing. One such alternative is indoor farming. Indoor farming encompasses greenhouse growing, hydroponics, and vertical farming. We opted to focus on greenhouse growing/hydroponics, as vertical farming has not yet achieved the scale required to make an accurate comparison.
Process
In a greenhouse, produce can be grown hydroponically, meaning the plants are grown in nutrient solutions without soil. Plants without deep root structures, like lettuce, herbs, strawberries, tomatoes, and bell peppers are all excellent candidates for hydroponic systems.
Unlike conventional farming, where a seed is planted in the ground and remains there until harvest, greenhouse plants are transported at several critical stages during the growth cycle. Because greenhouses allow for total control of inputs and environment, growers are able to give the plant exactly what it needs at each stage, resulting in a faster growth cycle and increased yields. Greenhouse yield can be 20 times higher than open field cultivation.[4]
Greenhouses do not share the same geographic limitations as conventional farms. Plants grown indoors can thrive in climates and during seasons that are not suitable for land growing, like the midwestern United States. This geographical flexibility allows the transit time for greenhouse produce to be greatly reduced.
Food Safety
The FSMA Produce Rule has slightly varied regulations for greenhouse growers. The four primary areas of regulation are:
Health and hygiene
Irrigation water quality and management
Animals and waste
Sanitation of equipment, tools and greenhouse surfaces
Unlike plants on a conventional farm, greenhouse produce is protected from the elements and many contaminants. One of the greatest food safety risks within greenhouses is irrigation water. Greenhouses can draw from a variety of water sources, including city supply, surface water, reservoirs, rainwater and underground aquifers. Untreated surface water (like that from a pond) is considered to be most at risk for contamination.
Another potential source of contamination within a greenhouse is the processing equipment. Crates and baskets for transport, propagation tools, and food-contact surfaces can all become contaminated if proper food safety practices are not followed. The Produce Rule mandates that all equipment be easy to sanitize.
Environmental Impact
Greenhouse growing is an efficient way to grow food on a relatively small amount of land without compromising soil quality. In a greenhouse, growers can supplement sunlight with LEDs, allowing plants to grow faster and stronger. Greenhouse growers also use significantly less water as system water can be filtered and reused within the operation rather than simply being discharged into the ground.
Food grown on a conventional farm has a much larger carbon footprint than food grown in a greenhouse, because greenhouses can be built in all sorts of climates and geographies, eliminating the need for produce to be transported long distances (and the carbon emissions associated with such transports). In summary, greenhouse growing is a more sustainable method of food production than conventional farming, but it still requires resources and investment.
The Superior Fresh Method
At Superior Fresh, we’re in a category of our own. We use an aquaponic model to grow some of the best-looking, best-tasting, best-for-you fish and produce on the market!
Fish, beneficial bacteria, and plants have a naturally symbiotic relationship. Aquaponics is a way of leveraging this relationship to grow food. Superior Fresh produces nearly 3 million pounds of safe, clean, certified-organic produce each year.
Process
We raise Atlantic salmon and Steelhead and grow leafy greens on our family-owned farm in Hixton, Wisconsin. Our state-of-the-art water filtration system extracts solids from the fish house. Then, beneficial bacteria break down the solids, transforming it first into nitrites and finally into nitrates. The nitrate-rich water is then circulated to the greenhouse, where plants absorb the nutrients, cleaning the water in the process. The clean water is then circulated back to the fish house. We do not discharge any production water, which means zero water waste!
In our greenhouse, seeds are planted daily, then moved to a dark, high-humidity germination room to sprout. Once sprouted, seedlings are moved to the propagation room, where they receive nutrient-rich water and LED lighting. Next, the young plants are moved to the main greenhouse where they float on rafts from one end of the greenhouse to the other, receiving all of their nutrients from the nitrate-rich water below. After one trip, they are inspected for health, transplanted onto larger rafts, and sent back down the length of the greenhouse. Once mature, lettuce is harvested and shipped daily. In total, this process takes about 21 days per plant.
In the fish house, we incubate our certified disease-free eggs in our onsite hatching room. After about a month of incubation, the young fish, or fry, begin to hatch. Fry are moved into first-feed tanks, where they begin swimming against the current and are trained to eat on their own after they have absorbed the yolk and oil globule. Once the fish are ready, we cue smoltification by controlling the amount of light the fish receive to mimic a winter. After the fish reach 1 pound, they are moved to the growout tank. We humanely harvest each fish by hand once they have reached 10 pounds (about 24 months after arriving at our farm). Our fish rearing practices are BAP (Best Aquaculture Practices) certified, and our salmon is rated “Best Choice” by Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch program.
Food Safety
Safety is paramount at Superior Fresh. Our greenhouse is SQF (Safe Quality Food) certified, which means we have passed rigorous farm-to-fork food safety testing. As explained by the certifying institution, “The SQF Program is not about obtaining a certificate—it is about establishing a sound food safety program.” [18] To illustrate how serious we are about food safety, below we address each of the greenhouse-specific regulations outlined in the FSMA’s Produce Rule:
Health and hygiene: Superior Fresh has mandated handwashing and sanitary footbaths for anyone who enters the greenhouse or fish house. We offer full-time employees paid time off, to prevent sick employees from coming to work.
Irrigation water quality and management: Superior Fresh demonstrates exceptional water management. We reuse ALL of our water in our closed-loop system. Because we grow aquaponically, we don’t have to rely on overhead irrigation systems (whose piping can harbor dangerous bacteria).
Animals and waste: We are a fully enclosed building complete with a multistep entrance to the greenhouse, which prevents pests from entering the facility. All plant debris is removed from the greenhouse quickly to discourage animal activity.
Sanitation of equipment, tools and greenhouse surfaces: All processing equipment is thoroughly cleaned after each use. We have a written sanitation schedule that all employees abide by.
Environmental Impact
Sustainability is a core value at Superior Fresh and we take pride in the efficiency of our entire operation, from our water reuse to the amount of produce we can grow in the same footprint as a conventional farm (30x more!)
Our farm is situated on a 800-acre property, but the farm itself only occupies about 10 acres. The rest of the property is devoted to land restoration. We share the property with our sister company, Freshwater Family Farms, to restore the natural oak savanna, bringing back native flora and fauna that has not existed in the area for decades.
Because we understand the environmental impact of transporting food over long distances, we aim to keep our products in the Midwest. We love being able to provide fresh leafy greens and salmon to customers in our region, year-round. We believe the Superior Fresh method is the best, most sustainable, and safest way to feed the world.
Sources:
Organic vs. conventional farming: https://rodaleinstitute.org/why-organic/organic-basics/organic-vs-conventional/
Comparison of land and resources: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4483736/
The Economics of Local Verticle and Greenhouse Farming are Getting Competitive https://agfundernews.com/the-economics-of-local-vertical-and-greenhouse-farming-are-getting-competitive.html
Greenhouse vs. open field cultivation https://www.westarseeds.com/greenhouse-vs-open-field-cultivation-what-is-the-difference/
Sustainable vs. conventional agriculture https://you.stonybrook.edu/environment/sustainable-vs-conventional-agriculture/
Conventional Farming https://www.appropedia.org/Conventional_farming
https://www.agmrc.org/commodities-products/vegetables/lettuce
http://www.foodcrumbs.com/2012/10/31/lettuce-harvesting-storage-and-transport/
https://cals.arizona.edu/crops/vegetables/cropmgt/az1099.html
https://homeguides.sfgate.com/plants-grow-better-greenhouses-47175.html
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/agriculture/
https://www.cdc.gov/listeria/outbreaks/cantaloupes-jensen-farms/index.html
https://www.fda.gov/food/food-safety-modernization-act-fsma/fsma-final-rule-produce-safety
Effects of Conventional and Organic Agriculture Techniques on Soil Ecology: http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1529/effects-of-conventional-and-organic-agricultural-techniques-on-soil-ecology