Superior Fresh: Reimagining Organic Food Production with Aquaponics

While cold February days are usually lifeless for plants in the middle of Wisconsin, there is an 800-acre parcel near Northfield, Wisconsin where organic food is being harvested daily, nourishing nearby communities.

This is home to Superior Fresh, a family-owned aquaponics farm that specializes in the production of fresh certified organic leafy greens and herbs, as well as the first land-based Atlantic salmon producer in the US.

Superior Fresh farm in Northfield, Wisconsin

The company was founded by Todd and Karen Wanek with the mission to feed the world healthy, reliable, and high-value food products. Knowing that the global population will exceed 9 billion people by 2050 (and that the planet will need to somehow support them), the couple felt a growing sense of urgency to be part of the solution.

“We started Superior Fresh because we imagined there was a way to grow organic food closer to everyone’s table. Food that is always organic (always non-GMO) is more important now during this pandemic than ever before. People need highly nutritious food with impeccable quality they can trust,” Karen Wanek said.

Karen Wanek, co-founder of Superior Fresh

Aquaponics is the blend of aquaculture and hydroponics (soilless plant cultivation) to create a natural ecosystem without the use of artificial fertilizers or pesticides. It is an integrated farming system where two or more species/organisms are grown together but in separate levels within the food chain with a focus on improving efficiency and reducing waste.

“Food that is always organic … is more important now during this pandemic than ever before. People need highly nutritious food with impeccable quality they can trust.” -Karen Wanek

Superior Fresh has created a complete living ecosystem that incorporates three groups of organisms: fish, plants, and bacteria, all of which play an important role in the balance of our ecosystem. 

The company's proprietary water treatment technologies optimize the quality of the water for both the salmon and the leafy greens. By recirculating 99.9 percent of the pristine Wisconsin water, they achieve zero runoff.

Superior Fresh greenhouse

State-of-the-art glass greenhouses provide high levels of natural light along with sophisticated heating and humidity control systems. 

With a few acres under glass, the couple says they can grow more crops on it than a 300-acre conventional farm while using a fraction of the water soil-based farms use.

By recirculating 99.9 percent of the pristine Wisconsin water, they achieve zero runoff.

In 2017, the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) rejected proposals to make hydroponic and aquaponics production methods prohibited under the USDA’s National Organic Program.

Renaming these items as Bioponics, NOP recognized the advantages of these systems—water conservation, increased food safety, disease suppression, nutrient conservation and retention, and soil conservation (because they do not use any soil).

Retailers like Cub Foods, Whole Foods, Festival, MOM's Organic Market, Plum, and Fresh Thyme as well as many co-ops and wholesalers across the US are carrying these fresh local salad mixes.

Packing fresh organic lettuce at Superior Fresh

The company can harvest up to nine different varieties of certified organic greens daily, which are then packed in clamshells made from recycled plastic.

The Waneks' approach is helping to produce locally grown food and generate greater economic opportunities by creating jobs in this rural area of Wisconsin, with a goal of expanding their aquaponics systems potentially across the US.

The couple dreams of a day when they achieve year-round production adjacent to major markets, thereby decentralizing food production and benefiting communities across the country.

Innovative growing methods like aquaponics can deliver fresh fruits and vegetables with the same symbiotic biological processes used by plants since the dawn of time. Further, the Waneks believe that the convergence of critical global issues such as climate change, environmental degradation, water depletion, and population growth requires that all consumers reimagine organic food production.

“You can trust us to give you honest information on the health benefits [of] our food. And you can depend on us to give you a superior-quality food product that will only enhance yourself and your family’s well-being,” said Karen Wanek.