Temecula, CA-based Organic Farm Puts Taste First, Thrives on Collaborative Relationships with Area Restaurants

April 26, 2012 | Doris D. Quintanilla

Across from some of Temecula’s finest vineyards, lies a “not so pretty” farm where luscious apples, carrots, and strawberries grow. Owner and operator David Barnes says Crows Pass Farm is not a show farm, but a working farm that relies on the strong business relationships that it has cultivated over the years with neighboring restaurants.

Founded in 1991 with his wife Tina, Crows Pass Farm is a 40-acre certified organic farm that grows fresh strawberries, Meyer lemons, oranges, tangerines, baby chard, baby carrots, mushrooms, spinach, and turnips and more. Read More

Innovative Commercial Aquaponics Farm Emerges from Economic Downturn to Profit and Empower Others

March 27, 2012 | Doris D. Quintanilla

When married couple Susanne Friend and Tim Mann first started Friendly Aquaponics, a commercial aquaponics farm and training facility, on the beautiful big island of Hawaii, they weren’t really thinking about providing for their family, much less saving the world.

“What started out very simply as the desire to make a good living by serving someone other than the very wealthy clients we had as a design firm has slowly turned into a crusade,” Friend said.

The company will soon reach its five year milestone, and Friend now feels like they are on a mission – a mission she did not fully understand at the beginning – to empower people to meet their own food needs at the lowest cost possible. Read More