Tommy V Foods LLC

Sustainable Value Added Agriculture Project.  SVAAP Urbanomic Farmer

The goal of this sustainable value added agriculture project (SVAAP) is to grow and harvest produce year around in a sustainable greenhouse. This project serves priority in providing 60-70% of the ingredients in TommyV’ Salsa. This project also serves interest in providing fresh quality produce for local area restaurants, grocery stores, and farmers’ markets in the urban environment. The SVAAP will utilize resources provided by the environment such as wind, sun and rain. The greenhouse will be used to grow various kinds of fruits and vegetables and serve as an educational venue about SVAAP.

Concept

1. Establish location to set up and operate a SVAAP greenhouse.
2. Setup vermicomposting
3. Set up Aquaponics system
   Aquaponics is the combination of aquaculture (fish farming) and hydroponics (soil-less plant culture).   In aquaponics, the nutrient-rich water that results from raising fish provides a source of natural fertilizer for the growing plants.  As the plants consume the nutrients, they help to purify the water that the fish live in.  A natural microbial process keeps both the fish and plants healthy and helps sustain an environment in which they both can thrive.  Essentially, aquaponics is organic gardening, but without the dirt.
   In aquaponics, both fish and plants are grown in one body of water, using one infrastructure.  Water circulates through the fish tanks, filters and plant grow beds and then flows back to the fish tanks, completing the loop. The use of fertilizer is not required because the fish waste provides the nutrients the plants need.  The use of herbicides is not required because there is no soil for weeds to grow in.  The daily water use is minimal and a large volume of food crops can be grown using much less space when compared to growing crops in a field.  Since, soil isn’t required; aquaponics can be set up in urban areas supplying food to local markets, in arid regions with poor soil, in developing countries, in rural communities or anywhere else that fresh food is needed.

1. Grow and harvest produce – micro greens
2. Use harvested produce in the processing of TommyV’s Salsa
3. Package and store TommyV’s Salsa
4. Market and sell TommyV’s Salsa at Farmers’ Markets and local retail stores

Market and sell value added produce such as lettuce, greens etc, at farmers’ markets