Florida Organic Aquaculture, the “shrimp farm” west of Fellsmere on CR 512, added a nice feather to its cap last week when U.S. Department of Agriculture state directors from 13 southern states toured the facility. Seeing the operation for the first time, the USDA group was impressed, stepping into the eye-popping 4.2-acre, climate-controlled, hangar-like space containing 20 giant raceways filled with 220,000 gallons of nutrient-rich water, in which millions of baby shrimp were doing laps and growing into delicious adults.
One visitor, USDA development official Joe Mueller, happened to be the individual largely responsible for overseeing the $5 million USDA loan that helped launch the business three years ago. Convinced every penny of the $5 million was well spent, Mueller, on behalf of the USDA, gave the operation a big thumbs-up.
“I had a specialist here (during construction),” he said. “But this is my first time here myself, and it’s great! This facility hits all the right buttons for us – local jobs, economic development – and the lunch (fresh FOA shrimp and local produce) is delicious – what more could you want?”
USDA Rural Development Director Richard Maycheck expressed approval of FOA’s dedication to hiring local workers and “at risk adults. This is great for Fellsmere. We need more of this kind of food production.”
Following the tour, the group adjourned to FOA’s new Fellsmere Fresh Market, where fresh FOA shrimp, produce, honey, homemade foodstuffs and crafts can be sold by local growers and artisans. In the next room is an antique and collectibles resale store – a fund-raiser for the Florida Aquaculture Foundation, a 501(c)3 that supports “economic empowerment through education and training.”
The demand for FOA’s “happy, healthy shrimp” has far exceeded the supply. According to Marketing VP Melissa Johnson, “We’re trying to get our second building done as fast as possible. There is so much demand. Today, 92 percent of the shrimp consumed in the U.S. is imported.”
Calls for the succulent, made-in-the-USA crustaceans come in not only from local restaurants but from all over Florida and across the country.
Among Fellsmere leaders welcoming the USDA group were Mayor Joel Tyson and City Manager Jason Nunemaker, both of whom have supported the shrimp farm from the start.
“Great partnerships like this, between Fellsmere, FOA, the USDA, the EDA, the Community Development Block Grant program, even the FDOT, equal success,” stated Nunemaker.
He went on to mention a pair of new endeavors coming in near FOA’s operation – NuTerra and Parabel. The NuTerra compost plant is “good to go,” he said, then explained that Parabel “is going to make protein from Duckweed.”
Parabel is a sustainable foods manufacturer that has leased 500 acres and, with an approximately $10 million investment, expects to build a facility to grow and harvest fresh, GMO-free water lentils, to produce a lentil-based protein, LENTEIN, according to a spokesperson.
With the expansion to the west that FOA kick-started, Nunemaker foresees a least a couple hundred new jobs being created.
