As I’ve written before, I am increasingly worried about the fact that more than 70 percent of our food here in Hawai‘i is imported.
Recently, in the Hawai‘i Tribune-Herald, someone wrote that the Law of Comparative Advantage dictates that whenever we can purchase goods cheaper outside of Hawai‘i, we should. I majored in business, so I am aware of this law.
But first and foremost I am a survivor, and the Law of Survival is to “Always keep your options open.” And in order to keep our options open, we need to produce MORE food locally, not less.
The Law of Comparative Advantage is an intellectual exercise. The Law of Survival is, well, “the law of survival.”
And so this is our Law of Survival plan:
Hamakua Springs Country Farms is in the process of developing a hydroelectric plant. We will utilize water from a flume on our property, and then use that free electricity to replace that of the public utility. With our excess electricity, we plan to replace diesel- and gas motor-driven machinery with electric-driven vehicles. We also plan to use electric, motor-driven conveyors and other such labor-saving devices.
Then—by offering cheap electricity and cheap water, which we also have in absolute abundance—we are working on teaming up with farmers who specialize in products we do not.
We can offer technical expertise, in terms of disease and pest control, as well as technical and structural help in obtaining food safety certifications. And if these farmers meet our high standards, they can market their products with us under the Hamakua Springs brand.
In addition, we have a parcel of land on the highway where our farmer-partners will be able to sell their products in a farmers’ market-type setting.
We are actively working on these aspects of our “Law of Survival” in order to make our islands more sustainable in terms of food production.
In the State of Hawai‘i, what we need is for farmers to produce food on all islands at all elevations, both on the wet side of the island and the dry side. We need farmers to work together so that the whole is stronger than the sum of the parts.
We need to overcome the inertia of “it’s always been done this way.” And we need legislators to help us so we can act upon the Law of Survival, rather than intellectualize about the Law of Comparative Advantage.
I totally agree. Hawaii needs to produce more of its own food. Shipping strikes, shipping fuel surchages and dock charges, we are at the mercy of many things beyond our control — but as consumers we can take control by supporting and buying locally grown produce as much as possible.
P.S. Richard, buying 2 big bunches of bananas every week from KTA to make our daily smoothie:)
The old Hawaiians knew a thing or two about sustainability. We are trying to adapt their approach using modern day methods. Thanks you guys for your support.