All posts by Richard Ha

Community, Tomatoes

Thank You’s, continued

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Richard Ha writes:

We recently received some great thank you letters from students in Emma Kato’s 4th-grade class at Hilo Union School, after taking some surplus tomatoes to that school, as well.

Ms. Kato wrote: “…We always ask our students to reach out to others to make lives better. You certainly did that to us.”

And her students wrote some very interesting, impressive and fun letters. A sampling:

Hilounion5

Dear Mr. Ha,

Thank you for the extrodanary tomato. It tasted magnificent.

I learned hydroponics is a way to grow plants without soil. You get about 130 inches of rain a year and that you’ve been working 30 years from your website.

I used them for a nori, tomato, viniger mix but I ate one plain.

Aloha, Trent

Hilounion2

Dear Mr. Ha,

Thank you for donating your delicious tomatos at Hilo Union School. I’m sure every student was pleased.

This tomatos is very sweet and has just the right amount of acidity. My family and I enjoyed eating it for dinner. Once again I would like to thank you for the tomatos.

From, Crystelynn

Hilounion6

Dear Mr. Ha,

Thanks for the great tomatoes that you donated to our school.

It was good and sweet in our lomi and salads.

I gave it to my mom and she made salads with it. My family and I enjoyed your delicious tomatoes.

Once again I would like to show my appriciation.

Thank you, Kyson

Hilounion7

Dear Mr. Ha,

Thank you Mr. Ha for donating tomatoes to Hilo Union School. The school really appreciate the tomatoes that you donated.

We went to the computer and type your website and I found out you grow banana before you grow tomates.

I gave the tomates to my dad because I know how much my dad loves tomates. Cause he makes tomates with every meal. And we enjoy it.

Thank you, Kawehionalani

Hilounion3

Dear Mr. Ha,

Thanks for donating the cocktail tomatoes to our school. They were delicious!

We went to our computer lab and went to your website and learned about the benefits of growing with hydroponics. It avoids pests and diseases that can come with growing plants in soil.

I gave it to my grandma and she made saled and we ate it for dinner. And I ate a little and it was the best tomatoe I’ve ever eaten.

Aloha, Chaycelyn

Hilounion9

Dear Mr. Ha,

Thank you for the tomatoes. It was de-licious. It was juicey and sweet. It was like healthy candy in my mouth.

I just ate the tomatoes for lunch, plain like a fruit.

Aloha, Alohi

Hilounion1

Dear Mr. Ha.

Thanks for the fantastic tomato’s. When we went on the computer I learned that the benefets of growing with hydroponics are they avoid pests and deaseses. And the energy costs are lower. And I also learned that your farm grows award-winning tomatos, bananas, lettuce and cucumbers that are available throughout Hawaii.

When I brought the tomatos home, my grandpa from Phillipines made some kind of tomato sauce that taste good with rice and fish.

Aloha, Patrick

Hilounion10

Dear Mr. Ha,

Thank you for the great tomatoes. On your farm, your company grows a lot of other products. Like bananas and lettuces. My mom use the tomatoes in a salad.

Blaire

Hilounion4_2

Dear Mr. Ha,

Thanks for giving us the tomatoes, it was good. I ate my tomatoes and gave some to my parents. Thank you for thinking about Hilo Union and giving us the tomatoes to eat. That was a nice thing to do. So good luck and plant some more tomatoes.

Joseph

Community, Tomatoes

Thanks!

Richard Ha writes:

A couple months ago we had a short, sharp spike in tomato production, so we decided to give some of our surplus to the Keonepoko Elementary School students, their teachers and the rest of the staff. Keonepoko is a large school, and we were looking to give out several hundred 1-lb. containers of cocktail tomatoes.

We received thank you notes from the students in the mail. I read every one. The most interesting part of giving tomatoes to students is reading the notes they send back.

Here is a small sampling:

Mr. Richard Ha and Hamakua springs thank you for donating the tomatoes to the school. I really enjoyed the tomatoes, it tasted delicious. My family enjoyed it too. We ate it for dinner with rice, and sliced meat. The tomatoes tasted really ono with shoyu. And also hope you have a Happy Easter, and take care. From, Zaira

Keonepoko_1


Dear Mr. Richard Ha,

Thank you for the tomatoes. I loved them. My dad even loved them he made tacos with them. Everybody was washing them at the sinks and then they ate them. Almost the whole school ate them. Thank you for donating us delicious tomatoes.

Sincerely,

Ibrahim

Keonepoko_4


Dear Mr. Richard Ha,

Thank you for the tomatose. The tomatoes is very good. My family love the tomatse. Some time we play tomato fight. Then we plant the seed to grow more tomato.

Sincerely,

Kaysen


Keonepoko_6


Thank you Mr. Richard Ha for the tomatoes. I liked there nice taste it went well in my mothers salsa. It was the most nicest thing a guy like you could do for all the kids at Keonepoko Elm.

Crystal

Keonepoko_3


Dear Mr. Richard Ha,

Thank you Mr Richard. I liked the tomatoes. I really liked it. I throw a tomato at my fraind. Do you plant the tomatoes? My dad used to plant them when he was working with plants.

Sincerely,

Savannah

Keonepoko_7


Hi Mr. Richard Ha and Hamakua Springs, I thank you for the delicious tomatos and thank you for donateing.

Sincerely, Jensen

P.S. Please come again.

Losing Weight

Eating My Veggies

Richard Ha writes:

After ten months of trying, I’ve finally come to accept that I cannot lose weight through exercise only, while ignoring how much I’m eating. Now that I have realized that, I am able to move ahead with a new program.

Now I look at exercise as an activity for its own sake. My exercise goals are now focused on maintaining muscle mass and lowering my resting heart rate. Previously my main goal was to spend a lot of time expending calories. But my body started shrinking from non-use. It’s the “old man syndrome,” and I cannot succumb to that.

To maintain muscle mass, I’m going to do regular weight-lifting exercises. This is something I have lots of experience doing, and something I love to do. Lowering my resting heart rate has more to do with short bursts of high heart rate activity than long, slow, distance work.

My resting heart rate, after one month of relatively little exercise, was 67 beats per minute this morning. My goal is to maintain it in the mid-50s.

To lose weight, I am increasing my consumption of vegetables so that they make up approximately 2/3rds of what I eat every day. I had been using a small bowl as my dish. But now I will use a regular-sized plate, so I can see and keep track of everything. Previously, I lost track of how many bowls I consumed as well as of their make up.

On Saturday, we stopped by Cronies for lunch. Their salads are extremely large. June and I split a Kalua Pig Caesar’s Salad. There were still two servings of protein and two servings of veggies in each half.

Because I have this new goal of maintaining a 2/3rds veggie and 1/3rd protein ratio, I knew I would need to eat mostly veggies for dinner. So far, this all seems doable.

Now I’m looking at what I can eat to achieve my 2/3rds vegetables goal. Besides fresh lettuce in salads with tomatoes and cucumbers, I need to include steamed or cooked veggies. Soybeans, string beans and sweet corn immediately come to mind, as do eggplant and squashes with olive oil and herbs.

I now weigh 201.5. I lost another pound. So far so good.

Where We Live

Where We Live – Hilo’s Merrie Monarch Festival

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Welcome_to_hilo_sign

Hamakua Springs Country Farms is located outside of Hilo, Hawai‘i. It’s our “big town,” which is never as big as during the week of the Merrie Monarch Festival each Spring.

That’s this week, when thousands of people come from around Hawai‘i, from the Pacific Islands, from Japan and Mexico and many other countries for the annual hula competition and festival. The long-running competition is named for King David Kalakaua (1836-1891), who was nicknamed “The Merrie Monarch.”

It’s a week when store owners go all out to celebrate the history of hula and the monarchy. Here’s the window at Phoenix Rising on Waianuenue Avenue, where you can see the beautiful display of gourds and other traditional hula implements, feather leis and a feather cape, a photo of Kalakaua and more, all within the reflection of buildings that have stood across the way for close to a hundred years.

Merrie_monarch_window

In town, over and over again during Merrie Monarch week, you see simple and spontaneous but elegant demonstrations of this lovely place where we live, like this visitor’s woven bag with Hilo’s unofficial flower, the red anthurium, spotted at a coffee house.

Bag_merrie_monarch_week

And then there’s the Merrie Monarch festival itself. History, culture, tradition, music, dance, chant, language, oral history, beauty—you name it, it’s there.

Merrie Monarch photos by Macario

Merriemonarch2_16

Merriemonarch1_3

– posted by Leslie Lang

Food and Drink, Health, Losing Weight

What Are You Eating?

Richard Ha writes:

I weighed 202.5 today. This is two pounds less than last week.

I accomplished this by cutting back on serving sizes, which I have learned how to estimate from this American Institute For Cancer Research Standard Serving Size Finder. Check out that link—it’s an excellent explanation of how to measure the “number of standard servings” actually in what you consider to be a “normal portion” of food.

Last week I reported that I had gained 6.1 pounds in the past four weeks. For nearly 10 months I have tried to control my weight by increasing the time I spend exercising. I came to the point that I was riding my mountain bike once a week for more than three hours and exercising more than 40 minutes on most other days. In spite of that, I was losing very little weight.

Then, when my exercising was interrupted for four weeks, I promptly gained six pounds. It was apparent to me that I was taking in 750 more calories per day than I was expending. (I gained 1.5 pounds per week. One pound is equal to 3,500 calories, so that’s 5250 calories per week. 5250 calories divided by 7 days equals 750 calories per day.)

But how was I going to know how much I was consuming?

While looking on the web for a strategy to monitor calorie intake, I ran across the above info on how to measure the servings on one’s plate.

In most categories, a serving equals half a cup. It is great to be able to look at a full plate and count the number of servings on it. For example, “one serving of rice” is about 1/2 cup. One look and you can tell how many servings of rice you’re about to eat. Same with protein—an amount that’s the size of a deck of cards equals one serving, etc.

To lose weight, you need to eat more servings of veggies. It doesn’t look like it needs to be too complex.

The American Institute for Cancer Research talks about the proportions of food on your plate as well as portion size, and how to make the transition to meals made up 2/3 (or more) of vegetables, fruits, whole grains or beans and 1/3 (or less) of animal protein.

AICR also reports that eating more vegetables, fruits, whole grains and beans, coupled with increased physical activity, can reduce a person’s cancer risk by 30 to 40 percent.

The following are good instructions on how to go about losing weight. They are clear and simple. It won’t be necessary to carry around a food diary. I can do this.

From the American Institute for Cancer Research:

Lose Weight the Healthy Way – Cut Back on Oversized Portions

The first two things to do when you want to lose weight are to move toward a mostly plant-based diet and to increase your physical activity. But if you have taken these steps and still have weight to lose, it is time to focus on portion size.

Large portions are a fact of life in the United States today. In restaurants, fast-food outlets, and even at home, many Americans consume far more calories than they really need. Enormous bagels, 32-ounce sodas, heaping dinner platters and “value meals” are contributing to our nation’s obesity problem.

There can be up to three or four standard servings, as defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in the portions we regularly eat. Use the Serving Size Finder to determine just how many standard servings are in the portions on your plate.

Are there three standard servings of potatoes in the portion you eat? If you are worried about your weight, you might be satisfied with just two.

Slowly reduce the amount of food on your plate. Do it gradually to avoid hunger. You should find it easy to get used to smaller portions.

Eating Locally

Eating Locally

I talked to Andrea Dean the other day. Did you see her article in the Hawai‘i Island Journal about eating only food produced on the Big Island? She did that for three months last year, and an even more extensive version of that interesting and well-researched article appears on her website.

She told me she’s always had a vision of living sustainably. “That was my whole plan when I moved to Hawai‘i in 1989,” she said. “However, I’ve never been able to manifest my vision and grow a lot of my own food; live softly on the earth. Other things got in the way, like the reality of life.

“Now I feel like I don’t want to live out of harmony with my values anymore. So regardless of how busy I am, or how modern my life is, I am wanting to realign my day-to-day existence with my ideals.”

Married and with a 14-year-old son, Andrea lives in Hawi where she truly “walks the walk.” An event planner and project manager, she works with the Kona Earth Festival (a 3-week eco-event festival starting April 21), The Waimea Community Development Plan, the Maui Film Festival, the Hawai‘i Island Economic Development Board and other groups.

Her “eating locally” experiment was impressive, and extensive. She wanted to see if it could be done, she explained in her article. She’d been preaching food self-sufficiency for Hawai‘i, but suddenly realized she didn’t know if it was even possible for one person (let alone everybody) to survive only on foods grown on the island.

No bread, because the wheat was imported. No tofu, because the soybeans came from elsewhere. Guava jam was out, because it was made with sugar from somewhere else.

Her conclusions?

• She realized that you don’t have to shop at Farmers Markets here to eat locally. You can get a high percentage of your diet in locally produced foods even when shopping at the supermarket.

“You really don’t have to go out of your way,” she said. “Though it’s great to go out of your way and connect with your farmers. You get a higher variety, fresher foods when you go directly to the farmers market.

“The two stores I did a lot of shopping at were KTA and Foodland,” she said. “They have a lot of local products. Obviously KTA has made that commitment for a long time, and Foodland really has a lot as well.”

She said she did have to ask a lot of questions at times. “I would grab whoever was working there,” she said, “and ask, ‘Where’s this taro from?’ ‘Where are these sweet potatoes from?’ ‘Okay, those are from Molokai.’ If they’re not labeled, you can ask. I think the food stores could do a little better job of labeling right there where the prices are.”

It’s all about paying attention and making an effort, she said. “You can go into Foodland in Waimea and buy locally grown broccoli and celery and tomatoes and bananas. Or you could walk further down the aisle and pick up produce from somewhere else.

“It’s about beginning to have that awareness,” she said. “Looking at signs and being aware of what’s local.”

• Maintaining a high percentage of your diet in locally grown foods requires time and energy. “You have to put in the time,” she said. “When you’re buying taro and sweet potato and squash, there’s washing, cutting, cooking. Fruit salads, soups—it just takes time. You have to gear up.” It’s hard to do when living a modern life, she agreed, which doesn’t always support that type of time commitment, but she figured out how to do it and even enjoyed it.

• Eating locally can mean different things. “It can be about your health,” she said, “or supporting the local economy. But for me it’s also about self-sufficiency and being able to feed ourselves. It’s the most basic of all needs.”

Andrea’s article is full of interesting facts she gathered in some extensive research on Hawai‘i’s dependence on imported food. One point that struck me is a quote she attributes to Peter Vitousek, Professor of Biological Sciences at Stanford University:

“Studies of Hawaiian agriculture in the time before European contact show us that Hawaiians maintained highly productive agriculture and supported large populations in places and ways we couldn’t now, not without fertilizer and fossil fuel subsidies. We should learn how they did that, pretty much on their own in the middle of the Pacific.”

I encourage you to check out her article. She wrote at length about the island’s carrying capacity, self-sufficiency for health reasons, waste reduction, food security, the island’s local economy and much more. Plus it’s interesting to read about what was involved in her changing her diet so dramatically, what she ate and how she liked it.

It’s a great reminder that we live on an island. When it comes to food and self-sufficiency, the world shouldn’t be our oyster—our island should be our oyster.

It’s easy enough to pay a little more attention in the store and buy locally grown foods, when possible, vs. those shipped in from California, Mexico or elsewhere. Making those choices supports our locally farmers, our neighbors, and keeps money flowing through our local economy instead of someone else’s. Keeping local farmers in business also keeps our Big Island land agricultural, rather than developed. And it means fresher, tastier food. It’s all good. —posted by Leslie Lang

Recipes, Tomatoes

Tomato 101

When Lynne Rossetto Kasper—host of American Public Media’s national radio program “The Splendid Table” and elected to “Who’s Who in American Food and Wine”—was in Honolulu recently, she gave a three-hour master class on tomatoes at Kapi‘olani Community College. Tomato 101, she called it.

And then she, along with her 100 professional chefs and culinary students in attendance, held a tomato tasting. Which Hamakua Springs won!

“Our Hamakua Springs cocktail tomatoes were judged the best tasting tomatoes,” says Richard. “This was a big deal because all the growers put their best product forward and many of the top chefs were in the class.”

Honolulu food writer Jo McGarry has an audio interview with Lynne on her WineAndDineHawaii.com.

Lynne went home and put this recipe for Hamakua Springs Tomato, Beet and Avocado Salad on her Splendid Table website. It’s courtesy of Alan Wong’s Restaurant in Honolulu.

Lynne_rossetto_kasper_recipe_photo

Losing Weight

Changing Approach

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The week of March 5th was the last time that I did any serious exercise.

After that, I became distracted with Chef Alan’s cookout at the farm, followed by the Tomato Recipe Contest.

The following week I had a cancerous growth removed from my face and the doctor told me not to exercise for a week. And then before I knew it, another week went by.

So here I am at 204.5 pounds, 6.1 pounds heavier than I was just four weeks ago. I gained an average of 1.5 pounds per week over the last month. This is the equivalent of 750 extra calories per day.

How to look at this situation? Am I a failure? Should I just give up trying to lose weight? Maybe abandon this weight loss report?

Many baby boomers are going through the same experience, and I need to approach this in a logical manner. It has nothing to do with self-esteem or self-worth.

So I am not giving up. I’m just changing my approach.

What are my goals? Number one is to maintain a resting heart rate in the 50s. By the way, it is high right now at 64 beats per minute.

My second goal is to know, at any time, my caloric intake for the day. I am flying blind in this area. If I don’t know what it is, how can I control it?

To achieve my first goal—of a low resting heart rate—I need to exercise, which is is easy for me. To achieve my second goal, which is knowing my caloric intake status, I need to do some research and planning. Let me know if you have any ideas. Next time I will report on what I come up with.

Eating Locally, Hydroponics

Eating Better Than Organic

Richard Ha writes:

Time magazine recently ran an interesting article titled Eating Better Than Organic, which made me reflect about our long-time farming philosophies at Hamakua Springs.

The article talks about eating organic food that is produced elsewhere and transported long distances vs. buying food that is grown—and purchased—locally.

“Nearly a quarter of American shoppers now buy organic products once a week, up from 17% in 2000,” writes John Cloud. “But for food purists, ‘local’ is the new ‘organic,’ the new ideal that promises healthier bodies and a healthier planet.”

Cloud goes on to quote ethnobotanist Gary Paul Nabhan in his 2002 memoir Coming Home to Eat: The Pleasures and Politics of Local Foods: “If you send it halfway around the world before it is eaten,” he muses, “an organic food still may be ‘good’ for the consumer, but is it ‘good’ for the food system?”

Here at the farm we have thought about these issues for a long time. Even when organic was at the top of everybody’s consciousness, we always believed that “local” was most important and what we wanted to concentrate on.

In her 2001 memoir This Organic Life, Columbia University nutritionist Joan Dye Gussow writes that her commitment to eating locally is driven by three things. “The first is the taste of live food; the second is my relation to frugality; the third is my deep concern about the state of the planet.”

Long ago we came to three similar conclusions. First, regarding taste. We select the varieties we grow for taste above all else, and then we find the methods and systems that allow us to grow them successfully. In an effort to produce the freshest lettuce possible, we even sell Living Lettuce.

Second, frugality. We live in an area where production costs are high, so we look for ways to add value to our products. As only one example, our produce is third party Food Safety Certified by Davis Fresh Technologies.

Thirdly, whereas Gussow has a deep concern about the state of the planet, our similar concern is—because we live in the middle of the Pacific—about our island community.

But philosophies are one thing and measurable results are another. We believe in measuring.

Our cocktail tomatoes were ranked “Best Tasting” by Honolulu magazine in their 2005 “Best Of” issue.

Lynne Rosetto Kasper, who hosts the NPR program The Splendid Table, recently conducted a side-by-side tomato tasting in Honolulu. She invited 100 master chefs and culinary students to rate tomatoes from various farms, and our cocktail tomato was voted Best Tasting.

Recently we have started measuring the nutritional contents of the edible portions of our products, and we are working to improve them. We are taking baseline data, making adjustments and keeping track of results. This is not commonly done, but we think it makes perfect sense as long as the extra effort does not jeopardize our business.

Although we agree with most organic philosophies, after careful consideration we decided not to grow our vegetables organically. Before we started our hydroponic lettuce production three years ago, we knew that E. coli contamination was a huge and growing issue. We felt that composting, as done with organic methods of production, was riskier and less controllable than hydroponic methods of production.

We decided to use hydroponics in our lettuce growing operations, rather than organics, because we can disinfect our nutrient solution and keep it clean for the duration of the crop. We feel this is more dependable than field production, where rainwater could splash soil and contanimants onto the edible portion of leafy greens. Also, as we’ve seen in the news recently, growing in fields near cattle operations is a risk factor for E. coli. Our nutrient raceways are isolated, and the edible portions of our leafy greens never come in contact with soil or compost.

Finally, we strongly believe in locally grown products because Hawai‘i needs to be self-reliant in its food supply.

At a recent Senate hearing where Hawai‘i’s dependence on imported food was discussed, I testified in favor of growing food on all islands in all climate zones. Concentrating food production in one location can be risky, as we found out when Banana Bunchy Top virus devastated our Kea‘au banana farm (fortunately we had the Pepe‘ekeo farm, too).

Hawai‘i, it was noted, imports the majority of its food and is just seven days away from empty shelves should there be a shipping interruption. Andrew Hashimoto, Dean of the University of Hawai‘i College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, testified that, “We are the canary in the coal mine for the rest of the nation.”

The Time magazine article quotes local-eating pioneer Gussow defining “local” as: “within a day’s leisurely drive of our homes. [This] distance is entirely arbitrary. But then,” she says, “so was the decision made by others long ago that we ought to have produce from all around the world.”

Where We Live

Where We Live: Sitting at Lili‘uokalani Park

Liliuokalani_park_008_3

Lili‘uokalani Park is located in Hilo, the biggest city on the east side of the island of Hawai‘i. Sometimes June and I sit in the park at dusk and look out at the ocean, which is beautiful on a clear day. It’s very relaxing.

We can see Pepe‘ekeo Point from there. It juts out into the ocean across the bay. If we look along the slope, inland from the Point, we see the tall eucalyptus trees that stand at the edge of the farm. Hamakua Springs Country Farms is located 11 miles north along the Hamakua coast—or right across the bay near Pepe‘ekeo Point, if you’re sitting on a bench at Lili‘uokalani Park.

Coconutisland1

This is Coconut Island, as seen from Lili‘uokalani Park. Moku Ola, the island’s traditional Hawaiian name, means “Island of Health.” It’s said to have been named for an underwater rock that possesses healing powers. The island, along with some of the adjacent shoreline, was once part of a heiau, or temple complex, and also a place of refuge.

It is one of the most tranquil places on the island, and in that way it is still a healing place. We are fortunate to have such beauty where we live.