Category Archives: Food Security

Big Island, Eating Locally, Food Security, Renewable Energy Sources

Are GMOs Safe? Should We Label Them?

July 18, 2013 Richard Ha 1 Comment

Richard Ha writes:

Genetically engineered food? Is it safe? Should it be labeled?

Mark Lynas was one of the original founders of the anti-GMO movement. In this video, he explains that he has totally changed his mind about GMOs, his original position was not scientifically based, and he now completely regrets it.

“I want to start with some apologies….For the record, here and upfront, I want to apologize for having spent several years ripping up GMO crops. I'm also sorry I helped start the anti-GM movement back in the '90s, and that I thereby assisted in demonizing an important technological option that can and should be used to benefit the environment.

“As an environmentalist, and someone who believes that everyone in this world has a right to a healthy and nutritious diet of their choosing, I could not have chosen a more counterproductive path and I now regret it completely….”

The video is called "Mark Lynas on his conversion to supporting GMOs – Oxford Lecture on Farming. Watch it here to learn why he changed his mind. (In short, he says he "discovered science.")

At its recent 2012 annual meeting, the American Medical Association adopted a
position on bioengineered foods:

“Conclusions. Despite strong consumer interest in mandatory labeling of bioengineered foods, the FDA’s science-based labeling policies do not support special labeling without evidence of material differences between bioengineered foods and their traditional counterparts. The Council supports this science-based approach, and believes that thorough pre-market safety assessment and the FDA’s requirement that any material difference between bioengineered foods and their traditional counterparts be disclosed in labeling, are effective in ensuring the safety of bioengineered food.

To better characterize the potential harms of bioengineered foods, the Council believes that pre-market safety assessment should shift from a voluntary notification process to a mandatory requirement. The Council notes that consumers wishing to choose foods without bioengineered ingredients may do so by purchasing those that are labeled “USDA Organic.”

But organic farmers have high operating costs, and therefore organic foods are generally more expensive. How can we help organic farmers?

One way is to increase the discretionary income of organic customers. Geothermal-produced electricity puts money back in consumers’ pockets. Everyone benefits.

The large biotech companies aren’t going to come and plant and grow on the Big Island. Half our island is lava rock, and we don’t have long straightaways where you can set up irrigation. Lose money!

Why do you think the sugar plantations used "tracked” equipment to work the fields? So they wouldn't flip over, or get stuck in the mud.

Big tractors that are used in Big Ag make money on the straightaways, and they lose money on the turns. We don’t have the straightaways, and so we don't have that type of Big Ag here – and we won’t.

Banning University of Hawai‘i field trials on the Big Island only hurts regular farmers.

Eating Locally, Food Security, Peak Oil, Sustainability

Let’s Not Lose Sight of the Long-Term Goal

July 17, 2013 Richard Ha 1 Comment

Richard Ha writes:

In the midst of the current GMO discussion, it is easy to lose sight of the long-term goal. The big question that is not being asked is: How are we going to feed Hawai‘i’s people?

It’s going to take all of us – from traditional, conventional, organic, permaculture and Korean Natural farmers to home gardeners.

For those who participate in the market system to produce food, it’s about cost. If the farmers make money, the farmers will farm. My Pop told me, when I was a small kid, to find three solutions to every problem and then find one more, just in case.

We need to have a serious discussion of how we are going to feed Hawai‘i’s people.

For people buying food, it’s also about cost. Kumu Lehua Veincent told me something important several years ago. He asked: “What about the rest?”

When I ask myself that question, the answers become easier to see. It’s about all of us, not just a few of us.

Food Security, Geothermal, Lowering Electric Rates

One Cost of Paradise: Food Insecurity

July 11, 2013 Richard Ha 1 Comment

Richard Ha writes:

The high cost of Paradise is making us less and less food secure.

From the Economic Research Organization at the University of Hawaii:

An Insight on the Cost of Paradise

Posted July 3, 2013 |

Whether visitors or residents in Hawai‘i, we are all aware of the high cost of living in paradise. One major contributing factor is the cost of energy. Households in Hawai‘i pay 4 times more than the average US household and nearly 7 times the households in Utah, where the residential energy cost is the cheapest in the nation.* While the US average for April 2013 hovered at 12 cents/kwh, Hawai‘i paid 37 cents/kwh for electricity in the residential sector.** … Read the rest here

Hawai‘i uses oil for more than 70 percent of its electricity, while the U.S. mainland uses oil for only 2 percent of its electricity. Any
food product from the mainland that uses lots of electricity in its processing has an increasing advantage over Hawai‘i food producers and manufacturers.

The U.S. mainland is both our supplier and our competitor. The mainland’s use of cheap natural gas versus our usage of expensive feedstock for electricity production makes all the difference. It’s all about cost. There is no free lunch. Subsidies are not free.

Agriculture and energy are inextricably tied together. Energy helps us do work. Since no one in the world has found a solution for liquid transportation fuel, we need to look to electricity.

On the Big Island, we do have a solution. Geothermal is the cheapest way to generate electricity. And with the throwaway electricity at night, we can generate ammonia, which is a nitrogen fertilizer as well as a hydrogen source. And when we generate cheap electricity, we can run electric vehicles as an alternative to using liquid fuel.

Stable cost for fertilizer for farmers, low-cost electricity for the rubbah slippah folks, clean transportation and a low walk around cost for tourists. We can have the best of all worlds.

Not no can! CAN!

Big Island, Community, Food Security, Sustainability, Where We Live

Guest Post: Our Adventures at Kawanui Farm

July 3, 2013 Richard Ha

Richard Ha writes:

Nancy Redfeather is an organic farmer and good friend of mine. She heads the School Garden Network and is a perfect example of someone who walks the talk.

We know ancient Hawaiians grew their food primarily around the valley/plains where nutrients were funneled down from the uplands. Some examples are Waipi‘o Valley, lots of places on Kaua‘i and Waikiki. Then they did field systems like upslope ones in Kona and Kohala.

As a farmer myself, I know this took a lot of planning and effort. Upslope farming is not easy at all.

I think the ancient Hawaiians would understand and greatly admire what Nancy folks have done!

By Nancy Redfeather

I have been a home gardener for 40 years, and my husband Gerry, too. We love growing food, herbs, flowers and medicines, and working with the soil. It has always been an interest and passion of mine, and my husband feels the same way. I think that is one of the reason we fell in love.

It’s hard to explain why we feel that way we do. We love the land and enjoy forming a partnership with it. When I started growing gardens, as a young teacher in 1973, I really didn’t know what I was doing, so I read books, took classes and learned from the excellent gardeners around me. I continue to do all those things 40 years later!

We live at Kawanui Farm in the ahupua‘a of Kawanui, nestled between Honalo and Kainaliu in mauka Kona. My neighbors’ families have all lived here for as long as anyone can remember

Kawanui, according to the Hawaiian Dictionary, means “the great jumping off place.” And so it has been that for Gerry and me. The 1.2 acres of land have afforded us the experience of a lifetime – to work with a raw piece of land, create a relationship with it and build soil fertility by recycling nutrients into the soil

When we arrived, most of the piece was in Guinea Grass. We carefully removed the clumps with a small tractor and built an enormous compost pile, returning the finished compost back to the land. So began the great horticultural adventure at Kawanui Farm.

Now it is 15 years later. The quarter-acre kitchen garden, half-acre production garden and half acre of orchard and coffee continues to grow and change with the seasons and the year.

All organic matter is recycled back into the land, the wood becomes firewood for our morning fires and the ash is cycled back into the garden beds. Everything else is composted or used as mulch. We always try to keep the ground covered, as uncovered soil will want to germinate something to cover it, moisture is lost and organic matter is burned up. Besides applying compost, bones are burned and crushed, basalt rock dust is spread, seaweed is composted, but above everything is the compost. Gerry calls it, “The heart and soul of the garden.”

I’m fortunate that now I can work with schools, children, youth and teachers all around Hawai‘i Island and reintroduce children to the garden, as over the past 30 years fewer and fewer people have been growing food for their families. In the 1970s and earlier in Hawai‘i, it was common to have a backyard garden to help feed the family, along with hunting, fishing and trading the foods and fruits of the land with your friends and neighbors. Most schools had large gardens and the food grown was incorporated into the lunch meal for the children. Today that is illegal.

Renewing our connection with the garden, our food and the land will help to also reconnect us to the values of Aloha ‘Aina, Malama ‘Aina and ‘Aina Momona: Love for the land, caring for the land, and the abundance that comes from the land.

On May 4, 2011, after an entire year of rain in the mauka area, there was a “weather event” of biblical proportions. A cold system from the north collided with a warm system from the south right over the area between Honalo to Kealakekua.

Lightning bolts were hitting the ground and setting electrical poles on fire. The thunder was deafening. The rain was torrential, and as I sat, working at my desk and looking out the window, I began to see streams of water shooting through the stone wall pukas behind our house. And then the water broke down the wall and came toward the house in a river. For four hours it continued to flow, about a foot deep or so, over the entire land.

It never entered my home, but carried 12 years of compost from the gardens down the hill. The water broke down the wall at the bottom of the land and went straight for the ocean, carrying a great deal of fertility with it. There was nothing to do but watch and pray.

We had eight inches of rain that day, and later NRCS told me they estimate that 340 million gallons of water came down the hill that
afternoon. I have no doubt this was a global warming event. More rain and more drought. As you can imagine the place was a mess. Floods bring more than water. Glass, plastic, weed seeds and diseases we had never seen in our plants before.

For one year following, we rebuilt walls, hauled soil back up to the gardens and continued composting and giving special teas to heal the land. One year later, everything was back to where it was. The land had recovered and we had also. I think the underlying humus, organic matter, and years of composting and mulching helped the land to heal itself. Now, two years later, there is not a trace of disease. Flood? What flood?

We feel very blessed to live at Kawanui and be able to grow our food and form a deep partnership with nature. We are fortunate to live in a place where food can be grown year round – and such biodiversity! Whether it is a small pot of herbs on your windowsill or a 10×10 garden in your backyard, growing something you eat reconnects you with the cycles of life and puts a smile on your face.

Try it. Experiment-experiment-experiment. Garden with a friend, a loved one, or a garden pal; you will enjoy it so much more.

Food Security, Government, Science

Big Island Farmers Rally Against Anti-GMO Bill

June 30, 2013 Richard Ha

Richard Ha writes:

At the recent Hawai‘i County Council committee meeting about Bill 79, the anti-GMO bill, I said that it was a “Man Bites Dog” story because 90 percent of the Council room in Hilo was filled by small farmers.

And it’s still a Man Bites Dog story. Yesterday, our local farmers organized a rally, and 50 cattle trucks, papaya trucks, delivery trucks, etc. went around and around in front of the County building.

This video made by Lorie Farrell shows the farmers and the impressive rally:

Most trucks had two people in it. There were cattle ranchers, papaya farmers, nursery industry, banana farmers and others.

From the Hawaii Tribune-Herald:

12:05 am – June 29, 2013 — Updated: 12:05 am – June 29, 2013

Farmers rally against GMO ban

Farmers and ranchers voice their opposition to County bill 79 on Friday in front of the Hawaii County Building

By COLIN M. STEWART

Tribune-Herald staff writer

“I’m here to save my job,” the woman explained as she waved to a honking line of vehicles crawling by the front of the Hawaii County Building on Aupuni Street in Hilo, shortly after 2 p.m. Friday.

The Panaewa papaya packer of nine years, who would only give her first name — Diana — said that she had joined with other agriculture industry workers to voice their opposition to Bill 79, a measure being proposed by County Councilwoman Margaret Wille that would limit the use of genetically modified crops on Hawaii Island.

“We want them to vote no on Bill 79,” she said….

Read the rest here

In my 30-something years of farming, I have never seen diverse farmers come together to support each other like this. I could see on everybody’s face that it was not a one-time thing!

Farmers have, as their top priorities, taking care of their families, workers, and feeding Hawai‘i’s people. Bill 79 is alarming because it pits the community against farmers, and farmers against farmers. Now farmers are having to defend themselves for being farmers.

In the Hawaiian culture, farmers were highly esteemed. This is not rocket science: If you like eat, you need someone who knows how to grow the food.

Farmers have some good characteristics to help them cope with the future. They are multi-talented and can fix equipment as well as grow crops. But most of all, they have good, old-fashioned common sense. This is the most important trait one must have to face an uncertain future.

Biofuel, Food Security, Peak Oil, Sustainability

Nothing Is More Important Than Being Able to Afford Food

June 28, 2013 Richard Ha 1 Comment

Richard Ha writes:

How are these two things related: The Aina Koa Pono biofuel project, which is subsidized by the rate payer at $200 per barrel, and Bill 79, the anti-GMO bill submitted by Councilwoman Margaret Wille?

There is a very good chance that we will soon start down the backside of the world oil supply curve. If there is even the remotest chance this will happen, we need to be focusing sharply on the things that are crucial to us, living out here in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Nothing is more important than being able to afford food.

We cannot waste time subsidizing $200 per barrel oil; what is the objective there? And we cannot waste time pitting farmer against farmer. We need to focus on helping all farmers make money. Because food security involves farmers farming. And if the farmer makes money, the farmer will farm.

Here in Hawai‘i, nearly 90 percent of our food is imported. We are going to need the help of all farmers to achieve food security. Bill 79 is a distraction that takes our focus away from helping farmers become economically viable. Worse, and most distressing, is that it pits organic farmers against conventional farmers.

We need the help of all the farmers to make Hawai‘i food secure.

The problem is that farmers’ customers are being squeezed by rising energy costs. The rubbah slippah folks can only go so far in supporting locally grown products. Oil costs have quadrupled in the last 10 years and electricity rates have continuously risen. It’s as if we had a massive tax hike. We’re in the middle of a crisis and we don’t even recognize it.

The small farmers on the Big Island know it, though. That’s why they are taking valuable time off from work to show support for each other.

An Interview with Steven Kopits

ASPO-USA | May 1, 2013

By Steve Andrews – The following is taken from an interview with Steven Kopits, managing director of the New York office of Douglas-Westwood, an international energy analysis firm. The views expressed are atttributable to Mr. Kopits and do not necessarily represent those of Douglas Westwood.

…Peak oil does not occur when we run out of oil. Peak oil occurs when the marginal consumer is no longer willing to pay the cost of extracting and processing the marginal barrel of oil. And we can actually calculate what the related numbers are.

Q: How do we do that?

Kopits: To begin with, we refer to the price a nation’s oil consumers are willing to pay as its “carrying capacity.” For the US, carrying capacity is about $95-100 Brent [per-barrel oil price in London]. If the oil price is above this level, oil consumption will decline—which is exactly what we see and what we predicted four years ago. But carrying capacity is not a static number. It changes over time, specifically, with three things: GDP growth, efficiency gains in the use of oil, and dollar inflation. So if GDP goes up, efficiency goes up and the CPI goes up, then the amount that consumers are willing to pay for oil will increase. For China, by the way, we estimate the carrying capacity at around $115-120 / barrel Brent. So oil consumption will increase in China at $115 Brent, but fall in the advanced economies—exactly the pattern we’ve seen in the last few years.

Q: So the story line getting a ton of ink of late—peak oil is dead….it isn’t actually quite dead yet, is it?

Kopits: No. But importantly, we’re going to peak out production not because we’re “running out of oil,” but because the marginal consumer is not willing to pay for the marginal barrel. We seem to be pretty much at that level today.

We need to understand these dynamics better. What are the combined effects of flat oil prices and rising production costs, that’s where I think the challenge is and where our professional work is focusing on the macro side…to better understand what these trends are, what they mean, and how companies in the industry should respond to it.

I’ll give you an example. Normally, if you look at an oil production system, it tends to be symmetrical around the peak. The rate at which you approach the peak is the rate at which you depart from the peak. We haven’t done that. What we’ve done is that we’ve approached the peak and we’ve leveled out production, the so-called “undulating plateau”. But we’ve maintained that plateau by turning to non-oil liquids, by dramatic increases in upstream spend, and also by technological innovation related to hydrofracking. All of these, as of today, look to be running their course. Even shale oil. Yes, it will grow for the next few years from the three majors plays in the US, but the peak of production growth is already behind us in the Bakken, for example. On current trends, Bakken production will be increasing by single digits within two years. Not a tragedy by any means, but not enough to move the global oil supply at that time, either.

Food Security, Peak Oil, Sustainability

How Hawaii Farmers Can Be Competitive & Make Money

June 19, 2013 Richard Ha 2 Comments

Richard Ha writes:

Nitrogen is the basis of protein production. But here in Hawai‘i, farmers have no control over nitrogen fertilizer costs.

What if Hawai‘i farmers had stable and affordable nitrogen costs, and therefore our products had a competitive advantage over imported foods? Then farmers would make money, and farmers would farm.

There is a lot going on in the area of ammonia production. Iowa State University has committed to doing research in this area.

Hawaii can build on the knowledge gained as we find a way to make ammonia fertilizer from electricity that is now being “curtailed” (thrown away).

If we can get to urea, it is a short step to blending so that it is available for most uses.

From Wikipedia:

Urea or carbamide is an organic compound with the chemical formula C O(N H₂)₂.
The molecule has two —NH₂ groups joined by a carbonyl (C=O) functional group.

Urea serves an important role in
the metabolism of
nitrogen-containing compounds by animals and is the main nitrogen-containing
substance in the urine
of mammals. It is a
colorless, odorless solid, highly soluble in water and practically non-toxic (LD₅₀ is 15 g/kg
for rat). Dissolved in water, it is neither acidic nor alkaline. The body uses it
in many processes, the most notable one being nitrogen excretion. Urea is
widely used in fertilizers
as a convenient source of nitrogen. Urea is also an important raw material for the chemical industry.

Not no can. CAN!!

Aquaponics, Bananas, Big Island, Eating Locally, Family of Farms, Food Security, Geothermal, Hamakua Coast, How It All Started, Hydroelectric, Hydroponics, Lowering Electric Rates, Our Employees, Renewable Energy Sources, Sustainability, Taro/Poi, Tomatoes, Water, Where We Live

The Wheres & Whyfors of Hamakua Springs

June 9, 2013 Leslie Lang

By Leslie Lang

The other day Richard gave some of us a tour of Hamakua Springs Country Farms in Pepe‘ekeo, and its new hydroelectric plant, and wow. I hadn’t been out to the farm for awhile, and it was so interesting to ride around the 600 acres with Richard and see all that’s going on there these days.

Most of what I realized (again) that afternoon fell into two
broad categories: That Richard really is a master of seeing the big picture, and that everything he does is related to that big picture.

Hamakua Springs, which started out growing bananas and then expanded into growing the deliciously sweet hydroponic tomatoes we all know the farm for, has other crops as well.

These days there are farmers leasing small plots where they are growing taro, corn, ginger and sweet potato. These farmers’ products go to the Hamakua Springs packing house and Hamakua Springs distributes them, which speaks to Richard’s goal of providing a place for local farmers to farm, wherethere is water and packing and distribution already in place.

As we drove, we saw a lot of the water that passes through his farm. There are three streams and three springs. It’s an enormous amount of water, and it’s because of all this water that he was able to develop his brand new hydroelectric system, where they are getting ready to throw the switch.

The water wasn’t running through there the day we were there because they’d had to temporarily “turn it off” – divert the water – in order to fix something, but we could see how the water from an old plantation flume now runs through the headworks and through a pipe and into the turbine, which is housed in a blue shipping container.

This is where the electricity is generated, and I was interested to see a lone electric pole standing there next to the system. End of the line! Or start of the line, really, as that’s where the electricity from the turbine is carried to. And from there, it works its way across the electric lines stretched between new poles reaching across the land.

He asked the children who were along with us for their ideas
about how to landscape around the hydroelectric area, and also where the water leaves the turbine to run out and rejoin the stream.

“We could do anything here,” he said, asking for thoughts, and
we all came up with numerous ideas, some fanciful. Trees and grass? A taro lo‘i? Maybe a picnic area, or a water flume ride or a demonstration garden or fishponds?

There are interesting plans for once the hydro system is operating, including a certified kitchen where local area producers can bring their products and create value-added goods.

Other plans include having some sort of demo of sustainable
farming, and perhaps ag-tourism ativities like walking trails going through the farm, and maybe even a B&B. “The basis of all tourism,” he said, “is sustainability.”

Hamakua Springs is also experimenting with growing mushrooms
now, and looking into several other possibilities for using its free
electricity.

As we stopped and looked at the streams we kept coming
across, which ran under the old plantation roads we drove upon, Richard made an observation that I found interesting. In the Hawaiian way, the land is thought of as following the streams down from mountain to sea. In traditional ways, paths generally ran up-and-down the hill, following the shape of the ahupua‘a.

“But look at the plantation roads,” he said, and he pointed
out how they run across the land, from stream to stream. The plantation way was the opposite. Not “wrong” – just different.

Richard has plans to plant bamboo on the south sides of the
streams, which will keep the water cool and keep out invasive species.

At the farm, they continue to experiment with raising
tilapia, which are in four blue pools next to the reservoir.

June with a full net

The pools are at different heights because they are using gravity to flow the water from one pool to the next, rather than a pump. Besides it being free, this oxygenates the water as it falls into the next pool. They are not raising the fish commercially at present, but give them to their workers.

Everything that Richard does is geared toward achieving the same goal, and that is to keep his farm economically viable and sustainable.

If farmers make money, farmers will farm.

Continuing to farm means continuing to provide food for the local community, employing people locally and making it possible for local people to stay in Hawai‘i: This as opposed to people having to leave the islands, or their children having to leave the islands, in order to make a decent life for themselves.

The hydroelectric system means saving thousands per month in
electric bills, and being able to expand into other products and activities. It means the farm stays in business and provides for the surrounding community. It means people have jobs.

This is the same reason why, on a bigger scale, Richard is working to bring more geothermal into the mix on the Big Island: to decrease the stranglehold that high electricity costs have over us, so the rubbah slippah folk have breathing room, so that we all have more disposable income – which will, in turn, drive our local economy and make our islands more competitive with the rest of the world, and our standard of living higher, comparably.

When he says “rubbah slippah folk,” Richard told me, he’s always thinking first about the farm’s workers.

This, by the way, is really a great overview of how Richard describes the “big picture.” It’s a TEDx talk he did awhile back (17 minutes). Really worth a look.

It was so interesting to see firsthand what is going on at the farm right now, and hear about the plans and the wheres and whyfors. Thank you, Richard, for a really interesting and insightful afternoon.

Eating Locally, Food Security, Lowering Electric Rates, Renewable Energy Sources

About To Throw the Switch on our Hydro

May 20, 2013 Richard Ha

Richard Ha writes:

Our hydro is all hooked up and we are ready to throw the switch.

HELCO is meeting with whoever they meet with on O‘ahu on Tuesday, and we will get instructions for the Standard Inter Connect. We cannot wait.

We will have stable and low-cost electricity. This will give us the ability to refrigerate and consolidate produce for area farmers. We plan to expand the number of farmers and type of crops growing on our land.

We are looking into growing portabello mushrooms, and are in the process of growing our first batch. When we get into commercial production, we will end up with compost and that will allow us to get into organic food production. The electricity we generate will help the controlled atmosphere and sterilizing process.

We are also in the process of getting into aquaponic fish production.

Lots of exciting things going on.

Adopt-a-Class, Alan Wong, Food Security, Schools, Sustainability, Tomatoes

What Is That Circle Around Us?

February 27, 2013 Richard Ha

Richard Ha writes:

A bunch of things are happening right now. They look very different, but see if you notice what they all have in common.

We are just seeing the tomatoes start to produce more in spite of the dark, wet weather. It’s the third week of February; and last year, too, our tomatoes’ rate of production started climbing in the third week of February. That gives me a good feeling, because I’d been looking around and anticipating this.

All around I see growth. Avocado trees everywhere are choke with flowers right now. The ‘ulu are starting to develop on the tree; the ones I’m watching are about baseball size right now. Everything’s growing and producing around us.

We spent Saturday in Kona at a get-together for Armstrong Produce and its farmers. We stayed there for several hours, talking story with everybody.

I was sitting next to Timothy Choo, a chef from Sodexho, which does food service for UH Hilo. Sodexho is a huge supporter of local products, they go out of their way to buy locally, and we had a big conversation about it. Sodexho is supplied by Suisan, also a big supporter of local products.

I was also talking to Troy Keolanui, manager of OK Farms. Ed Olson owns that farm, 200 acres of many kinds of fruit and other trees, and we help distribute their produce under our Hilo Coast brand.

They are located behind Rainbow Falls, and they have a tent, with chairs in it, where they can sit and look at the falls. They purposely set it up behind some bushes so it doesn’t disrupt the more common view of Rainbow Falls, the one that tourists look at every day.

Then we drove back to this side of the island and went straight
to Puna. Chef Alan Wong was there, and he was throwing a small dinner for the farmers he buys from here.

Alan Wong and I started talking about the Adopt-A-Class project. I
said, “Why don’t we do a broader Adopt-A-Class project this time, in Puna. We’ll take the whole district and go to each of the schools there, including the charter schools. Everywhere there are elementary school kids.”

He’s into it. When we did this in the past, Alan Wong gave a class at Keaukaha Elementary School where he showed the kids how
to use tomatoes, and passed tomatoes around and had some of those kids eating, and loving, tomatoes.

Then yesterday, the folks from Zippy’s came by the farm. They’re going to open up a restaurant at Prince Kuhio Plaza soon and we’ll be supplying some of their products. Zippy’s has a strong “support local” program. When you go into any Zippy’s restaurant, you always see signs about which farms they get some of their products from. Zippy’s also uses local beef. It’s a corporate decision to support local growers.

Do you see the common link among all these things? Everybody’s coming at it from a different point-of-view, but the common
denominator is that we are so lucky to live here in Hawai‘i!

It’s all about local food and making ourselves food-secure. Our tomatoes are thriving and plentiful; where else in the country can you grow tomatoes throughout the winter? Other food is growing all around us.

Armstrong Produce distributes the products of many local farmers and producers. So does Suisan. Sodexo buy that local food.

And Alan Wong, too, is very interested in supporting local farmers and teaching local school kids. He’s very aware of the movement to be self-sustaining and is always reaching out to teach kids about where they come from, how their parents used to live and how we can live now. He’s all about helping people be grounded, and he comes at it with the training of a very high-level chef.

People are really helping each other out. Everybody has to make money, but they’re looking after the next person in the chain. If you’re the farmer, you’re hoping that your wholesaler is caring about you and not just the retailers. Everybody is look after everybody else.

It’s the only way I can figure out that we can help our own workers. Because, of everyone, who’s going to protect the workers? I’ve got to do everything I can to protect them.

There’s a big circle of sustainability around us, and it’s one that’s getting bigger and bigger. It’s really incredible, though it’s easy to get caught up in our busy lives and forget to notice.