Category Archives: Tomatoes

Tomatoes

New Tomato Virus

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Back in November, I received this note from Dr. John Hu (who is a plant pathologist at the University of Hawai‘i’s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources). It said they had found a new tomato virus on Maui — one that is considered the most devastating tomato virus worldwide.

This virus is not spread by seed or by mechanical means, but by the white fly. So if it is only spread by the white fly, how did it get to Hawai‘i?

It’s possible it was by infected white flies hitchhiking on vegetables imported from the mainland. As usual, farmers will pay the price for this disease. The true cost of importing fruits and vegetables to Hawai‘i is much more than what one pays at the supermarket.

Dear Richard:

Recently, we have found a “new” virus from tomato samples in Maui.

As far as I know, this is the most devastating tomato virus worldwide! It has been reported in many other countries including the mainland USA.  However, this is the first time we have seen it in Hawaii. Potentially, it could be a very significant problem for you and the entire tomato industry in Hawaii.  Plus, we may have similar viruses in other vegetable crops in Hawaii.

Please see the attached two files for the background information regarding the virus, the impact, and potential management options.

I have talked to Dr. C.Y. Hu and Dr. P. Lai, who is in charge of our T-STAR program in CTAHR.

Both of them are very concerned about this new potential problem for our tomato growers and are very much in support to work on it!

Read more about the disease here:

Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl 1

Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl 2

Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl 3

At the farm we will scout specifically for plants with these types of symptoms. But we are very worried that this disease will come to the Big Island. The history of invasive species makes it likely that this disease will get here.

Tomatoes

Someone Else’s Life With Tomatoes

And now for a change of pace, have a look at this interesting article about tomatoes from Gourmet.com.

It starts out like this:

Nurturing more than 200 varieties leads to a gardener toward a perfect mix: something old, something new, something borrowed, and something…well, green, purple,or orange.

Tomato planting came early this year, due to a relentlessly hot spring. But no matter how early you start them, tomatoes seem to follow their own instincts and peak out in August (some claim it’s the light of a full August moon that does it), then glide graciously into a fulsome September harvest. If the tomato gods require moonlight to work their magic, the largesse of their culinary rewards is vast, for the list of distinct varieties of tomatoes runs into the thousands…..

Read the rest of the article here.

Tomatoes

Thank You

Sent: Sunday, July 06, 2008 9:32 AM
To: info@hamakuasprings.com
Subject: Vine Ripened Tomatoes

Sunday, July 6, 2008
Product 8 35120-65579 9

Your Cocktail Tomatoes, and regular size Tomatoes, are the very best we have ever tasted!

And we have tasted many different ones.

Thank you,

The Daniels Family,
Kaneohe, Oahu, Hawaii

From: Richard Ha [mailto:richard@hamakuasprings.com]
Sent: Sunday, July 06, 2008 6:20 PM
Subject: RE: Vine Ripened Tomatoes

Aloha, everyone from the Daniels family:

This note made our day. It will be posted where the workers can see what you said. This was very considerate of you.

You may be interested to know that we test our fruit each week for sweetness.

Every year June and I go to the Tomato Festival in Carmel, California to find new and interesting heirloom tomatoes. Here is what we wrote about our last visit on our blog, which we have written to three times a week for two years to give our farm a human face: Tomato Festival.

Here, too, is a post we did when O‘ahu Chef Alan Wong came to meet his adopted class of 6th graders at Keaukaha School, and fed them our tomatoes.

If you read through our blog you’ll see we are also very much interested in sustainability as it applies to our workers, our community and the environment.

Thanks so much for your nice note. We appreciate it very much.

Aloha,
Richard and June Ha

Food Safety Certification, Tomatoes

The Tomato Pickle

My uncle in California reads this blog, and he sent over a link to a newsweek.com article with this tagline: As the salmonella-tainted tomato outbreak continues to spread, small and local farm advocates say their produce is a safer bet. But experts aren’t so sure.

The gist of the article is that with the recent salmonella and tomatoes scare on the mainland (but not here in Hawai‘i), people are confused. They don’t know which tomatoes are safe.

Some think smaller farms, and local farms, are safer, and consequently sales at farmers markets are skyrocketing, but is produce from small and local farms actually safer? In the article, experts weigh in saying that mistakes and contamination issues can happen at any farm of any size.

“The real key,” says a microbiologist at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences – who is also a safety adviser to the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange and the Center for Produce Safety at the University of California – “is for everyone to follow good safety practices.”

My uncle wrote, “This article sounds like it is based on what I have read on the Ha Ha Ha blog over the last year or two!”

It really does.

Richard agreed: “Your uncle is right. It’s not rocket science. People want to know who grew the product and if it’s safe.”

“Everything under the Hamakua Springs label is grown by us and is food safety certified,” he said.

“It’s not complicated at all.”

Food Safety Certification, Health, Tomatoes

Mainland Salmonella Outbreak

There was an article in the Hawai‘i Tribune-Herald Wednesday about a salmonella outbreak on the mainland.

Hamakua Springs is food safety-certified, so we avoid such problems.

What that means is that we have annual inspections and keep detailed records on 60-odd specific points that address issues of food safety.

Salmonella most commonly spreads through contaminated wash water. We have heard of places in foreign countries that use field irrigation water for wash water, after it is used for irrigation and then run down to the ends of the rows. Clearly that should not be allowed.

We never wash our tomatoes in a tank, because there is just too much risk of contamination. What we do instead is use a spray rinse of county drinking water, in order to ensure sanitation. We never reuse wash water.

An email we received from the Produce Marketing Association

DATE: June 1, 2008
TO: All PMA Members
FROM: Kathy Means, PMA VP of Government Relations and Public Affairs
RE: Tomatoes linked to illness outbreak in the Western U.S. (Salmonella)

Today the New Mexico Department of Health announced that an outbreak of illness caused by Salmonella St. Paul is likely caused by eating uncooked tomatoes purchased from specific stores (Wal-Mart in Las Cruces or Farmington, Lowe’s in Las Cruces, or Bashas’ in Crownpoint). So far, 31 people in New Mexico have been sick. Several people have been hospitalized, and no one has died, according to the department. The agency is advising consumers and restaurants that bought tomatoes from those stores since May 3 not to eat them uncooked.

No other action is being requested by health authorities at this time.  PMA has learned that this outbreak linked to tomatoes likely extends to several states, mainly in the Western United States, and may have begun as early as late April. We expect information from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration soon, as FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are working on this issue, and we are working with them. We are seeking more information on the type(s) of tomatoes, source of tomatoes, numbers of illnesses, duration of the outbreak, and distribution channels.

The New Mexico information indicates exposures at both foodservice and retail are involved, but named only the four stores above.

Most people infected with Salmonella develop diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps 12 to 72 hours after infection. The illness usually lasts four to seven days, and most recover without treatment. Some people may need hospitalization due to severe diarrhea. The elderly, infants, and those with impaired immune systems are more likely to have a severe illness.

PMA members should know that they have resources – issue briefings on produce and pathogens, produce handling information for consumers, as well as a crisis management manual and recall manual.

PMA will continue to monitor this situation and will share with members any new developments as they become available. If you have questions, please contact Kathy Means or Dr. Bob Whitaker. If you need assistance with media inquiries, contact Julia Stewart.

This alert is a PMA member benefit; if it was forwarded to you, you can contact the PMA Solution Center at solutionctr@pma.com or +1 (302) 738-7100 to be added to the list of people at member companies who receive these alerts. You are receiving this message because PMA believes you will benefit from this information. If you have any concerns about mailings of this type, please contact PMA’s Solution Center.

About salmonella

Salmonella is a family of bacteria that can cause diarrheal illness in humans. The elderly, infants, and those with impaired immune systems are more likely to have severe illness. Salmonellosis is more common in summer than winter. Children are the most likely to get salmonellosis.

Salmonella bacteria are usually transmitted by eating foods contaminated with animal feces. Most people infected with Salmonella develop diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps, and most recover without treatment. However, sometimes the diarrhea may be so severe that the patient needs to be hospitalized. Rarely, the Salmonella infection may spread from the intestines to the blood stream, and then to other body sites; it can cause serious illness or death unless the person is treated promptly with antibiotics.

Tomatoes

More “Fan Mail”

Richard received this note the other day. It is so nice to get unsolicited letters like this one; it lets you know you’re really on the right track.

Dear Hamakua Springs,

I just bought some of your grape tomatoes from Times and they are the best-tasting tomatoes I’ve had in 23 years on Oahu! Firm, sweet and delicious. Thank you so much!

I have been trying to grow my own but with little success. Yours will definitely fill my “tomato gap.” Thanks again for a great product and keep up the good work.

Aloha,
Jan Pappas

P.S. My family and I appreciate the de-emphasis on pesticide use.

Tomatoes

Satisfied Customer

Richard recently heard from a “satisfied customer.”

Sandra Reed, who lives in Tennessee, wrote:

Aloha! My husband and I are visiting here from Tennessee. Tennessee prides itself on its great produce, and with good reason. Nevertheless, I have experienced your cocktail tomatoes and they are unequaled! What a taste! Sooooo good!

She closed by writing:

Y’all come see us some time!

Sandra and her husband were on O‘ahu visiting their son Derek and his wife Lorri, who is a major in the Air Force, when they had Hamakua Springs tomatoes.

It was their fourth visit, and she says they had gotten their sightseeing out of the way the first couple times (like Pearl Harbor, which they found very moving, and Don Ho’s show, which Sandra most recently took in shortly before he passed away).

On their more recent visits, she says, “Derek and Lorri scout out places for us to eat, and we pretty much gorge our way across the Island!”

She says her son brought home some Hamakua Springs cocktail tomatoes from the commissary as a snack food. “Little did he know that I was going to eat three cartons of them while I was there. I ate them straight out of the container with a touch of salt. My mouth waters just thinking about them.”

She says she and her husband always used to have a garden in the summer, but don’t these days. “We try to buy fresh produce when it is available. If the people here ever got a taste of your tomatoes, they would throw rocks at the farmers who sell tomatoes here!”

She and her husband hope to return to Hawai‘i for a family vacation in the next few years. In the meantime, she says she wishes there had been a way to bring home some of Richard’s cocktail tomatoes.

“That was a taste I will savor in my mind for a very long time!” she said.

Thank you, Sandra, for taking the time to be in touch. We loved hearing from you!

Community, Schools, Tomatoes

Tomatoes for Education

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I’ve been reflecting on what it means to participate at the Kino‘ole Street Farmers Market.

The most touching and rewarding moments have been when teachers I’ve never met have come up and thanked us for giving them Hamakua Springs tomatoes.

It was especially meaningful to them, I think, at a time when newspapers were reporting that this or that school was in danger of restructuring under the No-Child-Left-Behind federal program. We knew morale was at a low point, and that was exactly when we wanted to make clear that we thought they were the greatest!

The gift was not much monetarily, but we felt the gesture was important. We feel strongly that teaching is the most important profession. And we wanted to tell each teacher that we support them 100 percent.

I am really partial toward elementary school teachers. The most impressionable time of my life was when I was between 8 and eleven years old. That’s when my belief system was formed and it has lasted all my life.

This is what motivated us to do the Adopt-a-Class project at Keaukaha Elementary School, and it’s why we support teachers like Karyl Ah Hee at Kaumana Elementary School.

Education really is the great equalizer.

On the east side of the Big Island we have disproportionately more than the state’s average of low income families.

Hawai‘i Community College Chancellor Rockne Freitas explains it best: He says that the best predictor of children’s success is the family’s household income. And the best predictor of a higher household income is education.

Hawai‘i Community College is one of the most important institutions of higher learning here in East Hawai‘i, because it has “open enrollment.” In other words, there isn’t an entrance exam to keep students out. Also, class credits are transferrable to the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo.

This is the pathway to higher education for students who might not otherwise have qualified.

HCC was ranked thirteenth in the nation at bringing higher education to its students. This in spite of having the most dilapidated classrooms and structures in the entire community college system.

This is an extremely big deal, and Chancellor Freitas and his staff deserve a big round of applause. These people are doers, not talkers. We respect that!

Adopt-a-Class, Alan Wong, Community, Tomatoes

Chapter 3 – Keaukaha Morning

We watched Chef Alan Wong cook something up the other morning at Keaukaha Elementary School in Hilo.

He was there in conjunction with Richard’s Adopt-a-Class program. Chef Alan had adopted the 6th grade, and then asked if he could go speak to them. So when he was in town last week, he did.

The students chanted a Hawaiian welcome to him.

That crew is from PBS. They filmed the whole morning for a Chefs Afield episode they’re doing about Alan Wong, which will air sometime next year.

He is just wonderful with kids. Very down-to-earth, very open, very real. He’s a natural-born teacher and the students really responded. They were amazingly engaged.

He and Richard both spoke to the kids. Chef Alan told them, “If Alan Wong can do it, you can do it.” He told them that he grow up thinking salad dressing came out of a bottle. They, too, can achieve anything, he told them. “You just have to work hard,” he said.

Richard told them that when he was their age they were kind of poor, and they had a picnic table in the kitchen for their dinner table. He said his father would pound on that table and say, “Not ‘no can.’ ‘CAN!” Richard told those kids they could do anything they want.

Chef Alan showed the students how to make mayonnaise and also a li hing mui salad dressing. As he cooked in front of them, he kept pointing out what part of what he was doing had to do with reading, and what was math, and what was science, and made the point that if they wanted to do that kind of job they’d better stay in school.

 

When he started, he asked how many kids hated tomatoes and most raised their hands. By the time he did a taste test with them – they tasted a piece of Brand X tomato, and then a piece of a Hamakua Springs tomato – they were believers. At the end, some of his people walked around with platters of cut-up heirloom tomatoes and the kids were actually lunging for them, trying to get tomatoes to eat.

Afterward, some of the students showed Richard and Chef Alan their kalo (taro) patch.

The principal of the school told me they never get people of such celebrity speaking to, and inspiring, their kids. Richard says that one of the teachers told him, too, that no one comes to Keaukaha Elementary to tell the kids they too can do it. He says the teacher had tears in her eyes when she told him that.

It was really an incredible morning.

Contest, Tomatoes

It’s Contest Time Again! Fun Times! Great Prizes!

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Did you ever think Chef Alan Wong, who runs what Gourmet magazine calls the 8th Best Restaurant in the country, would sit down with a bowl of your grandmother’s spaghetti?

Here’s your chance to tickle some pretty famous taste buds: It’s the Second Annual Hamakua Springs Tomato Recipe Contest, and Alan Wong is one of the judges.

Dust off those favorite, original recipes, or come up with a new concoction, and send it in by January 30th for a shot at some great prizes. Contest categories are Entrees; Soups & Bisques; and Preserves & Condiments.

Three cash/gift certificate prizes will be awarded in each category. First Place awards in each category $350; 2nd Place $300, and 3rd Place $250.

Our judges will rate all recipes on a point scale, and the top five recipes in each category will go on to the finals. That means they will be turned over to Chef Allan Okuda and Chef Sandy Barr at the Hawai‘i Community College Food Services department, whose students will prepare the dishes for our panel of judges to taste and rate. That event will be televised on Kama‘aina Backroads, which airs on Oceanic Cable channel 16.

Our three 1st Place winners will also be invited to tour Hamakua Springs Country Farms, with roundtrip airfare to Hilo provided for Neighbor Island winners.

In addition to Wong, judges include Wanda Adams, food editor for the Honolulu Advertiser; Hawai‘i Community College Chancellor Rockne Freitas; UH Board of Regents Member Marlene Hapai; Food Writer Sonia Martinez; Food Writer Joan Namkoong; Hawai‘i Community College School of Continuing Education Program Director Randy Nunokawa; and Hawai‘i Tribune-Herald Food Columnist Audrey Wilson.

“We’re excited about seeing the interesting recipes people come up with,” says Hamakua Springs President Richard Ha. “Last year’s contest was a lot of fun, and having Chef Alan participate this year takes it to a new and exciting level.”

Please read full contest details and rules before entering. Submit recipes to contest@hamakuasprings.com, or by mail to Hamakua Springs Recipe Contest, 421 Lama St., Hilo HI 96720 by January 30, 2008.