Contest

Contest Announcement!

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Start thinking about what delicious dishes you make with tomatoes—or creating some new recipes—because our second annual Tomato Recipe Contest is coming up in March.

Last year’s contest was a huge success, and a lot of fun.

We’re still firming up the details for this year’s contest, but we know that our judges from last year enjoyed it thoroughly and all of them are participating again:

• Hawai‘i Community College Chancellor Rockne Freitas
• UH Board of Regents Member Marlene Hapai
• Food Writer Sonia Martinez
• Food Writer Joan Namkoong
• HCC School of Continuing Education Program Director Randy Nunokawa, and
• Hawai‘i Tribune-Herald Food Columnist Audrey Wilson.

 

In addition, Wanda Adams, Food Editor of the Honolulu Advertiser, will be judging this year.

And we are waiting for confirmation that Chef Alan Wong will be able to participate this time.

For now we can tell you that it will be the first week of March, there will be good prizes, and that we’d love to have you participate. Again, students from the Hawai’i Community College Food Service program will prepare the top-ranking dishes for our judges to sample.

Last year’s overall Grand Prize winner was Candace Ames of Hilo. Her Hamakua Style Tomato Pie was beautiful, delicious and a huge favorite of the judges.

Roland Joseph Torres, of the television program Kama‘aina Backroads, taped the contest judging last year and it aired on OC16.

We can’t wait to see what you all have for us this year!

“It’s going to be good fun,” says Richard. “We can’t wait.”

Biofuel, Community, Eating Locally, Farm Stand, Peak Oil, Sustainability

Tour de Farm

I tagged along Saturday morning while Richard gave a really interesting farm tour to some University of Hawai‘i at Hilo students. They listened and asked questions and seemed very engaged.

Asisstant Professor Jon Price brought 12 of his Introduction to Environmental Studies students, and Assistant Professor Kathryn Besio brought a similar number from her Food and Societies course, which is offered through the university’s geography department. In addition, there were a couple students present from the Keaholoa STEM program.

Jon Price told his Environmental Studies students that they have covered agriculture, energy and biodiversity in class, and that during the tour he wanted them to think about how those subjects relate to each other, and come to some conclusions. I think Richard gave them a lot to work with.

He took them around the tomato packing house, the banana operation where Williams bananas were hanging in neat rows and to see the banana fields and some of the greenhouses.

“Everything you’re looking at now,” he told the students, motioning to the farm, “was planned five years ago. You’re not looking at today. You’re looking at yesterday.” He told them that he plans for five years out—or 10, or 20.

Yesterday, he explained—five years ago—oil was $30/barrel. Today it’s almost $100/barrel. He talked about how five years ago he was already thinking about sustainability and getting away from oil dependence.

He talked about how industrial agricultural—the big operations on the mainland—largely rely on oil for their refrigeration, packing, etc., which keeps up the prices of food that is imported to Hawai‘i. “Eventually,” he said, “as oil prices continue getting more expensive, and imported food prices keep increasing, local farmers will be in a better position.”

These days at the farm, he explained, they are working on “tomorrow.” He talked about the hydroelectric plant that’s in the works at Hamakua Springs, which will use the farm’s abundant spring and stream water to generate enough power to run 15 refrigerated containers around the clock.

And about biodiesel. Banana waste, supplemented with oil, can be turned into biodiesel fuel, he said.

He talked about working with the farm’s local community and having family units growing different produce at the farm. The farm will help, in terms of pest control and food safety, and if the produce is up to standards the neighbor farmers can market it at the upcoming Hamakua Springs farm stand.

He talked about the farm stand he’s opening soon, so farmers who work with Hamakua Springs will have an outlet for their products and so people from the community won’t have to drive into town as often.

He talked about the importance of knowing your neighbors, and trading, say, the ‘ulu you grow for whatever it is they have. He talked about how, in a future where gasoline prices are exorbitant, we might change our driving habits and our entertainment habits too, and entertain more at home by cooking big meals for family and friends.

Charlotte Romo, the farm’s hydroponics specialist, spoke a little about her background as a crewmember in the Biosphere, where they produced enough food on 1/3 of an acre to support 7-10 people.

She talked about the hydroponic system at the farm and how intensive it is. For instance, the farm uses 450 acres to produce four million pounds of bananas per year, as opposed to its 2 million pounds of tomatoes, which grow on only 15 acres.

Richard told them that before it was about making money; but now it’s about “How are we going to feed the people? We have 1.5 million people on this island. If we use hydroelectric and grow more food, we may be able to feed more people.”

“This is about common sense,” he said. “Look at the problem, and don’t get stuck on what others say.” He summed it up on an optimistic note: “It sounds grim, but the harder things are, the more opportunities come up.”

Hawai‘i is fortunate, Richard told the students, because we have sun energy all year long. “I recently attended a conference in Houston,” he said, “on peak oil, and when I left I didn’t have the nerve to tell the people there that we have energy from the sun all year long.”

Richard told the students he is confident that we can start educating people and making changes now to cope with an oil crisis that will gradually affect most aspects of our lives. “From what I see,” he said, “I feel the future is bright because of people from your generation.”

Peak Oil, Travel

Houston

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Every year we try to visit the Produce Marketing Association (PMA) tradeshow in Houston. This year I almost stayed home with June to help with Vovo, her mother, who is ill. But the Association for the Study of Peak Oil (ASPO) conference was taking place immediately after the PMA show, also in Houston, so I decided to go.

I didn’t expect it, but my son Brian told me that he, his wife Kris and their 15-month-old son Gunner would drive down from Fort Hood to hang out with me for a few days.

As it turned out, that was the highlight of the trip. I got to hang out with my only son, my favorite daughter-in-law Kris and my buddy Gunner. We went to visit the Central Market, a Whole Foods-like store, a children’s museum and the Houston Aquarium.

Outside of the Aquarium, a lady gave a little talk about a giant owl. This owl was huge and bad and he did not say “HOO.” When he said something, he said, “MAAAK!”

I told Gunner, “Gunner, owl! Maaak!!” One day, some teacher is going to have to undo that and teach him that an “owl goes hooo!” But Gunner will know that Papa calls it like it is.

 

Funny thing—I was walking toward the Galleria in Houston when a car drove by and a guy yelled and gave me the shaka sign. “Eh, howzit,” I yelled back. It was Young Tarring, who lives and grows apple bananas in Kea‘au. His dad Mike and I have been friends for more than 20 years. What’s the chance of running into someone from Hilo in Houston?

He is promoting Hawaiian-grown apple bananas on the mainland and has a really attractive product. He was at the Hawai‘i Dept of Ag booth.

The first time Clay visited Hawai‘i he was anxious to learn about the culture and pronounce words right, so I gave him a test. I said, “I’ll spell it and you say it.” I spelled “Komohana” and he pronounced it, “koh moh ha nah.” I spelled “Kalakaua,” and he said, “kah lah ka oo ah.” I was impressed. I spelled Pi-pe-li-ne and he said “pee pay lee nay.” I told him, “My friends pronounce it ‘pipeline.’” We both laughed out loud and we’ve been buddies ever since.

Clay, Steve West, (not pictured) who owns an agricultural consultant firm in Yuma, and me are friends from way back. Steve and I went to San Jose, Costa Rica for a world banana conference many years ago when we were both starting out in our businesses. Steve has since consulted extensively throughout Central and South America.

Every year at the PMA show I get to say hello to Cris West, former Director of Grower Development with Friedas and now with Euro Fresh, coordinating and sourcing from Mexico. She is the sister of my good friend Steve West.

The PMA show is always special because I get to visit friends. It was nice to see Clay and Cris. Maybe next year I’ll see Steve and Lee as well.

The ASPO conference was really intense; it ran from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday though Friday, and until noon on Saturday. There were a lot of rich investors in attendance. I thought to myself, “No wonder they are rich.” They are rich because they are on the cutting edge.

I met Gail Tverberg there, who is a very thoughtful commentator on the subject of world oil supplies. She posts at The Oil Drum under the name “gailtheactuary.” Her business assesses insurance risks.

The Houston Ship Channel is five or six times the width of the Wailoa River, and maybe 20 times as long. Add in all the industrial buildings and fuel tanks of HELCO, plus all the fuel tanks and industrial buildings of the Hilo wharf area, then multiply that times one or two thousand and you get the Houston Ship Channel. It’s the oil capital of the U.S.

I sat in on every conference session and by the end it felt like I had taken a graduate course in oil and gas. It was one of the most important conferences of my life. The subject matter is very grim, but you cannot grit your teeth all day long. No matter how grim things get, we need to find any excuse to laugh. That’s why it was so great to see my kids and grandson and friends, old and new, during this conference.

Government

Farm Bill

I just read an interesting opinion article by Mladen Golubic. It begins:

As a medical resident working in one of the poorest cities in the country, I see firsthand how poverty can contribute to poor health.

The hospital where I work is filled with people suffering from uncontrolled diabetes, high blood pressure, and other problems often exacerbated by a lack of health insurance or income. These problems and their origins are complex, of course. And millions of words have been written about how to fix them. But there is one thing the government could do right now that would make a tremendous difference to my patients and to all the nation’s poor: Reform the Farm Bill currently up for reauthorization in Congress.

Currently, he explains, “this subsidy system rewards farmers for growing foods that contribute to high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, and other diet-related diseases I treat every day. Wouldn’t our taxes be more wisely spent promoting healthier foods such as fruits and vegetables?”

It’s an interesting topic because there has been very little in previous Farm Bills that benefit fruit and vegetable producers.

But if the present Farm Bill were to benefit the Women, Infant and Children, Seniors and Food Stamp program recipients by providing fruits and vegetables, this would be a good thing for the recipients. And it would be positive for local farmers. All in all, a good thing.

History

The Old Days

Richard said something the other day about how people used to live—they knew their neighbors; they often planted ‘ulu trees so they always had delicious breadfruit; they shared their mangos with someone who, in return, shared some of their fish.

He wrote about plumbing a house so the wastewater runs into the vegetable garden, and that made me think about the Kona Coffee Living History Farm. From their website:

D. Uchida Farm – A 5.5 acre historic coffee farm first homesteaded in 1900

The Kona Coffee Living History Farm brings the coffee pioneer’s story to life by depicting the daily lives of early Japanese immigrants during the period of 1920-1945. Visitors are guided through the coffee and macadamia orchards, the many historic structures, and are greeted by costumed interpreters along the way.

It’s fascinating to walk through this family’s restored coffee farm—and especially, for me, its farmhouse, maintained as though it’s the early part of the 1900s, complete with costumed interpreters working in the house.

One thing I noticed when I toured the farmhouse was the “filter” (an old tobacco filter) at the kitchen sink. It let the water flow, but not food bits—and the water flowed out a pipe and right into the garden just outside the kitchen.

How smart is that? Our grandparents, and their grandparents, knew what they were doing. Yet many of us have gotten so far away from that these days.

Macario and I live on the Hamakua Coast land where my family has lived for several generations. It’s still rural here, but as opposed to when my great-grandmother lived here, Hilo-town is now just an easy 15 or 20-minute drive away.

Back in my great-grandmother’s day, even though she lived here in this very same place, town was far away. Once a month she would get dressed up and ride the train to Hilo, where she would get the family’s supplies for the entire month. Her daughters would beg to be allowed to go along, because it was a big exciting day to go to town.

I think about that when I occasionally find myself having to zip into town more than once in a single day, and I feel sheepish and wasteful. Our lifestyles are so different now.

I know a lot about what went on in this house in 1939. That’s when my great-grandmother left here bound for Columbia University in New York, where she earned a master’s degree. While she was gone that year, her 28-year-old daughter (my grandmother), who had a 7-year-old son at the time (my dad), sent her long, interesting letters about what was going on.

My great-grandmother apparently brought those letters back home with her, because I found them tucked away in this house one winter day 50-some years later, when my then-elderly grandmother—formerly the 28-year-old—was still around. It was wonderful to read them aloud together in front of the fireplace, a few each night. It took us several days to get through them all, because we’d stop as she remembered what she’d written about so long before and filled in details.

From those 1939 letters about life here at this place I learned that they used to have chickens and that my grandmother sold eggs in town at Kwong See Wo store. That my grandmother made mango chutney when she had a lot of mangoes (but I already knew that). And that my grandfather poked holes in a Crisco can to water the strawberries once when it was particularly dry.

They grew kalo (taro) then. They planted ‘ulu trees, which we still eat from, and ate ‘ulu as well as ho‘i‘o, tomatoes, oranges, tangerines, mangos, bananas and vegetables from their garden.

In one letter my grandmother wrote about friends coming over—they all rolled up their pants and went up the stream to catch ‘opae. Sometimes my grandparents would go stay with family and friends at the beach house for an extended, relaxing time of play. They would fish for their meals.

It was interesting to read how often good friends came by to visit. They’d show up with coolers full of fish and Chinese food and their backseat full of fruit from their trees. It was a long journey out here to the country, so they’d stay for four days or maybe a week. Everybody pitched in to cook, etc., while they were here and it was a party the entire time. Pictures show that they played music and some danced hula. Always in those photos there is good food everywhere and kids are playing together and everyone is smiling.

I think about those letters and that lifestyle. Though I realize that my grandmother was writing about the fun times, and not the day-to-day stuff, it still seems like life was a little bit simpler then, and pretty nice. They planted and grew food, and ate well. They had friends over a lot—dear friends that my grandmother remained close to for her entire life—and lots of times they made their own music. It’s a lifestyle I admire.

We grow some of our food these days, and we too have good friends, though we don’t get together as often as they did. We should.

One year we had family and friends here for Thanksgiving dinner, and later in the evening my brother said it reminded him of one of my grandmother’s parties back when we were kids. “Every room I walk into,” he said, “there are little groups of people talking and laughing.” He even pointed to two little boys who were playing a little rambunctiously and said, “That would have been [our cousin] David and me, getting into trouble.”

I liked that. I also like the occasional reminder that we need to have good food around us, some of it we grew outside, and have our friends over more often, and remember to live our lives well while we’re here.

Food Security, Peak Oil, Sustainability

Food Is More Important Than Oil

At the ASPO conference I just attended, it was projected that the peak of the world’s oil production (after which time, demand will exceed supply and prices will rise sharply) may occur in 2011 or so. As do some others, though, I think the peak may have already taken place. This article, entitled Our World Is Finite: The Implications of Resource Limitations, is bleak.

A graph in this article projects a permanent decline in the United States’ gross domestic product because of limitations on oil and natural gas. This assumes it would not, at that point, be “business as usual.”

At the conference, I met Gail Tverberg, who wrote that article. She is a very soft-spoken and thoughtful person. She made this complex subject easy to understand.

I mentioned to her the connection between oil and food and she included it in this morning’s post. She wrote to me yesterday saying that, in some ways, food is more important than oil. RIGHT! No more food, no more people.

We are incredibly fortunate to live in Hawai‘i, where the sun shines all year long. In the old days, the sun provided 100 percent of the energy we needed to grow our food. Cheap oil has camouflaged that. But as oil prices rise, sunshine is still free.

Farmers can use some help in developing alternate energy sources to help them with their work. The Hawai‘i Farm Bureau has included in its legislative package a new Department of Ag farm loan program that gives them this help.

Farmers cannot wait for public utilities to bring down energy costs. I trust individual farmers more to do what they need to do. Think small-scale bio diesel. There are other ways as well—things like windmills, hydroelectric, solar, etc.

The more one farmer can produce, the more vibrant our society will be post-oil decline. We do not want to go back to where everyone has to fish, or farm, to feed their family. It all has to do with how much help a farmer can get from alternate energy to help him with production.

Our challenge now is to see how we can get Hawai‘i farmers to grow more food for our people. As imported food prices rise, I believe that local farming will become more profitable. That, and the proliferation of farmers markets, will make farming profitable.

I am very aware of the Cuba and North Korea models. Both were dependent on oil supplies from the former Soviet Union. When it collapsed, they had to fend for themselves. As a result, North Korea has widespread famine and crop failures, while Cuba has survived quite well. I think that the basic difference is that Cuba has more energy from sunshine than North Korea. Still, I think that we can improve on the Cuba model.

I believe that we should send a hopeful message that although oil is becoming more scarce, and prices of our imported food are rising, there are things that we can do. Such as:

• Landscape with plants that make food. Garden where possible and plant fruit trees, etc. ‘Ulu trees come to mind, because they provide an abundant supply of a tasty starch food.

• I think houses should have waste water lines plumbed in, so people can reuse the water for gardens. Then farmers will produce for people who cannot grow food themselves.

• People need to start thinking about getting to know their neighbors, plan what they can trade, and get closer to their families. Kids can have chores taking care of the plants. This is not a bad thing. We kids in my family fed the chickens before we went to school.

No problem; we can do this.

The Sustainability 2050 project that the state of Hawai‘i is preparing right now will be very valuable. But it needs to include Five Year Plans, because things are moving fast. The sustainability council also needs a strong Ag person on the council.

And food should be the top priority. We need to do an assessment of the number and composition of calories necessary to maintain a population of 1.5 million. Andrew Hashimoto, Dean of the University of Hawai‘i College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, mentioned something like 2 billion calories per year. We should compare this number of needed calories to what we are able to provide now—how many calories’ worth of food we grow in Hawai‘i now—from the point of view of human nutrition. This will give us a road map to follow.

I am optimistic that we can successfully achieve these goals and show the rest of the nation the Aloha way.

Bananas, History

Old Bananas

From Hawaiian Annual, Hilo Fifty Years Ago, by J.M. Lydgate (published in 1923, this refers to events of 1873):

A bunch of the largest bananas ever produced in Hawaii, according to the report of the government experiment station, was taken to the mainland this past summer by Dr. W. E. Slater, grown by him at his home on Dole street, and destined for Minneapolis.

The individual bananas averaged eight inches in length and three inches in width, and the entire bunch weighed seventy-three pounds. There have been heavier bunches of more hands of the ordinary sized fruit, though this may be the record, as stated, for individual bananas. Unfortunately the kind or variety was not given.

 

Current Affairs, Peak Oil, Sustainability

ASPO Conference

I’m in Houston to attend the Produce Marketing Association tradeshow, which started last Friday.

I decided to stay on for the Association for the Study of Peak Oil (ASPO) conference, which started Wednesday. ASPO is a non-partisan, non-profit association dedicated to the study of “Peak Oil.” That’s a term describing the last point at which the world’s supply of oil can accomodate the demand for oil. After that, demand will permanently exceed supply.

I became aware of ASPO while scanning the Internet. Its supply-and-demand, common sense approach to the problem resonated with me, so I started to read its daily report. I followed those reports and came to the conclusion that ASPO does offer a balanced approach.

When I learned ASPO’s U.S. conference was occurring just after the PMA trade show and in the same city, I decided to attend. So here I am.

This conference is, by far, the most interesting and important one I have ever attended. Its panel members and presenters have stellar credentials—they are former CIA officials, executives from major oil companies, investment advisors, university researchers, etc. The presentations have been full of substance. I’ve sat through presentations from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. without wanting to skip out.

I am now absolutely certain that ASPO is credible and that its web information update on the Oil Drum is also credible.

A relatively few giant oil fields produce most of the world’s oil. There have not been any significant new oil fields discovered in the last 20 years, and the older, super-giant oil fields are declining in production. Discoveries of new, smaller oil fields are barely keeping up with the fields that are declining.

The big problem is that the demand for oil is increasing at an alarming rate. China is growing at an incredible rate. It has 10 times our population, and right now only 16 percent of its people own cars. And then there’s India, too. Soon we will reach the point where oil production cannot keep up with world demand for oil.

No one knows when, but ASPO feels this will occur around 2012, which is just over four years from now. Others think it will occur 10 years later. Many think that it has already happened.

No one debates whether or not Peak Oil will occur—they only disagree about when.

Regardless of when, it is prudent to take action before we get to that point. We need to spread the word that we are close to a serious turning point regarding our oil supply. And we need to get people’s advice about what actions we should take.

More than 60 percent of America’s oil use is for transportation. Can we adjust to our gas prices rising four-fold? Agriculture, too, depends on fossil fuels, as do fertilizer, chemicals, packaging and transportation. Therefore, imported food prices will start to rise.

Can we make the adjustments we need to do? Will we be able to feed Hawai‘i’s people?

In Hawai‘i, I believe we can make the adjustments we need to keep our food distribution dependable. But it is going to require thinking “outside the box.” We all can do this!

Eating Locally, Sustainability

Edible Hawaiian Islands

There’s a new magazine out there—Edible Hawaiian Islands. Have you seen it?

Here’s a description:

“Filled with engaging stories, enticing photography and art, our mission is to celebrate family farmers, bakers, fisherman, ranchers, poultry farmers, local chefs and the rest of the community for their dedication to producing the highest quality fresh and seasonal foods. We want to highlight those efforts towards a more sustainable and safe food system in The Hawaiian Islands.“

Sound familiar? The magazine has already featured Hamakua Springs, and writes about many others who practice the same sorts of things we preach.

Check it out. And if you’re interested, subscription information is here.

Sustainability

Suppy and Demand

The Houston Chronicle just ran this op-ed piece titled Don’t Drain Our Energy Lifeblood, with the subtitle: “Domestic exploration is energy security 101.” It says that Americans burn nearly a half billion gallons of gasoline every day, and that 65 percent of the oil that makes this gasoline is imported. Also, that worldwide energy consumption is anticipated to increase by 40 percent in the next 25 years—while the widespread use of alternate energy is still decades away.

The article argues for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve, as well as in the offshore continental shelf. The revenue generated, it says, could be used for alternative energy development.

“The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge may offer oil reserves of as much as 16 billion barrels — which is comparable to the world’s largest oil fields. Even though the environmental impact would be minuscule, Congress insists on keeping the refuge and other potential domestic resources off-limits and ignores the fact that modern exploration techniques could limit drilling in the refuge to a 2,000-acre footprint, or not even half of 1 percent of the refuge’s 19 million acres.“

It concludes that our country’s energy dependency makes us dangerously vulnerable in economic terms and compromises our national security.

Public policies that support, rather than impede, efforts to increase responsible domestic production are what America needs to retake control of its energy lifeblood from rogue dictators and banana republics.

The article’s author is Elizabeth Ames Jones, immediate past chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates the state’s oil and gas, propane, mining and intrastate pipeline industries.

It got my attention, appearing as it did the Sunday immediately before the Association for the Study of Peak Oil (ASPO) conference will be held in Houston — and just before oil prices reached more than $86/barrel, a record high. It strikes me that as world demand for oil rises in the years ahead, there may well be a gap between the energy our country can get from oil and the energy we can get from alternate sources.

The Queensland, Australia government also just published a report acknowledging that “Peak Oil” — “the potential peaking of world oil supplies caused by natural field decline” — is a real concern and will happen within 10 years. Together with the op-ed piece above coming out of the gas and oil capital of the U.S., as well as the upcoming ASPO conference, I think these are all significant indicators.