All posts by Richard Ha

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Of Two Minds: China & the U.S.

Today’s post on the blog Of Two Minds, titled Olympic Ponderings, was about China and it was interesting and insightful.

“Anyone who watched the pageantry of the Olympic Game’s opening ceremony in Beijing knows it is unlikely to be topped in our lifetimes.

My wife offered this analogy: the previous Olympics were like county fairs, while Beijing was a full Hollywood production.

“As someone who began formally studying Chinese culture, history and philosophy in 1973 (i.e. beginning in university, including several graduate-level courses), I was struck by the depth of the opening ceremony’s many levels of representation and allusions.

“I was especially impressed with the lavish references to the Tang Dynasty and the voyages of Admiral Zheng He. As the NBC commentator pointed out, these two periods of Chinese history were marked by a remarkable openness to the world and a stupendous exchange of goods and ideas.”

 Charles Hugh Smith is very upbeat about America’s openness and ability to grow because of its openness and ability to welcome people. At the end of his post, he even uses the Big Island as a reference. Take a look.

Community, Education, Mauna Kea

Reaching For The Stars

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Richard Ha writes:

I’ve written here before about the Thirty-Meter Telescope (TMT), a “new generation” telescope that may be sited here on Mauna Kea.

And I’ve written about how this project, unlike previous telescopes, is being discussed. I’m on the board of the Hawai‘i Island Economic Development Board, and we’ve made it clear that this can only happen if, unlike with previous telescopes, our people clearly benefit from it.

What I haven’t mentioned yet are the types of extensive benefits we are discussing:

• What if the TMT coming here meant disadvantaged Hawaiian (and other race) students can attend Hawai‘i Community College and the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo for free?

• What if we develop a pathway for local people to fill jobs during the extensive construction and operating of the telescope?

• What if we collect all the funds attributable to astronomy and have that money administered by a group of wise people who are chosen specifically to allocate it to the education of this island’s keiki?

• And what if these credible people fund education programs about the Hawaiian culture and Hawaiian language, and about traditional ways of sustainability, the sciences, job skills and other subjects that prepare our children for a new world where we, living on the island of Hawai‘i, might have to survive on what exists here on our island?

• And what if this organization exists far into the future and benefits many generations to come?

What if, not at the summit though on Mauna Kea, the world’s finest and most powerful telescope looks back in time to the beginning, seeking the answer to the question, “Are we alone?”…

…while on the ground, the people have learned how to restore the ancient fish ponds, and are supplementing that with modern aquaculture methods that don’t require oil? And the people on the island’s windward side are using their abundant water to again grow kalo, and growing food with hydroponics, and as in pre-Western times they are able to feed everybody without depending on foreign oil?

It would be the best of the future and the best of the past. What if?

From the TMT:

May 15, 2008

 PASADENA, Calif.–After completing a worldwide survey unprecedented in rigor and detail of astronomical sites for the Thirty-Meter Telescope (TMT), the TMT Observatory Corporation board of directors has selected two outstanding sites, one in each hemisphere, for further consideration. Cerro Armazones lies in Chile’s Atacama Desert, and Mauna Kea is on Hawai’i Island.

The TMT observatory, which will be capable of peering back in space and time to the era when the first stars and galaxies were forming and will be able to directly image planets orbiting other stars, will herald a new generation of telescopes.

To ensure that proposed TMT sites would provide the greatest advantage to the telescope’s capabilities, a global satellite survey was conducted, from which a small sample of outstanding sites was chosen for further study using ground-based test equipment. This ground-based study of two sites in the northern hemisphere and three in the southern was the most comprehensive survey of its kind ever undertaken.

Atmospheric turbulence above each candidate site, and wind characteristics, temperature variations, amount of water vapor, and other meteorological data at some of the candidate sites, were continuously monitored for up to four years. Based upon this campaign, the TMT project will now further evaluate the best site in the northern hemisphere and the best site in the southern hemisphere.

“All five sites proved to be outstanding for carrying out astronomical observations,” said Edward Stone, Caltech’s Morrisroe Professor of Physics and vice chairman of the TMT board. “I want to congratulate the TMT project team for conducting an excellent testing program, not only for TMT but for the benefit of astronomical research in the future.” In addition to the “astronomical weather” at the sites, other considerations in the final selection will include the environment, accessibility, operations costs, and complementarities with other nearby astronomy facilities.

The next step in the site analysis process is the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that will thoroughly evaluate all aspects, including environmental, cultural, socio-economic, and financial, of constructing and operating the Thirty-Meter Telescope in Hawai`i. An environmental impact statement for Cerro Armazones has already been completed and submitted to the Chilean government for their review.

The community-based Mauna Kea Management Board, which oversees the management of the Mauna Kea summit in coordination with the University of Hawai’i at Hilo, concurs that the Thirty-Meter Telescope should proceed with its EIS process. Regardless of whether Mauna Kea is selected as the Thirty-Meter Telescope site, information generated from the EIS will be useful in the management of Mauna Kea.

Henry Yang, TMT board chair and chancellor of UC Santa Barbara, expressed the gratitude of the board. “The selection of these top two candidate sites is an exciting milestone in the Thirty-Meter Telescope’s journey from vision to reality. We are grateful for the tireless efforts of our project team and the tremendous vision and support of the Moore Foundation and our international partners that have brought us to this point. We look forward to moving ahead rapidly and with all due diligence toward the selection of our preferred site.”

The TMT is currently in the final stages of an $80 million design phase. The plan is to initiate construction in 2010 with first light in early 2018. This project is a partnership between the University of California, California Institute of Technology, and ACURA, an organization of Canadian universities. The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation has provided $50 million for the design phase of the project and has pledged an additional $200 million for the construction of the telescope, and Caltech and the University of California each will seek to raise matching funds of $50 million to bring the construction total to $300 million.

“We look forward to the discussions with the people of Hawai’i and Chile regarding the opportunities to open a new era in astronomy in one of these two world capitals of astronomy,” says Professor Ray Carlberg, the Canadian Large Optical Telescope project director and a TMT board member. “Canadian scientists have partnered in the extensive site testing carried out by TMT and we are very pleased to see that it has led to two great options for TMT.”

TMT gratefully acknowledges support for design and development from the following: Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Canada Foundation for Innovation, Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation, National Research Council of Canada, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, British Columbia Knowledge Development Fund, Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, and the National Science Foundation (USA).

Eating Locally, Peak Oil, Sustainability

Wave of the (Post-Oil) Future

We’ve had a series of lunch meetings with our fertilizer distributor over the last several months.

Back in May, we discussed the news that fertilizer prices were rising faster and higher than usual. Knowing that this was related to energy prices rising at an accelerating rate, we knew things were going to get tough. He told us that he was worried for his small farmers, and that some were actually dipping into their savings to buy fertilizer. We knew was very bad news.

In June, we had lunch and learned that fertilizer prices were going even higher. Our distributor expressed very strong concern for papaya farmers and other small farmers. His fertilizer sales were dropping, he said, and he wasn’t sure it was due to dry weather, which is expected, or to farmers dropping out of farming due to high fertilizer costs and low returns. He suspected the worst. But because of the extremely dry weather right then he wasn’t sure.

A few weeks ago, the rains came back. I gave it some time and then called him to ask if, with the change in weather, farmers had resumed buying fertilizer.

His answer was NO! That many farmers did not return to order fertilizer. Small farmers who have no capital investment can just drop out and then drop back in when the economic climate is right. These farmers, he told us — who were squeezed by rising costs on one side and shrinking margins from distributors and retailers on the other — have quit farming.

There are other farmers, though, who sell at Farmers Markets and to retailers like KTA and Foodland, which sticks with their farmers through thick and thin. Those farmers are doing okay. And now Whole Foods is coming into the market, and all indications are that they, too, will work with farmers through thick and thin.

This type of relationship is the wave of the future. I’m convinced that very soon, Hawai‘i’s people will realize how important it is that we all support local farmers.

They are the ones who will feed all of us when the “ships not going come.”

Peak Oil, Sustainability

Steps Forward

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I wrote recently that Matt Simmons, one of the world’s leading experts on Peak Oil, sounded pretty pessimistic in a recent CNBC interview. View it here
 if you haven’t seen it.

It’s one more in a long series of reminders that we here in Hawai‘i (as well as those elsewhere) need to figure out how we can be sustainable. Many people are already taking action and making changes. We can each do our small part.

We all need to look at things differently than we have been. I
 attended the Peak Oil conference this past October, so the events of today 
do not surprise me.

I’ve also had some time to think about all this. Here’s what I think is most important, and they are steps everyone can move toward:

•  Support your local farmers.

•  Learn how to grow your own food.

•  Support education. The young ones need to have the tools to solve 
the problems of tomorrow. We must help them now so they will be prepared.

•  Diversify our economy. We need to expand and cannot depend too much on tourism. If done in a sustainable way, the Thirty Meter Telescope coming to Mauna Kea can help us with
 education and diversification.

•  Avoid petroleum costs whenever you can.

Another thing you can do, of course, is to check out the E Malama ‘Aina
 Festival coming up November 7th and 8th.

Community, Sustainability

Woe is Not Us!

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The reason we decided to do our E Malama ‘Aina sustainability festival was in order to plan for the worse case.

• Matt Simmons at The Oil Drum is sounding even more worried than usual.

• What happens if the ship does not come? Fuel Shortage Stops Water Supply in Rotuma, Fiji. Could it happen to us?

• T. Boone Pickens is saying that our country needs to do something now. He is going to build a massive windfarm in order to help the country get off foreign oil.

• Since we started planning the E Malama ‘Aina Festival several months ago, David Murdoch, the president of Dole Foods, has even requested that our Governor declare a state of emergency because of Hawaii’s vulnerability to fossil fuel shortages.

Well, we’re not sitting around saying, “Woe is me.” We’ve decided to do something about it.

We are asking people who are doing sustainable things to join us, by putting up a booth and showing people what they do.

Such as a local kid who lives in Hakalau. Using water from the river, he makes electricity and with that electricity he makes hydrogen. The hydrogen runs a hydrogen scooter.

This is just a proof of concept; they are planning much bigger things. Big enough that the legislature authorized a bond float of $50 million to help them develop the process into transportation fuel for Hawai‘i.

For quite a long time now, traditional farmer Jerry Konanui has been very concerned about our ability to feed ourselves.

“There are a lot more people becoming increasingly aware of our future,” he said, “and the demand for food production knowledge as well as seeds and plant materials are increasing at a higher rate than in the past. I’ve personally been called upon lately for workshops and as a source of plant materials a lot more than in the past.”

Jerry will talk about kalo, making poi and how things were done in the old days. And also, why these practices are still valid today.

We are putting on the E Malama ‘Aina festival to show people that they are not alone. That, working together, we can do this. And we are going to have fun doing it.

Roland Torres, producer of Kama’aina Backroads on OC 16, is helping us put on the festival. He knows all the Hoku award-winning entertainers and he is the festival’s Entertainment Chairperson.

There will be a keiki village.

The Master Gardeners will have a booth where they will give away plants and talk to people about how to make their own gardens.

Charlotte and Rodrigo Romo will have a booth adjoining our Hamakua Springs hydroponic vegetable booth, where they will talk about their time living in the Biosphere 2 and what they learned there about sustainability.

Bernie Kratky will show how to grow plants in his novel system of non-circulating hydroponics, where the plants grow in water.

Nancy Redfeather and friends from the School Garden Network will show what they do.

Manu Meyer will demonstrate “Got Epistemology? A Hawaiian Way of at Looking at Sustainability.”  Something like that.

The car dealers will bring out their most fuel-efficient vehicles.

And someone will show how he made an electric bike.

Let us know if you have something sustainable to share. Otherwise, please mark your calendar for November 7th and 8th and meet us at Mo‘oheau Park in downtown Hilo.

Adopt-a-Class, Community, Education, Schools

In Good Standing!

I was so happy to receive this email a couple days ago. It’s from Lehua Veincent, principal of Keaukaha Elementary School. That’s the school we work with through our Adopt-a-Class program.

Kumu Lehua announced:  It is my honor and my privilege to announce that Keaukaha School has MET Adequate Yearly Progress for SY 2007-2008 as announced by the Department of Education yesterday.

This second year progress has moved the school out of RESTRUCTURING STATUS into IN GOOD STANDING, UNCONDITIONAL!

On Friday, the local paper had a sub-headline: “31 of 42 Big Island Schools fail to make the grade.” Keaukaha School was one of the 11 schools that passed.

For as long as I can remember, 40 years at least, it was assumed that Keaukaha kids had a hard time doing schoolwork. Or maybe some people were assuming even worse.

That has now changed forever. Keaukaha Elementary has proved itself a role model as measured by modern methods.

Last year at this time, I heard whisperings that Keaukaha Elementary School had made progress with their ratings, and that with one more year of good results it would be removed from the list of schools to be restructured. Was it true? People were asking: could it be? Some were in tears.

A year later, and we have this incredible announcement.

It is much, much more than just an announcement. I feel like a big weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I can only imagine what it must mean to the community, teachers, staff and especially to KUMU LEHUA.

Read the whole announcement, from Kumu Lehua Veincent, below:

To members of the Keaukaha Community Association, Keaukaha School Foundation, Keaukaha Parent-Teacher Association, Keaukaha School Community Council, Queen Lili’uokalani Children’s Center, Kamehameha Schools, Ke Ana La’ahana PCS, Hamakua Springs, INPEACE/SPARK, and UH-Department of Education!

It is my honor and my privilege to announce that Keaukaha School has MET Adequate Yearly Progress for SY 2007-2008 as announced by the Department of Education yesterday.

This second year progress has moved the school out of RESTRUCTURING STATUS into IN GOOD STANDING, UNCONDITIONAL!

We take one year at a time with new students, new attitudes, new behaviors, and new ways of learning guiding our next action step. We continue to build upon this dualistic approach to learning in not only maintaining our stance in achieving the standards set forth in our educational realm but also a standard set forth by our own kupuna, ‘ohana, and the history of a unique place of setting – our beloved Keaukaha. We move forward by looking backwards! We move forward with humility yet with focus and strength! We move forward with pono!

As business and educational partners to Keaukaha School, you have all kokua by embracing Keaukaha School and the many ways of learning that honors genealogy, history, and place! Your unconditional aloha to all of our keiki here at Keaukaha School is acknowledged and appreciated! The cliché that “we couldn’t have done it without you” extends farther — your support establishes the foundation from which learning takes place and empowers a community to do what is pono for all that live here!

I honor you, our faculty and staff, our ‘ohana, and our community.

Please share with your constituents at your respective agencies this voice of aloha and mahalo!

Me ke aloha nui ia ‘oukou a pau!

na’u, na Kumu Lehua

Mauna Kea

Mahalo A Nui Loa

Soon the Thirty Meter Telescope people will publicly announce that they are exploring the possibility of siting their immense, $750 million Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) on Mauna Kea.

The reason the TMT people are approaching us with such respect – most importantly, they are asking what they can do for our people in exchange for using our excellent astronomical site – is because a lot of people have worked very hard for what they believe in, for years and years, without giving up.

People like Kealoha Pisciotta. Kealoha has spent many years of her life following every detail of every happening on the mountain, attending hearings, speaking up and holding people accountable to the mountain’s Master Plan, and much, much more.

To say that the history of modern day astronomy atop Mauna Kea is full of contention is, of course, to state the obvious. You don’t have to look far at all to find people on the ground with heartfelt distress over what they say are ruined archaeological sites, endangered ecological habitats, desecration of, and blocked access to, religious sites, dangerous spills, damage to the water table and a general lack of respect for the mountain.

In addition, I’ve mentioned before that when I look at, for instance, Keaukaha – a mostly Hawaiian community in Hilo – I see zero benefit to the community from those million dollar telescopes atop Mauna Kea, which is an important and even sacred site in the Hawaiian tradition.

But there is a profound difference in how this TMT project is being proposed for Mauna Kea.

And it is because of Kealoha and some others, and the ones who came before them, that we are where we are today.

• They fought to bring control of the mountain back to the Big Island where it belongs. Now the mountain is managed by the Office of Mauna Kea Management, which is under the control of the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo.

• They fought for the requirement that there be a Comprehensive Management Plan in place before there was any more development on the mountain – and won.

• They fought to make sure that the Comprehensive Management Plan was sensitive to cultural issues. Because of all the opposition, the people managing the mountain have had to look to the Big Island community for solutions. This is a huge change.

• Most of all, Kealoha and all the others have fought for respect. And because of them, we are finally being respected. We all need to acknowledge that.

We are controlling the process now.

This only came about because of Kealoha and others who have fought so long and so hard for what was right.

We, and future generations, owe them a tremendous debt of gratitude, no matter what takes place with this particular project.

Dr. Henry Yang, the new president of TMT who is also the president of UC Santa Barbara, is a “people” person, not a “timeline” person. I am very impressed with him and glad he is in charge. He speaks our language.

But if it weren’t for Kealoha and the others, we would never have gotten to this place where we speak the same language.

Before the TMT begins the process of considering siting their new telescope atop Mauna Kea, I want to take this time to mahalo the people who are responsible for getting us to this point.

Mahalo a nui loa.

Mauna Kea

HIEDB & the Thirty Meter Telescope

The Hawai‘i Island Economic Development Board, of which I am Vice Chair, has been asked to work with the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) people and help in their efforts to do community outreach as they develop their project.

In this role, we will try to work with all the different stakeholders in a collaborative manner.

Several months ago, I met Dr. Henry Yang, who  is Chancellor of the University of Santa Barbara. He is the incoming President of the TMT and was in town trying to see for himself what was going on.

I liked him immediately. One could tell that he is a people person. I knew that if Hawai‘i was chosen as a site for the TMT, and if Dr. Yang was in charge, the people would be heard.

I was very, very encouraged by this.

Since then, he has been in town on numerous occasions in order to familiarize himself with the situation. That Dr. Yang is not just going to sit in his office on the mainland impresses me very much.

This afternoon I called Kale Gumapac of the Kanaka Council. I told him that I wanted to give them an early “heads up” that we may be working with the TMT people. He was appreciative of being put in the loop. I told him: “You know me. I’m more interested that this project be done in the right way than I am in just trying to sell more tomatoes.”

Bob Saunders, Roberta Chu and I, who make up the Thirty Meter Telescope subcommittee of the Hawai‘i Island Economic Development Board, also met with Sandra Dawson and Mike Bolte of the TMT team. We listened to them explain to us how committed they are to doing the right thing.

They come in a respectful way. Now we can talk about the rest of it.

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

Current Affairs, Government, Renewable Energy Sources

It’s Official: the Renewable Energy Farm Loan Bill

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June and I were invited to the Governor’s office yesterday to witness the signing of Bill 2261, a renewable energy Farm Loan Bill which I helped shepherd through the legislature.

In her remarks, Governor Lingle pointed out that the goal for Hawaii is to be 70% fossil fuel free by 2030. She also mentioned working with contacts in Israel to see if there is a way we can take advantage of Israel’s effort to be 100% converted to electric vehicles in three years. These are two huge initiatives. I am glad we are doing this.

There were several bills being signed, and four of us were invited to speak.  David Murdock, President of Dole Corporation, complained that the bill to streamline the process for his 400 MW project on Lana‘i, although helpful, does not go far enough.

He wants the Governor to declare an emergency. He believes that the airlines are on the verge of bankruptcy, that very few people will be flying in the near future and that Hawai‘i’s future will be bleak if we don’t do something now.

I happen to believe he is right. Office of Hawaiian Affairs administrator Clyde Namau‘u writes in the July edition of the OHA newspaper Ka Wai Ola that we are bracing for a rough ride and that “grants to community organizations could also shrink.” The most defenseless among us will be the first to feel the effects of the wrenching downturn in the economy.

There is a heartbreaking letter to the editor in today’s Hawai‘i Tribune-Herald titled “What Is Happening?” Abigail Fojas writes: “I know a few single moms who were laid off, asking me if I know anyone who will hire them because they can’t make the rent next month, and unemployment won’t keep them in their homes. These women have like three kids and no husband. These are driven people who have worked most of their lives.”

But though I believe  Mr. Murdock is right, I just don’t see that people are ready to act, especially since the TV stations and the news media don’t even think the passage of these bills was newsworthy.

I was so busy thinking about my own speech that I did not hear the other two speakers. At the last minute I was mentally changing my speech around. I wanted to describe how this bill came to be, how Dwight Takamine’s dad Yoshito introduced it at the Farm Bureau convention and to talk a little bit about what Hamakua Springs is going to do. Next thing I knew I was up. This is what I said:

Thanks to the Legislature, Senate Ag Committee Chairperson Jill Tokuda and House Ag Committee Chairperson Clift Tsuji, who introduced the bill into their respective chambers and the Ag Committees of both Houses. Special thanks to Sandy Kunimoto, the Director of the Hawaii State Department of Agriculture, and especially the personnel in the Farm Loan Department, Dean Matsukawa and Mark Yamaki in particular. They were the ones who put the bill together.

This bill went through the entire process without one dissenting vote. I guess everyone likes to eat.

I was the only person from Hawai‘i who attended the Peak Oil conference in Houston this past October. It was clear that world oil supply was not able to keep up with demand. And it was clear that fuel prices were going to be rising with no end in sight.

Rising energy costs affect farmers very quickly. You can call farming the canary in the coal mine. Fertilizer, chemicals, irrigation, packing, cooling and transportation costs are all petroleum related.

Returning home, it was apparent that since we import most of our food, we need to do something to help farmers grow more food. The question was: “How will we feed Hawai‘i’s people?”

The answer is not complicated. “If the farmer makes money, the farmer will farm.”

This renewable energy farm bill is a Farm Loan Program that will allow Hawai‘i’s farmers to make low-cost loans for projects such as hydroelectric, solar, wind and bio fuels. This will help farmers big and small, on all islands, at all elevations, wet side-dry side, conventional/organic, high elevation and low. All farmers will benefit.

As an example of how this bill can benefit farmers, take our case. Hamakua Springs farms 600 acres of diversified crops, including bananas, and hydroponic vegetables such as tomatoes, Japanese cucumbers, green onions, lettuces as well as others. We are planning to do aquaculture soon. There are 80-something workers, together with three generations of us, who operate Hamakua Springs Country Farms.

Hamakua Springs is located in Pepe‘ekeo, 10 miles north of Hilo. As everyone knows, Hilo rains. One hundred forty inches of rain fall in an average year. We have three streams running through the property, as well as a flume that used to feed the sugar mill.

The renewable energy Farm Loan Bill will allow us to finance the borrowing of water from the flume in an 18-inch pipe, which we run downhill to a turbine that spins and makes electricity. We will then return the water that we are borrowing back to the flume.

Our monthly electric bill has gone from $9,000 a short time ago to $15,000 now. And there is no end in sight. But with this alternate energy farm bill, our monthly payments to make the hydroelectric plant will be less than half of the present electric bill.

After we install the hydroelectric project, we will have excess electricity. We are thinking of allowing our workers to plug their hybrid electric cars as an extra benefit for working for the farm. We are also thinking of using the banana waste to feed fish. We plan to take the ammonia from the fish waste, run it through a biofilter and send the usable fertilizer downstream to hydroponic vegetables. Then, we’ll pump the water back to the top with the excess electricity from our hydroelectric plant.

By temperature control we can fool plants into thinking its summer when it is winter. Chilling the plants in the summer will fool the plants into producing in the winter, when supplies are short. Small berries come to mind.

This is just one example. We could have hundreds of farmers taking advantage of this Farm Loan Program and implementing clever ideas we had no idea can be done.

Farmers are very resourceful and innovative people. This bill will help farmers grow more food. As we said before, “If the farmer can make money, the farmers will farm.

Help Hawai‘i’s farmers and feed Hawaii’s people. Buy local. We can do this!

I think it went over well. The governor said she liked that we’re proactive and many others told me that they liked the remarks as well.