Category Archives: Community

Adopt-a-Class, Community

Adopted Class Excursion!

A beautiful packet of thank you letters just arrived from Keaukaha Elementary School. Its kindergarten students went on their first excursion sponsored by our Adopt-A-Class program — more specifically, sponsored by John and Linda Tolmie, who generously “adopted” the kindergarten students for the first semester of this school year.

“Mr. Ha and Mr. & Mrs. Tolmie,” wrote teacher Wendi Kimura and the kindergarteners in B1. “Words cannot express how thankful I am to have such special people like you in our lives. We would have NEVER been able to take our keiki on a field trip like this. This is a field trip that will not be forgotten. For myself, living in Hilo all my life, I have never pulled a carrot out of the ground or picked my own pumpkin from a patch. It was so heartwarming to see eyes light up with delight. I thank you for providing our keiki with these awesome experiences!”

Kindergarten teacher Sarah Uchida wrote, “Mr & Mrs. Tolmie and Richard Ha, Thank you so much for giving us this opportunity to visit Kahua Ranch. We had so much fun picking carrots, picking our very own pumpkin, and getting dirty. Your generosity is very appreciated.”

They and kindergarten teacher Ruth Jarneski took their students to Kahua Ranch in Kohala. “They learned about farming and were able to pick their own carrots and pumpkins, which was a big thrill,” says Principal Lehua Veincent. “Even as rainy as it was that day, the children learned and had fun.”

We are thrilled to see our Adopt-A-Class program in action!

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.”

Community, Government, Sustainability

They Did Have Kukui Nut Oil

Wednesday night I attended a meeting to discuss the Hawai‘i 2050 Sustainability draft plan. There was an article about the meeting on the front page of yesterday’s Hawai‘i Tribune-Herald.

Senator Russell Kokubun is chairman of the 24-member task force. He gave an overview of the plan and I like his approach, which was inclusion and collaboration—an approach from the bottom up, rather than the typical “top down, force-it-through” approach one often sees from ineffective leaders. This is a good sign.

Next, Jane Testa, director of the Hawai‘i County Research and Development department, spoke. She, too, was very patient, respectful and thorough as she explained parts of the plan. Assistant Planning Director Brad Kurokawa followed and he was also positive but deferential and patient. It was evident to me that they are all very invested in this plan. This is a good start.

The objective of this meeting was to expand, contract and give relative weight to particular sustainability issues that are of concern to the community members. They split the audience into five groups, each with a facilitator. We were to make comments and lend color to the sections of the plan.

I came to the meeting with an agenda. I want to see Peak Oil given high priority, and its effects monitored continuously and adapted to as necessary.

It’s important to realize that population, oil and food are related. In the earliest days, one hundred percent of the energy needed to grow food was provided by the sun, and the human population was in balance with how difficult it was to catch and eat mastodons and saber tooth tigers.

Then 150 years ago, we discovered oil and it was cheap—$3 for a 55-gallon drum. Using energy obtained from oil produced inexpensive food. And the world population soared—it was easy to go hunting in the supermarkets.

But with Peak Oil, where oil will start to become expensive and scarce, it will be more difficult to produce food. And then what?

Back to the sustainability meeting. We need to be able to monitor Peak Oil and to take decisive action. We really don’t have time to play around and the last thing we need is flowery prose.

I was pleased to see that there will be a sustainability council. This group of people is a quasi-government group with powers given to them by the legislature. They will be on the job all the time on a specific task. Not like the legislature, which has a year-to-year memory. They will have to report at least annually, if not more frequently, to the public. This group will be the vehicle to monitor and react to Peak Oil for the State of Hawai‘i. I like this!

The part I like most is that one of the five goals is related to Kanaka Maoli cultural and island values. The Hawaiian culture already accomplished what we are now trying to do—they survived, and thrived, without oil. Okay, they did have kukui nut oil. No sense reinventing the wheel.

But with our ability now to harness alternative energy, we should be able to accomplish what the Hawaiians did hundreds of years ago.

Not, “no can.” Can!

Adopt-a-Class, Community

“Adopt-a-Class” Update

You may recall that we started our Adopt-a-Class project when we learned that Keaukaha Elementary School does not have enough funds to take its students on regular field trips. Because they have no funds, they only took walking excursions around the community.

So we started the Adopt-a-Class project, where individuals or groups could adopt one class for $600. Three hundred dollars would go for bus transportation and the other $300 would go toward entry fees to ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center, should the teachers want to take the kids there, or other destinations.

That was in May, and in these four months we have had enthusiastic support from the community. Just $300 more, to sponsor the second graders for the second semester, and all the classes are adopted and can go on excursions this school year.

For their first excursion, some of the students recently went to see Cinderella, a stage play at Hilo High School. As the school’s principal Lehua Veincent pointed out, many have never seen a play or other stage production, and it may open up a whole new world to them. We will post some photos here soon.

We have had several organizational meetings with Kumu Lehua, the school’s Adopt-a-Class coordinator Lynn Fujii, Tutu Momi Wakita, who is president of the Keaukaha School Foundation and Terry Crichton, secretary. All administrative tasks are done for free, and one hundred percent of the donations go to the Keaukaha Elementary School Foundation for the children’s excursions.

Aunty Momi told us that she had been planning to retire. But the Adopt-a-Class project generated enough work that she decided to work on it instead of retiring. She was smiling when she told us this.

Every time we meet with Kumu Lehua, we learn more about the school. For instance, he told us recently that the school’s enrollment is increasing significantly. For a while parents were taking their kids out of Keaukaha Elementary and sending them elsewhere. Now parents are bringing their kids back, because they feel like the kids are getting a good education.

He said that when he started there as principal two-and-a-half years ago, the student attendance rate averaged 92%, as compared to the state average, which is 95%. Keaukaha Elementary’s attendance rate is now above 97%. These kids must want to come to class.

I was floored when he told me that they have a monthly ‘Ohana night that draws 150 or more parents. I know of much larger schools where only a handful of parents participate.

Leslie asked about writing a press release about the Adopt-a-Class project and Lehua suggested she do it after the ‘Ohana night they have planned for November. That’s when the students will show where they went and what they did on their excursions and aloha the donors, who will be invited to attend. He said that the students’ acknowledging and thanking the Adopt-a-Class sponsors who help them is part of the education process.

We know this will be a special, unreal occasion. Roland Torres of the television program Kama‘aina Backroads told me he wants to film this event. Chicken skin time!

Community

Chefs du Jour 2

Six of us from the farm flew to O‘ahu last week to participate in the Chefs du Jour, which is a fundraiser for Easter Seals.

It was held at the Aloha Tower Marketplace. Guests moved between stations, where some of Hawai‘i’s best chefs prepared special dishes for them to sample.

 

Some well-known Mainland chefs also flew in to participate in the event, which is in its fifth year. June chatted with Art Smith.

He told her that Oprah has the same heirloom tomatoes at her home that we had on display—Purple Cherokees and Striped Germans.

We farmers were invited because the chefs wanted to support Hawai‘i Seal of Quality farmers. We set up booths to display our products and talked to guests as they entered the event area.

The Easter Seals kids welcomed guests, gave them lei and escorted them to their seats.

Lieutenant Governor Duke Aiona is a very strong supporter of agriculture. He chatted with all the Seal of Quality producers.

Fifteen years ago, a group of chefs got together and changed the face of cuisine in Hawai‘i. I cannot help but feel that this group of chefs and farmers will similarly change the face of agriculture in Hawaii.

Adopt-a-Class, Community

Affirmation

Last week I was invited by Kumu Lehua Veincent, principal of Keaukaha Elementary School, to have lunch at ‘Imiloa Cafe with 24 or so of his teachers. Kumu Lehua asked me, “Do you remember about two years ago when we first met to discuss the Thirty Meter Scope?” He said, “This is where that journey has brought us—here to ‘Imiloa.”

He introduced me to his staff as the person who helped organize excursions for the keiki at Keaukaha Elementary School. But it was not only me. It was also my friend Duane Kanuha, as well as others who saw an opportunity to help and just jumped in.

Kama‘aina Backroads recently taped an episode about Keaukaha Elementary School, which can be viewed here.

Although I was not expected to give a speech, I took the opportunity to tell the teachers that the occasion wasn’t about me. It was really about the teachers, largely unsung; they make the difference. I thanked them on behalf of the donors of the Adopt-a-Class project.

While sitting there, I overheard a conversation between Lehua and some district representatives from the Board of Education. Lehua told them that some people were in tears when they heard that Keaukaha Elementary School’s test scores had improved. And that if they improve sufficiently again this school year, they will be taken off the list of schools to be restructured under the federal “No Child Left Behind” program.

This is an extremely big, and emotional, deal! Keaukaha Elementary School had been underperforming for a long time, and people had started wondering if that was an inevitable and permanent state of things. This improvement in performance is an affirmation that the direction Kumu Lehua is leading is, indeed, the right way.

He has only been at Keaukaha Elementary a little more than two  years, and it’s since he arrived that things are starting to change.

Kumu Lehua believes in honoring the traditions and people who came before them in Keaukaha. Allowing the kids to be proud of who they are, and where they come from, gives them a firm base from which to move forward. From there, the sky is the limit.

We hope the Adopt-a-Class project will give the kids even more options and possibilities to contemplate. We doubled the contribution for the sixth grade class—the oldest students at the school—so they could go someplace a little bit special.

The Hawai‘i Island Economic Development Board has raised enough money to adopt at least one class. So now we just have two and a half classes left to adopt. At $600 per class, we need to raise just $1,500—and then every single class at Keaukaha Elementary School will be able to take an excursion each semester of this school year.

Next week we kick off the home stretch of our campaign by going on Big Island radio stations to talk about the Adopt-a-Class project.

Community, Seal of Quality

Chefs du Jour

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The sixth annual Chefs du Jour is a fundraiser for Easter Seals that will be held on August 11th at the Aloha Tower Marketplace in Honolulu. The event will be taped and shown on television as a one-hour special.

Last week we took a farm tour of Dean Okimoto’s farm in Waimanalo, on O‘ahu. The farm tour was taped too, and will also be a part of that television special.

Here’s Dean Okimoto’s Farm in Waimanalo. What a nice Hawaiian place.

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After our farm tour, the Easter Seals children in attendance got a special lunch featuring the “Seal of Quality dream burger.” This is Ryan Lum of the North Shore Cattle Company grilling burgers from the company’s beef. It’s very lean, grass-fed, hormone free, dry aged beef. Fabulous taste and good for you.

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Conrad Nonaka and Dean Okimoto with Easter Seals kids, trying different greens from Dean’s farm.

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This special burger was made entirely of Seal of Quality member products: North Shore Cattle Company’s dry aged, grass-fed beef, Hamakua Springs’s heirloom tomatoes, Dean’s Greens, mushrooms from Hamakua Mushrooms, and Wailea Ag Group’s heart of palm. Celebrity chefs and Seal of Quality farmers served the burgers to the children.

Representative Clifton Tsuji, chairman of the House of Representative’s Agriculture committee, told us his thoughts about sustainability. His background is as a senior bank executive, and he grew up where people raised their own vegetables. He knows how farmers have to grow their crops and pay their bills.

Hawaii Seal of Quality members’ products at Dean’s farm.

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Chef Hiroshi Fukui, Chef Roy Yamaguchi, me, Clifton Tsuji (House of Representatives Ag committee chairman), Chef Alan Wong.

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The serving line was made up of Chef Alan, Dean, me, Mike Crowell of Wailea Ag Group, Chef Hiroshi and Chef Roy.

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The Easter Seals kids got to tour the farm and then eat a great lunch served by world-famous chefs. We farmers were glad to be a part of this special event, which you can also read about here.

Community, Eating Locally

Waimea Foodland’s Island Market

This past Saturday June and I participated in an “Island Market” at Foodland Waimea. This is the third such event Foodland has sponsored recently. It’s the same as a farmers market in that the farmers that supply Foodland have their produce on display. Even though the regularly scheduled farmers market was right down the street, based on the volume of produce sold Foodland’s Island Market did very well.

There was a steady flow of customers from 8 a.m. until noon. We sold out most of what we brought and had to ask Jose, the produce manager, if we could get more product from the store’s stock.

The Dragonfruit lady attracted lots of attention. Dragonfruit is attractive to look at and delicious to eat.

We were at the next two tables. We had bananas, cucumbers, green onions, lettuce, cocktail, Hamakua sweets, and heirloom tomatoes on display. That’s Kelvin Shigemura, an executive at Armstrong Produce, lending a hand at our booth. June was further down, helping the chef putting out his tasty samples.

This next photo is of June preparing samples of Cherokee Purple heirloom tomatoes. People were eager to try these ugly, non-uniform, colorful and very tasty tomatoes, and asked a lot of questions. Some really liked the fact that the heirloom tomatoes are not uniform in appearance. We told them that heirloom tomatoes were developed more than 50 years ago, when people were more interested in good taste than in ease of shipping.

Chef Keoni, preparing pupu for the line of customers in front. Tiffany Tom, Foodland’s Produce Buyer, was making sure the farmers were supplied with food and drink. Again, Foodland made sure the farmers were well cared for.

Chef Kent made an heirloom sandwich. It was made up of heirloom tomato slices in place of bread, with grilled eggplant, basil, thick balsamic vinegar ($40 a bottle), olive oil, Hawaiian salt and white pepper. It was really good.

I would love to see the photos of the farmers, which were outside during the Island Market event, displayed inside the different Foodland stores. This would go a long way in showing customers how much of Foodland’s produce is supplied by local farmers.

Community, Film

Hamakua Jones

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When Indiana Jones isn’t busy trying to keep Nazis from recovering the Ark of the Covenant, saving children from bloodthirsty cults or seeking the Holy Grail, what does he eat?

Why sweet, fresh Hamakua Springs vegetables, of course. After all, a guy’s gotta keep up his strength and his spirits.

[Leslie’s full disclosure: I’m about to bring my brother into this story.]

Steven Lang just finished working as Personal Chef for the Indiana Jones actor Harrison Ford and his girlfriend, the actress Calista Flockhart, when they were recently in town.

They were here because Harrison Ford was filming part of his fourth Indiana Jones movie in Hilo, which was standing in for a Southern American rainforest. The town buzzed a little; but only a little, because we’re pretty laidback here in Hilo. Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Cate Blanchette, John Hurt – there were some pretty high-powered people roaming around our sleepy little bayfront town.

Steve called both Harrison and Calista ahead of time, in Los Angeles, to discuss their food likes and dislikes, and he learned they are healthy eaters who like to eat fresh fish and other fresh foods.

So when gathering up his ingredients, one of the first places Steve hit was Hamakua Springs.

Steve had signed a non-disclosure agreement, so all they knew at the farm was that he had some big catering job. Charlotte told me everybody knew the movie people were in town, and that Richard kind of guessed Steve was cooking for some of them.

“But Steve didn’t take enough for the whole film crew,” she said, “so I hoped it was for Harrison Ford, because I’d heard he was already here.”

She loaded Steve up with tomatoes and lettuce, and then she went to a greenhouse where they grow specialty vegetables for Chef Alan Wong.

This isn’t really Charlotte creeping through the jungle to the greenhouse. It IS her with her Indiana Jones hat on, though. I made her pose for this picture.

“We had some extras and I pulled them right out of the greenhouse,” she said. “Our bright red beets that have a target design inside, and some baby carrots which are different colors: purple, ‘atomic red,’ and rainbow, which is a blend of yellow, white and orange.”

“I handed them to Steve and told him I hadn’t even washed them yet,” she said, “and he said that was okay because they’d know they were fresh.”

Harrison and Calista stayed in a rented private home located up above the farm. Steve told me he pointed out Hamakua Springs from the lanai, in order to show them how fresh their vegetables were. “These were picked this morning from that farm right there,” he showed them.

Harrison was interested in all the agriculture he noticed, and asked Steve about it. Steve told him about the island’s transition from a sugar plantation economy to one of diversified agriculture.

Maybe we should have finagled Harrison Ford a tour of Hamakua Springs Country Farms. Shoot—a missed opportunity.

Charlotte said she thought it was cool when she learned, after the job was over, that the produce was indeed for Harrison Ford. “Raiders of the Los Ark is one of my favorite movies of all time,” she told me. “My sister and I were always giddy over him.”

“Very cool, very cool,” she said. “It appeals to me that our vegetables would appeal to him. He’s not just any actor—he’s Indiana Jones!”

Steve said it was interesting walking around in that film world for a couple weeks, and that the job went well. “They are really, really nice people,” he said, “and they raved about the food.”

Must have been those vegetables.      

Community, Cucumbers, Lettuce, Tomatoes

Sidewalk Sale

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June and I participated in a sidewalk sale at KTA this past Saturday, and it was awesome. From 7 a.m. until noon, people did not stop coming. Most came for the summer fruit and yet even though we were not the focus of attention, we sold approximately 200 bunches of green onions, 15 boxes of cucumbers and a lot more.

We are big fans of KTA Superstores. KTA has been instrumental in easing this island’s transition from a sugar plantation economy to what it is today. The company has helped local farmers become economically stable by offering them the opportunity to sell their products under the Mountain Apple Brand label.

As for us, KTA has been willing to work with us on new items, new packaging and generally operating “outside of the box.” It is because of this help that we’ve been able to bring so many new products to market.

We sold our heirloom tomatoes. Heirlooms are generally varieties older than 50 years. When disease resistance, attractiveness and shelf life are primary considerations, heirlooms are not the most desirable. But chefs love them because heirlooms are noted for their good taste. We grow them because we like to eat them.

The Striped German is interesting. If you turn the tomato upside down, you see a red color radiating outward. That two-toned red and yellow color is what you see when the tomato is sliced. It’s very pretty and interesting. This tomato has a taste combination that leans toward sweetness with just a hint of acidity. People who like sweetness in their tomatoes might like this one best.

The Purple Cherokee has a nice balance of sweetness to acid. The seeds don’t tend to fall out and the tomato has a consistent texture throughout.  It is, well, “meaty.”  The description “beefy” comes to mind. I wonder if that’s where the name beefsteak tomato comes from? I like it simple—chilled and sliced with a little Hawaiian salt and ground black pepper. Very nice! People who like a balanced acid to sweetness ratio might choose this as their favorite.

 

In the clamshell containers are our living lettuce. They are called “living lettuce” because the roots are on and they have the ability to breathe oxygen. One of the reasons we like this is because we can ship these using less cooling energy. Also, the lettuce lasts longer than conventionally grown lettuces.

Our green onions are grown hydroponically. Mainland green onions have the tops cut off, but we like to leave the tops on so we can show them off. It’s hard to grow green onions that have green tips, but we do it. We also leave the tips on for food safety reasons—we feel that there is less chance for contamination if we don’t cut off them off.

We have finally learned how to grow crispy, crunchy Japanese cucumbers. It’s interesting to talk to customers as they decide whether to buy or not. As they carry on a conversation, they go through the cucumbers, carefully checking out each one. I think people really touch and feel the cucumber for confirmation that it will be crunchy and crispy. So we know what our job is. It’s more than just slapping on a pretty label.

Also, we don’t like waxed produce. So we don’t do it.

We are really proud of our green onions. But we feel that they are still too thin and leggy. In a couple of weeks we will have them where we want them—green from tip to bottom, a little bit shorter and more stout. They will be stronger looking and flawless, and all without harsh chemicals.