Category Archives: Eating Locally

Eating Locally, Government

Act 175, New Procurement Law

1 Comment

The Honolulu Advertiser ran an article – Hawaii law may hurt farmers; Bid process could bring more outside competition – last week. It talks about Act 175, the new law that requires state agencies to gather competitive bids before buying food and other agricultural products.

Although there was a preference for local agricultural products in the previous law, the Hawaii Administrative Rules exempted local products from the law that required open competition, transparency of government purchasing practices, and additional preferences such as small business ones.

The state could have chosen to give preference to local produce with this new law; they just chose not to.

From the Advertiser article:

While the intent of the law is to support local growers, not all officials are convinced that will be the effect….Competitive procurement is expected to draw more Mainland competition, even with the 15 percent advantage given to local growers.

Farmers are incredulous. Prior to enactment of Act 175, state agencies purchased very little from local farmers. What’s to lose?

“If … it becomes a competitive process, we’re not sure exactly what the effect would be – whether it would be positive or negative, because nobody has any experience with that,” said state Agriculture Director Sandra Lee Kunimoto. “But the farm bureau and the farmers felt it was worth trying to see if it would increase the purchase of local goods.”

State Procurement Office Administrator Aaron Fujioka agreed. “It didn’t have to be competed, and it could be all purchased local from local companies locally grown,” Fujioka said. “The prior exemptions allowed agencies, if they chose, to purchase only from local companies and locally grown fresh produce and meats. They could have done that. Now that choice is no longer available. It has to go through a formal, more structured process.”

State agencies could have chosen to buy local produce, but they all chose not to. Out of 650 Big Island Farm Bureau members, I know of only one who sells to state agencies – and she has to go through a third party. Hawai‘i farmers know it is impossible to get produce into the schools and other state agencies.

We farmers welcome a formal, more structured process. But this time we want to help structure that process.

According to the state Procurement Office, state agencies purchased $6.63 million of fresh meat and produce from November 2005 through January 2009. The average award was about $7,400. The top three suppliers during that period in terms of dollar volume of sales were Love’s Bakery ($907,813), Meadow Gold Dairies ($511,295) and Mikilua Poultry Farm ($500,000). The top three suppliers in terms of number of awards were: Ham Produce (162), Hilo Products (133) and Armstrong Local Produce (132).

Procurement Office data suggest that most fresh food and produce purchased by state agencies came from local wholesalers and retailers. What isn’t clear is whether those local firms acquired their produce from local farms.

That is exactly the problem. It’s as if the state procurement office is saying: “Since we are buying from a local wholesaler, it must be local produce.” Farmers just shake their heads and go back to farming.

Farmers have known for years that the system is broken. There is no data to show how much of the state procurement is locally grown foods. How would the state know if their policy of “supporting local” is working?

The state says, “We support local farmers.” Farmers think, “It’s not what you say; it’s what you do.”

Farmers shake their heads. We know that the more fresh vegetables we import, the more inspectors we need and the higher the risk of invasive species.  We have more endangered species here in Hawai‘i than in the whole rest of the United States.

“The Big Island farm bureau polled their members, and they’ve got 650 members – and they only had one producer selling on a regular basis to the state and one who shipped their first shipment this year,” Connally said. “Their sense was their products were not going into the state facilities.

“If the farmers see that there’s a steady market available, then they can produce for that market.”

It’s what I keep saying: “If the farmers make money, the farmers will farm.”

Food security; the dangers of exporting our economy because of rising oil prices; protecting our endangered species – when we are truly supporting local farmers, we are addressing all of these concerns.

The world has changed and we no longer have the luxury of bumbling along. For the sake of future generations, we need to get serious.

Farmers understand this very clearly. This is not rocket science.

Farmers who are interested in helping push implementation forward can contact their legislators, the governor’s office and the state procurement office.

It may not be in the farmer’s nature to be vocal, but we need to make some noise.

Eating Locally

Why Local Produce Costs More Than Imported Produce

2 Comments

In response to a recent Ha Ha Ha! post, Kini asked the question:

Why does the price of produce grown here in Hawai’i continue to be more expensive than produce shipped in from the mainland?

It’s an excellent question, and there are several parts to the answer.

1) One reason, not easily seen, is the over-enthusiastic State policy of facilitating commerce. The Department of Agriculture is required to help mainland and foreign retailers keep their imported produce moving.

Our Department of Agriculture inspectors are instructed to help “clean up” imported produce so it can be moved quickly to retail and thereby facilitate commerce.

If our products do not pass inspection in California, on the other hand, we Hawai‘i farmers pay to have them hauled away for incineration.  We do not dare to ask the California Department of Ag to help “clean up” our products. We worry that they might just ban all products from Hawai‘i.

Some retailers sending produce from outside Hawai‘i expect Department of Agriculture inspectors to routinely drive to individual supermarkets in order to inspect newly arrived air and sea containers of produce. This almost requires Department of Agriculture inspectors to be on call, and there is a cost associated with that process. Why should we taxpayers pay? The effect of this “hat in hat” approach to facilitating imported commerce is that the cost of imported produce appears to be lower than local produce. It sends the wrong message to our local farmers.

Maybe the mainland retailers could pay, into a special fund, the amount necessary to ensure the inspections get done. If that cost was picked up by the importing retailer, then they would mark up the price of their imported produce. The true price of importing produce would be apparent, and local farmers would become more competitive.

I have said it before: “If the farmer makes money, the farmer will farm.” The over-enthusiastic interpretation of the idea of “facilitation of commerce” serves to discourage farmers here from farming.

Several years ago we supplied the company Harry and David, in Oregon, with apple bananas. This required Federal inspectors on site, and we were charged for the inspectors’ time and travel. We built that cost into the cost of our product.

It seems like that “pay as you go” system works fine for the Federal government. Maybe it can also work for the inspection of incoming products?

2) Another problem is that most of our Hawai‘i farms are small – less than 25 acres. Smaller farms cannot make ends meet without charging higher prices. Also, they do not have the production capability to help their customers stay efficient and competitive. Higher land prices play into the above.

3) Hawai‘i depends on fossil fuel for 78 percent of the generation of its electricity, whereas the U.S. mainland uses oil for only three percent of its electricity generation. This is significant because produce is commonly refrigerated in order to maintain freshness and quality. Oil prices have been rising lately and so Hawai‘i farmers are spending more for refrigeration; or else they are gambling that the decline in quality that results from not cooling will be okay.

This is why we put forth so much effort in passing legislation that will give farmers preference when renewable energy incentives are initiated. It’s about food security. And it’s about sending the right signals to farmers.

In our “families of farms” model, we try to address these issues in a way that acknowledges and builds on the strength of each participant. I’m going to write about our “families of farms” soon.

Community, Eating Locally, Renewable Energy Sources, Sustainability

Ulupono Initiative

Pierre Omidyar, founder of eBay, and his wife Pam just announced the launch of their Ulupono Initiative. It’s:

a Hawai‘i-based business and social investment initiative rooted in the local wisdom that a healthy environment and a healthy economy go hand in hand. The Ulupono Initiative will invest in and help scale innovative Hawai‘i-based organizations to catalyze economic and social change in the areas of waste reduction, local food production and renewable energy. By growing a progressive, thriving economy based on sustainability, the Ulupono Initiative ultimately aims to improve the quality of life for Hawai‘i’s people.

This will make a major difference in Hawaii’s ability to survive into the future.

I see this as a way to support free enterprise projects that can move the ball downfield in the areas mentioned. I see that this initiative can also support non-profits where applicable. All in all, it’s a very good way to utilize the energy of the people.

From the Ulupono Initiative website, some examples of the types of investments the organization is making:

The Ulupono Initiative invests in organizations and companies working to improve Hawai’i’s economy by expanding the supply of renewable energy. For example:

Sopogy is a solar energy solutions provider dedicated to inventing, manufacturing and selling the worlds most innovative and affordable solar collectors. The Honolulu firm started as an Energy Laboratory incubator initiative. The Omidyars recognized creative leadership with an innovative product that was scalable to a global level. Sopogy demonstrated the qualities of an ideal Ulupono investment. It’s a local firm with a better business model that is ripe for expansion. With catalytic investment, Sopogy has expanded to supply a global marketplace with its trademarked concentrated solar power technology.

The Ulupono Initiative invests in organizations and companies working to expand Hawai’is supply of locally grown food. For example:

MA’O Organic Farms is a certified organic farm run by the Waianae Community Redevelopment Corporation (WCRC), a non-profit organization established by area residents, traditional practitioners, teachers, and business experts to address important needs of the Waianae community: youth empowerment, sustainable economic development, agriculture, health, and Hawaiian culture. Young people are engaged through a pathway of educational opportunities while they work to operate an organic farm that grows premium quality fruits and vegetables. With Omidyar family matching funds of the Legacy Lands Act and with support from Hawai’i Community Foundation, MA’O purchased land to triple its acreage. Because high growth creates new management challenges, strategic assistance has also been provided in formulating the plans to scale the farm to its new size, with the end goal of helping the program increase the number of students served and meet growing demand for its local, organic produce.

The Hawai’i Island School Gardens Network is managed by The Kohala Center on the Island of Hawai’i. By supporting dedicated staff and offering small matching grants, the program is expanding the number of school gardens and is sparking excitement within the community. Children are growing food locally, selling and marketing their product, and tracking production. The program hopes to inspire a new generation of Hawaii farmers while it increases the production and consumption of locally produced, nutritious food.

Hawai’i BioEnergy LLC is a limited liability company established by three of Hawai’is largest landowners (Kamehameha Schools, Grove Farm Company, and Maui Land & Pineapple Company), in partnership with global leaders in the venture capital community with an emphasis in sustainability (Khosla Ventures, Finistere Ventures, and ourselves). Hawai’i BioEnergy’s mission is to reduce Hawai’is energy costs, greenhouse gas emissions, and dependence on fossil fuels and improve local agriculture through research and development of local renewable bioenergy projects. Among Hawai’i BioEnergy’s initiatives are projects conducting research and development on various sites in Hawai’i to lead to the commercialization of producing biofuels from micro-algae in Hawai’i. Learn more about Hawai’i BioEnergy.

The Ulupono Initiative invests in organizations and companies using technology in innovative ways to engage the entire community in creating Hawai’is sustainable future. For example:

Kanu Hawai’i is an innovative social movement supported in part by a matching grant from the Omidyar family. It utilizes the power of web 2.0 tools to catalyze individual commitments into community action in harmony with island values. Kanu is pioneering new methods of engaging the citizens in the effort to build more compassionate, self-reliant, and sustainable communities. It is a model for civic engagement and social change with incredible potential, here and in other communities.

You can read more about the Ulupono Initiative in its press release.

Community, Eating Locally, Sustainability

Sustainable Food at E Malama ‘Aina Festival

1 Comment

Sonia Martinez, the Big Island’s own foodie and food blogger, was in charge of food at the recent E Malama ‘Aina sustainability festival, and she says it was important that the food vendors were, well, sustainable.

“The main criteria was that they used mostly Big Island products,” she says. “Of course we don’t grow everything here, like wheat for the bread, but we wanted them to use at least 70 percent Big Island-grown foods. And #2 was that they used “green” ware – napkins, serving plates, bowls, cups, etc.”

It was the point of the whole festival – that people saw that it is possible (and delicious, in this case) to buy local and act sustainable; and to provide examples.

Some of the foodsellers at the festival:

  • The Boys and Girls Club – teriyaki and beef sandwiches
  • Michael’s Hawaiian food from Pahoa
  • Naung Mai – Thai food
  • Crivello’s – Portuguese Bean Soup and malasadas
  • Filipino food
  • Hilo Bay Fudge, with popsicles, fudge and dipped pretzels
  • Hawai‘i Island Goat Cheese farm
  • The University Scuba Divers Fish Club – brownies, banana brad and cookies
  • Big Island Tacos
  • Ai Opena espresso coffee truck (say the name of that business out loud)

The E Malama ‘Aina organizers’ group also sold bottles of donated Kona Deep water.

“Everyone that I have heard from was very complimentary about the food,” says Sonia. She’s already contacted some food vendors and asked them to “save the date” of the second annual E Malama ‘Aina festival, which will be on November 7, 2009. Any food vendors who’d like to talk with her about participating can email her at cubanwahine@hawaii.rr.com.

“I’ve heard from several that they plan to be there,” she says. “It was fun and I’m looking forward to doing it again. All my volunteers have already asked if we are doing it again.”

And what did she eat at the festival that day, surrounded by so much good, healthy, local and sustainable food?

“I hate to admit it,” she says, sounding a little guilty about singling out one vendor, “but I had to have Portuguese Bean Soup, because Loretta Crivello kept after me. I had planned to eat a little bit from here and a little bit from there, but then I got so busy.

“It was gooood,” she says. “She also gave me a malasada that morning for breakfast.”

Blog, Eating Locally, Radio

Locavore Nation

I had a look at a University of Hawai‘i College of Tropical Agriculture blog the other day. It’s called Sustainable Agriculture, and the post Locavore Nation, Slow Food and the Importance of Agriculture in the Aloha State really caught my eye.

First some background: Remember Lynne Rossetto Kasper, host of the American Public Radio program The Splendid Table? She came to Hawai‘i last spring and gave a three-hour master class, Tomato 101, at Kapi‘olani Community College. And then she, along with the 100 professional chefs and culinary students in attendance, had a tomato tasting and Hamakua Springs won! It was very exciting.

From the Sustainable Agriculture blog:

American Public Media’s PBS radio program, The Splendid Table, which by the way, is the recipient of the 2008 James Beard Award for best radio food program, is sponsoring Locavore Nation, which features 15 bloggers from across the mainland writing about their experiences for one year as they they try to get 80 percent of their food from local, organic, seasonal sources and then to incorporate it into tasty, healthy meals.  It’s a good time to be starting such a project, in fact one of the recent posts says it a  “Great time to be a locavore!”  Check back from time to time to see how they are doing, especially after the first frost sets in.

It’s blogging gone wild. Fun. It also sounds kind of tricky, but I still wish they’d asked me.

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.”

Community, Eating Locally

Santa and the Bananas

Santa was at the Kino‘ole Street Farmers Market the other day handing out candy cane and our apple bananas. Rusty Perry asked if we could donate apple bananas for Santa to hand out to little kids, and we were more than happy to give him all the bananas we brought that day.

When a woman came to our booth looking for apple bananas, I told her we didn’t have any, but that I knew where she could get some. I took her over to Santa and she got a few.

There was something going on at the Farmers Market the whole time. In addition to Santa, there was a cooking demonstration going on. I was surprised to see so many people sitting on benches in the audience. It was good to see. And every 30 minutes or so there was a “lucky number” drawing.

The market, which is on Saturdays from 7 a.m. to noon, is sponsored by the Farm Bureau, which wants the actual farmer to be at the booth. Everyone brings good quality, really fresh products and my grandson Kapono and I are happy to be included. This is the third time we have participated and we really look forward to it.

Community, Eating Locally

Yellow Jacket

1 Comment

This is the second week in a row that we’ve been a vendor at the Kino‘ole Street Farmers Market. Now that my grandson Kapono and I know the routine, it’s easy.

Early in the morning Saturday, at 5:30 when we were getting ready to leave for the market, there was a very heavy, pounding downpour. It reminded me of monsoon season in Vietnam, where in two to three seconds, one could fill up a two-cup canteen with rainwater running off a one-man tent. It was faster to catch the rainwater than to remove the cap and pour water from a canteen.

When we arrived at 6:30, it wasn’t raining and we hustled to get the tent up. It was fairly clear during the early part of the day. But around 10:30, there was a major downpour and everyone stayed under the tents for several minutes.

One would expect Hilo people to carry umbrellas. But only one person had an umbrella handy, and he was the only one walking around from booth to booth. It frequently happens like that where no one seems to have an umbrella. I very rarely carry an umbrella, even though Hilo is supposed to be the rainiest city in the U.S.A.

The rain didn’t dampen anyone’s spirit. Here in Hilo rain just comes and goes and it just “is.” No problem.

Farm Bureau sponsors give talks on Farmers Market days. This past Saturday’s talk was on yellow jackets.

It reminds me of when we were in elementary school. I don’t know if these are the same yellow jackets Dr. Foote was discussing, but my brother Robert and I would go down to do battle with the yellow jackets, which made nests that hung from the roof of an old abandoned building during the summer. The plan was that I would throw dirt at the hives to get them really mad. Then we would use a short guava stick to whack them out of the air.

Someone told me that bees cannot recognize a person—that they mostly detect movement. So I figured we could whack at them and then freeze. And then do it again, until we won. But we lost our nerve, got a few stings and ran away screaming.

The next summer we resolved to win the battle. I threw dirt at the hive with both hands. To our horror, bees came out in a cloud. We whacked as many as we dared out of the air and then we froze. Those bees were really mad, and we pretended we were fence posts. They were mad for a long time and one even attacked—he came at me like he recognized me. But I kept pretending to be a fence post and he flew off and circled instead. We did not dare move around, and we ran for home, throwing the guava sticks in the air because they slowed us down too much. But we didn’t scream.

The best thing about the Farmers Market is that one gets to meet and chat with many people. Some are friends from long ago and others are friends of friends, or relatives of relatives. No wonder people come back week after week. It’s fun to meet and chat with people. We met one couple who introduced themselves as parents of our friend Darren Akiona.

I hadn’t seen Ralph Lee for a long time. I asked him, “By the way, how did it come about that you had a 1961 Chevy 409 in 1961?” It was the talk of the school and the whole island if not the whole state at the time. It turned out that his dad was friends with Chuchu Kanuha, the manager of Hilo Motors, and was told of this brand new model car that was coming out. So Ralph’s dad ordered it. It cost a little over $3,000 then. I always wanted to know how Ralph ended up with the hottest car on the island.

Earlier I chatted with Janice Crowl, who told me that she was in a group of Master Gardeners who recently visited our farm. She wrote about that visit here on her blog.

The Kino‘ole Farmers Market is located in the parking lot in front of Kawate Seed Shop. We grew up calling the sweet and sour Chinese seeds one can buy there “crack seed.”

 

Cyrus Wagatsuma, a Farm Bureau member and diversified farmer from Papaikou, brought a wide selection of vegetables. He has a loyal following of shoppers.

People you don’t expect to meet: Tom Beck worked with our son Brian as an electrician at the Canada-France telescope on Mauna Kea. Brian respected Tom and talked about him a lot. Tom is retired from the mountain now and is selling Wagyu cattle and specialty native plants as a hobby. He looks and sounds like he’s very happy. I thought I saw a bamboo coqui trap. It was a gadgety-looking coqui trap, where the frogs would go up the bamboo pole and into a compartment to lay eggs. I have to go back and take a closer look.

Rusty Perry and I have been friends for more than 30 years. He is very active in the Farm Bureau now. Way back when, we started in the banana business together and then he diversified into papaya and orchids. He markets his products on the Internet. His booth had a sweet smell from his orchids.

Aaron and Vionel Sugino run three booths. They make fruit pies, lavosh, taro, sweet potato chips, poi and all kinds of other products.

Vinel operates the incubator kitchen located in the old Fujii Bakery at Wailea, on the old road that goes by Kolekole Beach Park, and she has opened up its storefront. It’s still a well-kept secret at this point—they’ve only been open one week—but people are going to flock there.

Community, Eating Locally

Farm Bureau Farmers Market

This past Saturday, my grandson Kapono and I set up a booth at the Big Island Farm Bureau’s farmers market. It’s on Kino‘ole Street, in the parking lot of the old Food Fair Supermarket close to Kawate Seed Shop, and operates from 7 a.m. to 12 noon. We wanted to see what it was like.

We got there at 6:45 in the morning, and with help from our neighbors at the Keolanui and Olson fruit booth, we were set up in less than 15 minutes. We brought beefsteak, heirloom and other tomatoes, Japanese cucumbers and green onions, and we displayed them on a 6-foot table with a nice tablecloth. We taped up price tags and priced everything in 50-cent increments so it would be easy to make change. Just like that we were ready to go.

One unexpected thing happened. There was a series of strong gusts, so we drove the truck up and secured the tent to it. Next time we’ll copy our left side neighbor, Green Point Nurseries—they tied their tent to five-gallon buckets that were filled with water. That’s a good idea and we’ll have to do that next time.

The Farm Bureau provided Hawaiian music entertainment and speakers talked about coqui frog control and other subjects. The Department of Agriculture had an informational booth about invasive species. It was very informative. Every half hour there was a drawing. Some of the booths were decorated in Chirstmas themes. It lent a festive air to the market.

There were maybe 15 tents. Aaron and Vinel Sugino had their Blue Kalo products two booths down. Their products have a blue and white theme, and their tent was blue and white as was their Christmas theme. She runs the Hakalau Incubator Kitchen, housed in the old Fujii Bakery in Hakalau. She told me they recently opened up the storefront for retail sales.

Rusty and Jenny Perry sold papayas, citrus and orchid plants in a tent close to the stage. I’ve known Rusty and Jenny for 30 years. Their daughter Vicky was over at the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR) booth. I can remember when she was a small kid running around barefoot. Now she has graduated from UH Manoa and works for CTAHR Dean Andy Hashimoto on O‘ahu.

Cyrus Wagatsuma had an assortment of vegetables at his booth, which was nicely decorated as well.

It started off slowly but picked up from 8 a.m. to 10:30 or so. The tomatoes were very popular. It was pretty apparent that many people had never seen an heirloom tomato before; some thought they were mini pumpkins. Next time we’ll be prepared to have people sample the heirlooms.

We had two lettuces in glasses filled with water. Our objective was to show hydroponic farming in miniature, but a lot of people asked if we had any for sale. We’ll bring some next time.

It seemed like many of the shoppers were senior citizens on a budget. We’re going to bring some “seconds” bananas and tomatoes next time to see if they appeal to those shoppers.

It was fun to talk to people, explain how hydroponics work and just interact with the customers. Lots of them actually knew who we were and what we did. And now we know what quantities to bring. I think we’ll mark the prices down after 10:30 if we feel like we have too much of a particular item.

Kapono and I are looking forward to next Saturday.

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.”