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That's because Oahu is covered in concrete, it can't produce much at all. Most of the good agricultural lands have been covered in houses. The other islands can produce loads of food, it's just getting it produced, packed and shipped that's the problem.
I have to disagree. 70% of Oahu is zoned rural or agriculture. Take a drive to the North Shore via H2, hundreds of acres of prime farmland not being farmed due to high cost of farming. Look around the Dole area.
First of all, this has absolutely nothing to do with the Jones Act. That only regulates shipments by water between US Ports. It has nothing to do with air cargo, and it has nothing to do with shipments between a foreign port and a US port.
I don't see this proposed rule change as doing anything except allowing Philippine bananas to be shipped directly to Hawai'i instead of having to be shipped to California first. It isn't going to affect local banana cultivation one way or the other.
hotzcatz, you describe it well. Problem is that our islands fail for several insurmountable reasons (distance, price of land, energy costs, US wages & labor laws) to grow commodities. But excels in some niche crops ( Kona coffee, Kona waters, Maui onions, HAwaii chocolate & Cacao, etc). More niche crops should be nurtured by the HDOA and backed up with protective legislation. Land staying in agriculture can much easier turned back to commodities when the need arises. You have farmers, and you have ag land. Not only urbanites and concrete covered TMK's.
Studying what differentiates Hawaiian bananas and enhancing their taste, nutritional value, cultural aspects, cuisine, and tie-ins into farm tourism would be the right thing to do. Branding them and opening new markets. Making it a Hawaiian pride thingy of having a banana patch in every neighborhood or park. Hawaiian banana liquor, Hawaiian Banana chips, a Hawaii banana workout/surf nutritional bar or smoothie, stuff like that.
Of course it would need to be protected from copycats and that's where it gets iffy. Geographic ag protection for Hawaiian crops is not something mainland lobbyists like our politicians to do. Their juicy profit margin of selling cheap imports with the Hawaiian name attached is just to easy.
And I am afraid that's what's behind this dangerous direct banana import from the Philippines as well.
Kona coffee already had/has a huge problem with other coffee being imported and then re-branded as "Kona". They'd usually add in a very small percentage of Kona coffee and then call it "Kona Blend". There is now a requirement that there be a minimum of 10% Kona coffee in "Kona blends", but I don't know who or if anyone is actually monitoring this. The Kona coffee folks are pretty together about their crop, although there is now some dilution of superior coffee plants going on when they are planting the Caturra variety for larger crop size when the Kona or Blue Mountain (which is also grown in Kona) strains have the better flavors.
There are a lot of crops that can be grown here but aren't. Partly since we don't have much of an agricultural background in small farmers but that demographic is slowly improving. Previously, most of the agriculture on this island was more of an outside manufacturing than what we would consider true farming. When folks worked sugar, they were told what to do each day and very specifically. They also didn't work the entire process, but just a portion of it. If we had a population with small farming experiences and attitudes, then there would be a lot more diversified ag going on. Which would help diversify the economy, increase the self sufficiency of the islands and create livelihoods for folks who can't find traditional employment. We can support these farmers and artisans by buying whatever they make whenever we can.
There are other possible crops other than food crops. Kona used to have a large cotton crop that produced cloth which was very well regarded. There's remnants of the cotton plants left, but no mills on the island so even if the remnants were harvested processing would have to be done off island. Mohair goats would be a good herd for land clearing, IMHO, although there aren't any of them on the islands that I know of. There's a really cute fiber goat called a "Pygora" which is a cross between a pygmy and an angora, that would make great pets as well as produce excellent spinning fiber. Mohair/angora is a specialty crop that can be sold directly to hand spinners so the "economy of scale" isn't required.
Most folks can produce something but most folks don't even consider it. Our whole society has evolved into training folks to be helpless and consume things made by other people.
hotzcats, the Kona Blend laws are not being enforced or monitored. Our Quality & Standard division at the HDOA doesn't do their job and even failed an internal audit big time in 2013. Much bigger than coffee: They don't inspect the scales at grocery stores, gas station pump meters and pretty much everything else as well. Problem comes from the salaried, unionized administrators who don't want to hire people they don't personally know (They phrase it slightly different but that's behind it).
Hawaii has plenty people who would farm and be most likely pretty good at it. What's lacking are the skills in marketing/selling their crops to the end users. Farmers by nature are mostly a solitary bunch and not very communicative. Just toiling in the dirt or caring for animals is not profitable per se. In the age of e-commerce few are able to build their own website and to get visitors to come to them. The intermediate steps driving up the crop costs by processor, distributor, wholeseller, store are eliminated. Farm direct is indeed highly profitable and consumers are very loyal. A family farm has one big thing going for them and that is authenticity!
Many Hawaiian farmers give up too early. Few do research. Many invest too little money or simply copy what others do (A farm stand opens up in a particular area--five more are within a mile radius the next week. Two months later all close.). Some plough thru their money thinking they are in business already and don't think about book keeping. Some can't see the target group in front of them while trying to market to hipsters. Coffee farmers i.e. all think that 'organic' coffee would be getting their farms a profit. Ignoring that few organic folks drink caffeinated beverages. And HAwaii coffee uses very few chemicals to begin with.
That's where the mainland impostors kick in and lobby our politicians to not protect (trademark) our coffees, mac nuts, avocados and all the other things we grow. 10% Kona Blend is what?! The packages don't even say the other 90% being coffee! Under federal law this is illegal to put on the package, but who cares here? Napa Valley and Sonoma County wine has all the help a state can give. Real estate prices stabilize and grow, farm tourism brings money, jobs are being created, schools and post offices stay open, and most important, ag land is used as such.
We can't even produce sugar and pineapple except as a niche market, let alone bananas.
Huh? Most of Maui agricultural land is sugar, and it's not a niche product. CH&S doesn't take advantage of the Maui brand. They don't distinguish it from the regular old cheap sugar from Asia and the the South.
Huh? Most of Maui agricultural land is sugar, and it's not a niche product. CH&S doesn't take advantage of the Maui brand. They don't distinguish it from the regular old cheap sugar from Asia and the the South.
Of course it is a niche product in Hawaii - the sugar industry is a shell of its former self, 1 sugar producer in the entire state does not make it a robust industry.
Huh? Most of Maui agricultural land is sugar, and it's not a niche product. CH&S doesn't take advantage of the Maui brand. They don't distinguish it from the regular old cheap sugar from Asia and the the South.
You must not be aware of Maui Brand® Natural Cane Sugars from HC&S, including Maui Gold Sugar, sold in Hawaiian supermarkets and health food stores all over the US.
KaraBenNemsi, thanks for the insight into small-scale farming and what it would take in Hawaii. I'm not a farmer, not really cut out to be one (tech field), but I believe that it would be an important part of a robust and diversified economy in Hawaii. The state would be less dependent on tourism, and more importantly, there would be a counter-weight to the tourism development (keep open pastures, ag land, and water sources available).
My wife took a "become a small farmer" class at Kaua'i Community College, where they worked in the school's garden and also in some community gardens around the island. It touched on some aspects of setting up the farm as a small business (website, value added prepared foods, etc.). Great idea and I hope more people can benefit from it. My wife wanted to set up a neighborhood community garden (for people who can't or don't want to turn their small yard into a garden), but never found land nearby to get started.
You must not be aware of Maui Brand® Natural Cane Sugars from HC&S, including Maui Gold Sugar, sold in Hawaiian supermarkets and health food stores all over the US.
I've bought that stuff but I didn't know it was made by HC&S. What percentage of sugar grown on Maui is sold as Maui Brand Natural Cane Sugar?
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