EBT dollars at work

[AlohaDave]

quote:

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Originally posted by alaskyn66

Nobody cares what the mainland is doing Dave. . Haven't you figured that out yet.

..What would King Kamehameha do..

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If all you care about is your tiny little self, you've revealed yourself to be ignorant .
We live in a global community.

Do a search for food shortages and Hawaii pops up a bunch.

[MarkP]

One point of view is that showing aloha only to have it abused devalues the spirit of aloha, so it should be doled out only where and when appropriate.

[kalakoa]

If coffee is a niche, how do you explain the massive plantations in SA without regulations?

Same way I explain California: if the product is expensive enough, it can still be profitable against high ovehead costs. Kona coffee, California almonds.

This has nothing to do with the mainland. It has to do with food security and about reliving poverty

That would be great. Unfortunately, local production still isn't competitive with import shipping costs, and the America-style economy is all about "cheapest cost".

If what you were saying were true about Foodland & KTA there would be NO farmers markets.

Many "farmers' market" vendors are repackaging the same imports sold at Foodland/KTA.

Hawaii is (almost -- not counting southern Florida) the only State where bananas and pineapple can be grown, yet the supermarkets are selling produce imported from Chile, Argentina, and other SA countries, despite the obvious disparity in shipping costs. Somewhere along the line, domestic production is either too expensive, or doesn't provide a meaningful value proposition -- despite the fact that farms are within an hour's drive of the supermarket.

go back to armchair....

It's certainly more comfortable than that soapbox...

[VancouverIslander]

kalakoa: some times it isn't a matter of competitiveness of local growers, but of not being in the supply chain of large retailers. Some retailers (Costco to some extent) do work to include local suppliers while others merely carry what the national distribution centers stock. Sourcing local produce requires some overhead in terms of personnel and storage facilities that aren't always profitable or are excluded because of a rigid corporate model.

While some local produce is sold at farmers markets (papayas in particular) much of it is repackaged goods from those same supermarket supply chains.

I would invite AlohaDave to put his money where his mouth is and get involved in the agriculture industry in Hawai'i. There is certainly land and sun and rain, but there are also obstacles.

Aloha mai e, AlohaDave, and best of luck. Be aware that many here will stop listening when you talk about how things are done on the mainland. Malihini have been trying to make things 'like the mainland' too much for most of us instead of trying to figure out how to fit in to the culture here. But if you can lead by example and then offer to show people how to be more successful, you might find a willing audience. The problems for agriculture are mostly related to high cost of labor by the way.

Me ka ha`aha`a,
Mike

[kalakoa]

some times it isn't a matter of competitiveness of local growers, but of not being in the supply chain of large retailers

Closed supply chain is an artificial constraint.

local produce requires some overhead in terms of personnel and storage facilities

Yes -- and the ability to "provide" this "service" to the "local producers" is often used as justification when applying for Special Use, even when the service will never actually be provided.

[kalakoa]

Americans seem to be selfish and greedy.

Especially the lawyers and politicians which make the rules for us little people.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Maybe if more gold is discovered in California, they'll once again become too busy digging ore with their shovels to plant food, and Hawaii can grow and export food as it did to the original '49's. From a paper titled HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE IN HAWAII:

1849-1851
California gold rush brings a boom to Hawaii agriculture; Irish and sweet potatoes, onions, pumpkins, oranges, molasses, and coffee were shipped to the West Coast.
http://hdoa.hawaii.gov/wp-content/upload...HAWAII.pdf

“There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them.”
-Joseph Brodsky

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

I just received this by email a few minutes ago. Here's an excerpt, the entire press release is available at the link after the excerpt:

Hilo, Hawaii, June 15, 2016

USDA is providing $5.8 million for grants and loans to support rural economic development projects and create jobs in 11 states. In Hawaii, Feed the Hunger Foundation (FTHF) received a $500,000 loan to make microloans to rural microentrepreneurs and microenterprises. The funding is contingent upon the recipient meeting the terms of the loan agreement.

“This loan will help Feed the Hunger Foundation continue their work of assisting individual business anywhere within the food system through microloans investing in healthier, local and sustainable food."

Feed the Hunger Foundation provides loans to low-income people, primarily immigrant food entrepreneurs on the islands of Maui, Oahu and Hawaii. Fifty percent of their clients are female headed households. Their goal is to eliminate poverty and hunger through microfinance while at the same time, providing Hawaii with local, sustainable food that is healthy and accessible.
http://www.rd.usda.gov/newsroom/news-rel...-11-states


“There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them.”
-Joseph Brodsky

[AlohaDave]

quote:

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Originally posted by kalakoa

If coffee is a niche, how do you explain the massive plantations in SA without regulations?

Same way I explain California: if the product is expensive enough, it can still be profitable against high ovehead costs. Kona coffee, California almonds.

This has nothing to do with the mainland. It has to do with food security and about reliving poverty

That would be great. Unfortunately, local production still isn't competitive with import shipping costs, and the America-style economy is all about "cheapest cost".

If what you were saying were true about Foodland & KTA there would be NO farmers markets.

Many "farmers' market" vendors are repackaging the same imports sold at Foodland/KTA.

Hawaii is (almost -- not counting southern Florida) the only State where bananas and pineapple can be grown, yet the supermarkets are selling produce imported from Chile, Argentina, and other SA countries, despite the obvious disparity in shipping costs. Somewhere along the line, domestic production is either too expensive, or doesn't provide a meaningful value proposition -- despite the fact that farms are within an hour's drive of the supermarket.

go back to armchair....

It's certainly more comfortable than that soapbox...

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Your explanation of Coffee still does not fit, if it can be produced much cheaper in South America.

"That would be great. Unfortunately, local production still isn't competitive with import shipping costs, and the America-style economy is all about "cheapest cost"."

Local production is always cheaper than import shipping where there is a large shipping and production chain involved,it's just not the "shipping"

Many "farmers' market" vendors are repackaging the same imports sold at Foodland/KTA."
Such as? Where?

"Hawaii is (almost -- not counting southern Florida) the only State where bananas and pineapple can be grown, yet the supermarkets are selling produce imported from Chile, Argentina, and other SA countries, despite the obvious disparity in shipping costs. Somewhere along the line, domestic production is either too expensive, or doesn't provide a meaningful value proposition -- despite the fact that farms are within an hour's drive of the supermarket."

And how does that relate to food security? It makes us less secure.
It also illustrates how the large commercial growers operate.
In Sa they have hundreds of thousands of acres to grow pineapple and Banana.
But is that a reason not to grow it in Hawaii?

The fact remains "farming is difficult" where ever it is practiced.
You can't live on fruit without health problems in the long term.
The profit margins for farming have always been low for the small-med sized farm and it's hard work. No sitting on your cushy couch pressing buttons.

But, it is very possible in tropical locations, just look at what they did in Cuba to make the whole island self sustainable

[AlohaDave]

quote:

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Originally posted by dakine

And, because of the terrain, in many cases being relatively steep, and the rainfall, all them nutrients get washed out of the soil faster than some flat piece of land in the Central Valley of Cali..

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Can I assume this is humor?
In SA the Mayan's carved steps into actual mountainsides to form areas that would receive more irrigation