Hawaii Tourism Cool Down Looms - good or bad?

[Punatang]

If production of commodity goods were economically feasible in Hawaii, people would be doing it already.

Exactly!

[punikahakaiferret]

Just to add some levity...I'd be happy to live off coffee, chocolate, honey, and beef all produced here. Add bacon and I'd be a happy camper! ;-)

[ironyak]

Even without a nudge, people can already choose to support local agriculture - one way is through a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program like DA BOX where you get a seasonal selection of local products each week. They work with the Hawaii Food Basket, can take SNAP (50% discount! - local farms are subsidized by the feds in several ways - those dollars do play a hard to escape role), and have many pick-up locations island wide. It's a fun, but not the cheapest, way to get a variety of produce to try out while supporting local farmers and building community resiliency.

In Puna, the informal economy is also quite active with a mix of plant & animal materials and labor, being exchanged for other plant & animal materials and labor. Which is great when it works, (backyard honey never spoils, is easily exchangeable, and can be eaten when needed - overall a better hedge than gold! ;) but it's hard to pay for parts, medical bills, and taxes with honey and papayas. At some point, these local goods and labor have to be exchanged for dollars in order to participate with the global economy, which for decades has predominantly been through exports and tourism. Hard to see how import tariffs and reciprocal tariffs on exports along with an economic down-turn help those arrangements.

Some of us in the degrowth circles (a subset of those "bed-wetting" over climate change), are watching with a grim fascination as this all plays out. Any system analysis makes clear that the primary difference between unwinding a social system, and crashing it, is the rate at which it occurs and the number of people harmed in the process.

But maybe we'll all get to move to the ferret diet of local coffee, chocolate, honey, and beef (there's plenty to go around right?) and if it doesn't have to be priced to compete, we won't have to happily live in a camper to do so ;) Maybe the smoke meat guys can do smoked pork bellies for bacon (serious question, do they already?)

And then some day the tourists will return to Hawaii now with flying cars to see how people live on the self-sufficient reservation without modern tech or soma to get by. That story has a happy ending right? Hopefully we'll get a chance to write a better one but the path ahead looks like a long-haul fight to get there.

[Punatang]

Maybe the smoke meat guys can do smoked pork bellies for bacon (serious question, do they already?)

Had this tab open since yesterday and wanted to ask the exact same question:  https://www.mossyoak.com/our-obsession/b...boar-bacon







The poster shares the link above solely for informational purposes. No claims are made regarding the accuracy, completeness, taste of the final product, or reliability of the content, nor about the views or credentials of the authors. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Maybe the smoke meat guys can do smoked pork bellies for bacon

If you want to drive to Waimea, these guys got the bacon:

https://www.waimeabutchershop.com/menu#meat

For dessert as long as you’re over there, drive on down the road to Patisserie Nanako. Don’t leave without a Ladybug.
   

https://www.facebook.com/patisserienanako/

[punikahakaiferret]

Mmmmm...*bacon*!

Have been hitting the farmstands around the area offering hydroponic produce and baked goods, also trying to grow a bit in planters on our lanai, and have been getting occasional eggs from the semi-feral hens we semi-feed.

Have wanted to look into the CSAs and various food programs, but much of the offerings aren't in our preferred diet.

Have checked out the free agricultural park in Hilo but pretty much everything was out of season so there was nothing to pick.

Am also a big fan of the barter and trade method. Takes kala out of the equation which helps save it for things you can't trade papayas for.

Big proponent of neighborhood free fruit stands, gleaning (with permission), and tho not food-related, Little Free Libraries. :-D

Now I'm going to go check out that lovely ladybug from Nanako!

[randomq]

I think it's a good goal to have some minimal level of food production here in Hawaii, along with other industries, if only to be able to survive natural and man-made disasters. But it's not viable in a small farm, manual labor style. We should be investing in solar power and automated farming at scale. There should be sufficient ramp-up time to build facilities and scale up production. Guarantees for private entities on a predictable tax/tariff regime, so no one goes bankrupt when the rules are suddenly changed again.

There are hard things that need to be done, but it matters *how* they are done.

[Moderator 2]

I think it's a good goal to have some minimal level of food production here in Hawaii,

From Big Island Now:
Hale Hālāwai O Puna Cultural Mākeke & Hub will demonstrate Puna’s potential with a free, family-friendly celebration of Hawaiian culture, community and resilience at the former Akebono Theater lot in downtown Pāhoa this Saturday.

The hub plans to develop “Hawai‘i Island Grown and Made” labels to elevate Puna’s identity.

https://bigislandnow.com/2025/05/01/hale...s-weekend/

[Punatang]

I think it's a good goal to have some minimal level of food production here in Hawaii,

From Big Island Now:
Hale Hālāwai O Puna Cultural Mākeke & Hub will demonstrate Puna’s potential with a free, family-friendly celebration of Hawaiian culture, community and resilience at the former Akebono Theater lot in downtown Pāhoa this Saturday.

The hub plans to develop “Hawai‘i Island Grown and Made” labels to elevate Puna’s identity.

https://bigislandnow.com/2025/05/01/hale...s-weekend/

Did anyone go?  The setup during the day looked pretty extensive.

[randomq]

No amount of marketing or making one's own coconut milk is gonna make subsistence farming attractive.