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Hawaii
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Volume 10, Issue 1-Spring 2004 Rural Connections is published quarterly. |
Table of Contents
Exploring Agritourism in Hawaii
Organic Seeds and Seed Sources
Exploring agritourism in Hawaii
From 2-acre coffee growers to 15,000-acre sugar plantations, Hawaii's farmers get on board with the state's tourism industry By Laura Sayre
March 4, 2004: To get to the Cedar House Bed & Breakfast and Coffee Farm on Hawaii's Big Island, you turn east uphill from the main road in the town of Captain Cook (in 1778 the great navigator met his tragic end in Kealakekua Bay, just below) and follow a single-lane track as it climbs sharply up the mountain, walled in on both sides by eight-foot-high coffee bushes.
This is the heart of the Kona coffee belt, less than 50 square miles of steep, rocky terrain yielding 2.5 million pounds of beans a year, and the land is too valuable to waste on grassy road margins. Short pullouts allow you to pass workers' cars and farm trucks coming from the other direction. After a series of twists and turns, a small sign points you to your destination, and the view opens up down to the sea.
Here you will be greeted by Cindy and Tim Brady, farm and B & B managers since the Cedar House's owners, Diana and Nik Von der Lühe, returned to their native Germany last year. Cindy works four days a week at Adaptations, a local organic vegetable farm and small-scale distributor, Tim works the 3 acres of coffee, and together they manage the B & B and vacation rental.
"It balances out well," explains Cindy, "because the slow period for the B & B is October, November, and the early part of December, and that's the busiest time [harvest season] for the coffee."
Although small coffee acreages like this one are the norm in Kona--and have been since the crop was first developed here by Japanese immigrants in the late 19th century--the Bradys say that Cedar House's income from accommodation now exceeds its coffee income, greatly boosting the farm's overall viability.
Having guests at the farm also enables them to increase the amount of coffee they sell directly to the consumer, since nearly every visitor to the farm buys at least a pound or two, and many also visit the farm's website for subsequent purchases.Cedar House is one of many small farms on the Big Island that have gotten into the hospitality business in the past decade. So-called 'farm-stay' accommodation is well established in many European countries, with websites, publications, and quality-rating systems to help travelers find the experience and the amenities they're looking for.
Guests at such establishments will tell you that farms make great B & Bs because they tend to be quiet, interesting, off the beaten path, and run by generous, friendly people who serve up terrific breakfasts made from fresh, locally-grown ingredients. (At Cedar House you get not only the farm's own just-roasted coffee but an array of delicious tropical fruits like apple bananas, starfruit, and cherimoyas--all grown on the farm or very nearby.)
In Hawaii, however, farm-stays are just one part of a burgeoning agritourism movement. Among American states, Hawaii may not have the greatest number of farms participating in agritourism ventures--Pennsylvania, New York, and Vermont are leaders in terms of absolute numbers and percentage of farms involved--but it may very well be doing the most to explore the full range of what agritourism can mean. A survey conducted by the Hawaii Agricultural Statistics Service (HASS) in 2000 found 126 farms (out of a total of around 5500) engaged in agritourism statewide, with another 84 farms planning to start agritourism activities in the near future. But the total value of agritourism in the state of Hawaii at that time was pegged at $26 million. And, everyone agrees, all those figures are on the rise.
The key word is diversityHawaii Agricultural Statistics Service defines agritourism as "a commercial enterprise on a working farm conducted for the enjoyment, education, and/or active involvement of the visitor, generating supplemental income for the farm." As such, it may not even capture some elements of the trend, such as private farm visits organized by professional tour guides. Any guidebook you pick up—including the freebie magazines prominently displayed at the airports—will feature at least one, if not dozens of farmers' markets, sensory smorgasbords where locals and mainlanders alike can stock up on jackfruit, rambutan, tree tomatoes, Asian greens, giant avocadoes, and much, much more.
Future opportunities—and challenges
The many faces of Hawaiian agritourism serve as a reminder that although agritourism ventures are frequently presented to farmers as an 'alternative' enterprise, they are not necessarily synonymous with sustainable or small-scale farming. Just down the road from the Gay & Robinson sugar plantation, the Kauai Coffee Company has a gift shop and visitors' center with a continuous loop video describing their large-scale mechanized processing methods. On the north side of Kauai, the 450-acre Guava Kai Plantation receives 75,000 visitors a year, selling fresh fruit and value-added products direct to the public as well as to mainland processors. Outside of Honolulu on Oahu, the Dole pineapple plantation, open to the public since 1989, attracts nearly a million visitors a year.
Back on the Big Island, residents are bracing themselves for a proposed expansion of cruise ship traffic, from one a week to as many as five a week. Debbie Ward, an extension agent based at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, says her office would like to see more agritourism development, particularly on the Hilo side of the island, to meet this coming tide of daytrippers. Hopefully, she says, it will include many small operations as well as a few large ones.
The by-laws of the Hawaii Agricultural Tourism Association state that activities must take place on a 'working farm'—without attempting to specify precisely what that means. Macadamia nut grower Charlene Cowan says that her rule of thumb is, "Does it help people stay on the land? If so, I'm all for it." Another measure of integrity in agritourism might be the quality of the educational experience that farms offer the public. In Hawaii, such opportunities are there for tourists willing to seek them out.
Excerpt used from The New Farm:
Farmer to Farmer Know-how from the Rodale Institute.By Deborah Ward, HOFA Board
The O'o Bar
Everyone has to dig a hole, lever out a rock, or pull out a stubborn root--there is a great all-round tool for the purpose. It's been in use for centuries in Hawaii, and it's called an O`o. A digging pole or stick, the o`o was used to turn over sod and brush, dig up the soil and pulverize it, and to open shallow holes for un-irrigated taro, deep holes for bananas, and trenches for sugar cane and `awa.
O`o sticks were originally crafted from the wood of the kauila tree, which is a very heavy, hard wood with a fine grain. Kauila was also used to make spears, daggers, carrying poles, tapa beaters and anvils. Nowadays, o`o bars are made of steel, and can be purchased from most garden and farm outlets. They are excellent for breaking up layers of pa’hoe’hoe in shallow soils so that tree roots can access lower soil layers and moisture. It's a back saver; once you use an o`o, you'll wonder why anyone invented the pick. You can see an o`o in action at the farmer workshops, to be scheduled in May and June.
Digging end Tamping end
Organic Seeds and Seed Sources
By: Kelly Lange
With the adoption of the Federal Organic Rule, organic producers are now required to use organically grown seeds and planting stock at all times unless an equivalent variety is not commercially available. The only exception to commercially availability is that organically produced seed must be used for the production of edible sprouts. This section of the Federal Rule can be found in 205.204, Seeds and planting stock practice standard.
Finding organic seeds and being able to sufficiently document commercial availability can be tough at times for organic farmers. Especially farmers with diverse crop production and annual vegetables or herbs.
The documentation of commercial availability is not yet defined in the Federal Organic Rule and has been left up for clarification by individual certification agencies. HOFA currently requires documentation of at least two failed attempts to source organic seeds and planting stock before an untreated, non-organically produced variety would be accepted for organic production.
The intent of this requirement in the Federal Organic Rule is to ensure the support and livelihood of organic seed production and organic crop production methods.
Why would an organic farmer choose to purchase seeds not produced by the same methods they adhere to?
Price for one. Organically produced seeds, as with all organic products, are more intensively managed and cared for which drives up the cost of production. Included in this cost is the price of certification; the consumers insurance that the product has been produced by a uniform set of organic standards.
A second reason a farmer may choose non-organically produced seeds is that darn commercial availability. Being that organic seeds are grown on a much smaller, intensively managed scale, it is not always possible to find an organic source for the seeds you are determined to grow. The National Organic Program, with help from accredited certifiers, is currently working out a list of those seeds determined to be commercially un-available.
With the already high-cost of organic crop production methods, the requirement to use more expensive and difficult to find organic seed sources can be a heavy burden on organic farmers. The intent of the Federal Organic Rule and the continued support of organic agriculture and organic seed production are invaluable. The tools to find organic seed sources should be more readily available to lessen this burden on organic farmers.
Listed are organic seed producers that have come across our path and many that supply bulk seeds for large organic operations. While I cannot recommend specific sources I feel it is important to share both the requirements and the tools of implementation.
The following are suppliers of 100% organic seeds and merely a starting point in finding the best possible tools for your organic production system. I do not personally endorse or recommend any seed sources listed here.
BA– bulk seed available
SEEDS OF CHANGE-BA
HIGH MOWING SEEDS-BA
SOUTHERN EXPOSURE-BASOW ORGANIC CO.-BA
TERRITORIAL SEED-BA
JOHNNY’S SELECTED-BA
HARRIS SEED-BA
THE NATURAL GARDENING CO.
PEACEFUL VALLEY FARM SUPP.
HEIRLOOM SEEDS
ENVIRONMENTAL SEED PRODUCERS
SPROUTING SEEDSMUMM’S SPROUTING SEEDS
SUPER SPROUTS
SPROUT PEOPLE
Hawaii Organic Farmers Association (HOFA)
P.O. Box 6863, Hilo, HI 96720
Phone: (808) 969-7789 Toll Free: (877) 674-4632 Fax:
(808) 969-7759
Email: hofa@hawaiiorganicfarmers.org
Copyright 2002