Buy local? Buy local? ADVERTISING Who benefits The County of Hawaii has a new slogan I’ve noticed, “Buy Local”; that’s all well and good, but just how serious are we in doing just that? Along this line, consider that Kona
Buy local?
Who benefits
The County of Hawaii has a new slogan I’ve noticed, “Buy Local”; that’s all well and good, but just how serious are we in doing just that?
Along this line, consider that Kona blend coffee contains as a minimum, 10 percent Kona beans, where might the other 90 percent be from?
And then there is Kona Brewing, pretending that all of its beer is made right here on the island. Guess again. Why do you suppose that the price is comparable to imported? Because it is imported — from the West Coast where it’s brewed. But the name says it all, and when people see “Kona” on these two products, they buy.
The concept of purchasing “local” is great, on a number of counts. For one, the money for the transaction remains in the state. But there is also the factor as to where it was manufactured. How much intrinsic value is there to a product that’s made in China or Japan (as examples)?
Does the country of origin pay anything to support some of those things that we take for granted? Like defense or education? Or social programs?
Then there is the ultimate form of contempt — when our own county has a tax collector located out of state. If your real property tax wasn’t paid in person, what was the address on the envelope for remittance? Seattle.
Do you suppose that any of the employees at the tax collection agency in Washington state pays any of their income, in the form of taxes, to Honolulu or Hilo?
It all comes down to: “Do as I say, not as I do.”
Michael L. Last
Naalehu
Invasive species
Statute of limitations?
Regarding the Sunday article as to “invasive plant species”: When is a species no longer invasive?
For some time I have had this question on my mind as to when is a species no longer considered invasive? The first migrators, supposedly from Tahiti, brought with them the pork (pig) along with taro (kalo) and the rat. Today, taro is excepted as noninvasive, while the pig is depicted as invasive with no mention as to the rat. Then there is the ohia that is said to have come from New Zealand and ginger (awapuhi was brought by early Polynesians, pg. 49 “Maui Floral Splendor”) both of which have been here for eons. Then we have sandalwood (from New Caledonia and Fiji) and miconia from Tahiti (considered by many as being Hawaii’s most threatening weed) and on and on.
Isn’t there or shouldn’t there be a “statute of limitations” (except for the turkeys) as to when a species is no longer invasive? Wondering minds with wandering thoughts prompt satisfactions for one’s soul.
Hugo von Platen Luder
Holualoa
Buy local?
Who benefits
The County of Hawaii has a new slogan I’ve noticed, “Buy Local”; that’s all well and good, but just how serious are we in doing just that?
Along this line, consider that Kona blend coffee contains as a minimum, 10 percent Kona beans, where might the other 90 percent be from?
And then there is Kona Brewing, pretending that all of its beer is made right here on the island. Guess again. Why do you suppose that the price is comparable to imported? Because it is imported — from the West Coast where it’s brewed.
But the name says it all, and when people see “Kona” on these two products, they buy.
The concept of purchasing ‘local’ is great, on a number of counts. For one, the money for the transaction remains in the state.
But there is also the factor as to where it was manufactured. How much intrinsic value is there to a product that’s made in China or Japan (as examples)?
Does the country of origin pay anything to support some of those things that we take for granted? Like defense or education? Or social programs?
Then there is the ultimate form of contempt — when our own county has a tax collector located out of state. If your real property tax wasn’t paid in person, what was the address on the envelope for remittance? Seattle.
Do you suppose that any of the employees at the tax collection agency in Washington State pays any of their income, in the form of taxes to Honolulu or Hilo?
It all comes down to, “Do as I say, not as I do.”
Michael L. Last
Naalehu
