Where possible — buy local

It is a great time to be a farmer or consumer on the Big Island. We have more farmers markets and local crafts markets now than I can remember in more than half a century of living in Hawaii.

Now that Christmas is several months behind us for another year, I can comment on a pet peeve that the holiday accentuates. It has to do with sustainable agriculture and buying Hawaii grown and Hawaii made products.

Sustainable agriculture is a popular concept now, since our plantation style monoculture crops like sugar and pineapple are on the decline. We are diversifying into a great variety of crops, many of which are used locally, as well as exported. These crops require local consumption in order to succeed. Every time we buy local bananas or other fruits, coffee, nuts and vegetables, we pump dollars into supporting our local economy. It is like buying U.S.-produced clothing or cars versus buying foreign products, but thinking on an even more intimate level. When we buy Kona, Ka‘u or Hamakua coffee, the coffee farmer then has more money to buy what he needs from the local market. When we buy a South or Central American coffee, we support their economy.

Now back to Christmas past. There were literally tens upon tens of thousands of mainland Douglas fir trees sold in Hawaii in 2014, and there will continue to be until Hawaii produces good quality trees as an option. The few Christmas tree farms we have on the Big Island sold nearly every tree available and could have sold more. Local trees produced were mostly Monterey pine and Portuguese cypress plus some Norfolk pines. No spruce and fir were locally grown since mainland species require much cooler conditions in order to do well in Hawaii. They need to be planted above 6,000 feet elevation. According to University Extension forester JB Friday, there is now a project growing Douglas fir spearheaded by the Hawaii Forest Institute. This means that we may have mainland type trees grown on Mauna Kea available as Christmas trees in perhaps seven years. It would be fantastic if all Christmas trees were produced locally.

Let us just put a dollar value on what growing all our Christmas trees locally and buying locally would mean. If 100,000 trees were sold at $50 per tree, this would mean $5 million pumped back into our local pockets. As it is now, we import these trees and send our money off to keep Oregon and Washington green.

If we find that we can successfully grow trees at higher elevations, this could reduce our dependency on imported construction materials. It has already been shown that forestry species like koa, eucalyptus, mahogany and teak can successfully be grown. It is up to us to use these trees here rather than import mainland grown trees.

One of the best examples of a local product taking back the market from foreign imports is that of Hawaii’s banana industry. Several years ago, the industry was in crisis. Urban encroachment on Oahu banana fields plus a flood of cheap Central American bananas meant that two out of every three bananas consumed were not locally grown.

At that time there were 415 acres in production on Oahu and 200 acres on the Big Island. Value of sales was $720,000. Thanks to a handful of business people, the shrinking industry was turned around and today there is a healthy banana industry. The main thing keeping it from producing all the fruit eaten here is a commitment by local folks to eat more locally grown bananas.

Many of our diversified agricultural commodities are in the same boat. However, when it comes to the landscape and nursery industry, we are fortunate that the majority of plants are locally produced. Creative entrepreneurs like Plant It Hawaii are growing exotic fruits such as soursop, carambola, Rollinia, mangosteen, jackfruit, cloves, cinnamon, durian, abiu and rambutan along with grafted citrus, mango and avocado. These are distributed to retail nurseries throughout the islands. Although it is basically a wholesale operation, on Friday and Saturday it is having its spring open house and plant sale hosting the public. For details, check out the website: plantithawaii.com.

Another boost to growing and buying local is the Hawaii Island Master Gardener program sponsored by the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources. Getting involved in this program not only teaches residents how to grow local plants but how to market them. This month, they are having a big plant sale April 25 at the Komohana Research and Extension Center in Hilo. It is a great opportunity to meet with folks who are promoting local sustainable agriculture. For more information on the Master Gardeners plant sale, email himga@hawaii.edu or contact the nearest office.

Let us not forget that buying local is not possible all the time but the more we do, the better our island economy will be.