If you look behind the scenes at any successful value-added farm enterprise in Hawai‘i (there are many), you will find that their most important resource is people. Entrepreneurs are the "heart," "soul" and "brains" of the operation. The resourcefulness and tenacity to run a small farm comes from the people who run it. Here are a few characteristics of successful value-added farm enterprises.
Taro growing at Palili 'o Kohala, a cooperative farm headed by David Fuertes.On Saturday, February 2, North Kohala Eat Locally Grown hosted a Farm-to-Fork Tour of three farms on Ho'ea Road. Lokahi Farm, Palili 'O Kohala and Sage Farms opened their gates to the North Kohala community and visitors from all around Hawaii Island for a taste of the agricultural scene in and around Hawi.
The tour began at Lokahi Farm, a tropical botanical garden and working organic farm where Richard Liebmann and Natalie Young are fusing farming with the healing arts. Our hosts led us through the farm's diverse plantings (crops include asparagus, dragon fruit, and horseradish) and showed us the farm's research plot of medicinal plants. We were amazed by the diversity of plants grown at Lokahi—from recognizable daily fare, to edible flowers and healing herbs.
HOLUALOA, HAWAI'I - A workshop entitled "Value-Added Innovation for Hawai'i Growers: Making the Family Farm Profitable" will help growers hone their skills at adding value to their products and services. The free workshop will be held on March 20th in Hilo, March 21st in Kona, March 27th on Kaua'i, March 28th on O'ahu, and March 29th on Maui.
Competing with cheap imported agricultural goods, many Hawai'i farms have a difficult time selling their products profitably as raw commodities. The workshop will show how Hawai'i farm enterprises can differentiate their products to become more profitable, and therefore viable businesses.
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Aloha mai! One of the big challenges of eating locally grown food in Hawai‘i for those of us who grew up in North America is that the crops that grow best in this environment are not necessarily the same as we were raised on. Temperate climate grains, Irish potatoes, and many vegetables are not easy to grow in tropical Hawai‘i. ‘Ulu, ‘uala, and kalo, for example, do grow well here, but we were not raised on them, so we did not develop a palate for them when growing up. Continue ReadingLearning from the 'Aina: Puna Charter School Develops Model Culinary Arts Program
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