Interesting HI article

**AtlantaMarie** 6/29/2015, 9:01 am

Saw this on my news "ticker" this morning and thought it was interesting.

Any comments from your HI folks?

http://news.yahoo.com/food-independence-could-matter-survival-u-most-unlikely-071318788.html

Marc Iverson 6/29/2015, 12:57 pm

Really good and interesting story, thank for the link.

I think a lot of this stuff is,as mentioned in the story toward the end, pie in the sky, but every little bit helps. Just like very few of us could live off our gardens, yet to whatever extent we do, it can help us on all sorts of levels.

Windmere 6/29/2015, 3:20 pm

Wow. Very interesting... taro is imported in some cases?! And GMO seeds are a major export?! Well, it was good to read about some of the advancements. Thanks for sharing.

Marc Iverson 6/29/2015, 3:58 pm

When I lived there pretty much nobody liked taro. Poi was rarely served anywhere and was quite expensive, going for the price of good beef rather than affordable as a staple. The only reason I'm surprised they import it is that I'm surprised enough people like it to import it.

**sanderson** 6/29/2015, 5:08 pm

Taro chips in Hilo. Beautiful drive, terrible snack. But, if poi is one of the few foods available to eat, I suppose one eats it. Like tofu, not the tastiest but it is healthy. Every society has a survival staple, be it taro, sweet potatoes, potatoes, wheat, rice, soy beans, dry beans . . .

**kauairosina** 6/29/2015, 6:39 pm

Good article. Many thanks. However no way in H**L is it a State policy to encourage small agriculture. As a matter of fact, our state has capitulated to the chemical companies so they can grow seeds to export that need their poisons, meanwhile poisoning our land and our people.

Our Ag Extension used to be a great resource. Now the University has succumbed to the money given them by the chemical companies and there is almost zero research anymore for small garden foods.

**Scorpio Rising** 6/29/2015, 7:37 pm

kauairosina wrote:Good article. Many thanks. However no way in H**L is it a State policy to encourage small agriculture. As a matter of fact, our state has capitulated to the chemical companies so they can grow seeds to export that need their poisons, meanwhile poisoning our land and our people.

Our Ag Extension used to be a great resource. Now the University has succumbed to the money given them by the chemical companies and there is almost zero research anymore for small garden foods.

That is too bad, Rosina. We are finally getting back to locally encouraging farmer's markets...even from the OSU extension office.....

**kauairosina** 6/29/2015, 9:21 pm

And the beef shipped to the mainland for finishing and packaging. Isn't that a riot? However, we eat only local grass fed beef. No antibiotics, no hormones, etc.

I've been told by some of my beef raising friends that the demand from Japan for their young calves also contributes to this type of exchange. You take these calves born in the islands and move them to Concentrated Factory Farms where they must be fed antibiotics and hormones because they up to their knees in manure. So gross. And so unhealthy.

**Scorpio Rising** 6/29/2015, 9:50 pm

Thanks, Rosina, very sad

Right, because cows are designed to eat grass....not grain, corn. Read "in Defense of Food" by Michael Pollan....major eye opener about KING CORN..... What to do with it all?

**kauairosina** 6/29/2015, 10:08 pm

Yes, it is a travesty how we manipulate food for politic's sake. The US government had to find markets for the corn they subsidize and this is one of the results. There are several others that Pollan writes about. Good man.

**Scorpio Rising** 6/30/2015, 7:19 am

My son and I were talking about that just yeaterday....it truly is a crime. I would read another book Pollan authored...thanks for the reminder!

**kauairosina** 8/13/2015, 3:04 pm

I see that we have had a prior conversation about this excellent article.

To repeat, our Hawaii politicians are bought and sold by the chemical companies and other Big Ag companies so we sure as heck cannot depend on "state policy" to help us out.

This is why we are cultivating such bland items as cassava, breadfruit and poi and learning to use them. If the barge don't come people are not as likely to steal those items. That and some Spam should do us. We can probably get used to eating Spam if that is all there is. Of course, the locals would steal the Spam.

Thanks for the reminder.

Marc Iverson 8/14/2015, 3:09 am

The youtube guy, GrowingYourGreens, recommends for people in community gardens to do something like that -- grow stuff nobody knows, and odd colors of things, like tomatoes that are ripe when green, so people don't steal your stuff. Sad to have to do that, but it makes sense.

floyd1440 8/15/2015, 6:22 am

I think we were visiting your state when it was in the GMO issue was in the paper. Sorry to here is was voted down but the non GMO crowd is growing and try to get it on the next election cycle.

Sometimes others don't understand the importance of an issue and non GMO products are becoming to light and this issue will not go away.

Patience...... Interesting HI article 3170584802

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