Category: Vegtables

September 4, 2010 General Ag News and Notes, Vegtables, Watermelon Post a Comment

Hawaiian farms being prosecuted for importing Thai workers

By Mark Niesse
Associated Press

HONOLULU — Two prominent, popular brothers who operate the second-largest vegetable farm in Hawaii will be sentenced in federal court this week on human trafficking charges — they pleaded guilty — but two former state governors, community groups, fellow farmers and other supporters are trying to keep them out of prison.

The brothers were convicted of shipping 44 laborers from Thailand and forcing them to work on their farm, part of a pipeline to the United States that allegedly cornered foreign field hands into low-paying jobs with few rights.

Aloun Farms may be too important to fail in an island state that once relied on pineapples and sugar cane but grows less than 15 percent of the food it consumes, according to supporters of defendants Alec and Mike Sou.

“The incarceration of Alec and Mike Sou would threaten our food security and could endanger our future sustainability on Oahu,” wrote Kioni Dudley, president of the community group Friends of Makakilo, in a letter asking U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway for leniency. “Find some method of punishment which allows them to stay in their positions at Aloun Farms.”

The Sou brothers are asking for a light sentence with little or no jail time based in part on the idea that their farm is too valuable to the islands’ food supply to let it go untended. The plea deal they agreed to in January called for up to five years imprisonment.

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August 31, 2010 General Ag News and Notes, Vegtables, Watermelon 1 Comment

Watermelons: What happened to the seeds?

By Jane Black
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 31, 2010; 11:35 AM

In 1995, Jason Schayot set the world record for spitting a watermelon seed when he shot his tiny black bullet a whopping 75 feet, 2 inches, almost a quarter of a football field. It’s a record that would be hard to beat. But Schayot might not have much competition anyway. Within a generation, most Americans won’t even know that watermelons have seeds, let alone how to spit them.

According to the National Watermelon Promotion Board, only 16 percent of watermelons sold in grocery stores have seeds, down from 42 percent in 2003. In California and the mid-South, home to the country’s biggest watermelon farms, the latest figures are 8 and 13 percent, respectively. The numbers seem destined to tumble. Recently developed hybrids do not need seeded melons for pollination – more on that later – which liberates farmers from growing melons with spit-worthy seeds.

The iconic, black-studded watermelon wedge appears destined to become a slice of vanished Americana. If that sounds alarmist, try to remember the last time you had to spit out a grape seed.

The sea change is all in the service of convenience.

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July 20, 2010 General Ag News and Notes, Vegtables 1 Comment

Aloun Farm owners deny threats

The sentencing hearing for the owners of Aloun Farms on forced-labor charges will continue in September because brothers Alec and Mike Sou refused to admit to committing acts to which they had pleaded guilty in January.

Alec Souphone Sou, president and general manager of the Ewa farm, is facing 46 to 57 months in prison for conspiring to commit forced labor in connection with the importation of 44 farmworkers from Thailand in 2004, according to federal sentencing guidelines.

Mike Mankone Sou, vice president and operations manager, is facing 41 to 51 months in prison for the same crime.

The sentencing guidelines are based on a number of factors, including the seriousness of the crime and a defendant’s actions and criminal history. Alec Sou has a higher prison range because he has prior DUI convictions.

The guidelines are also advisory, and U.S. Chief Judge Susan Oki Mollway could sentence the brothers to prison terms outside the recommended range.

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April 30, 2010 General Ag News and Notes, Vegtables Post a Comment

S.C. farmers hungry for sweet-onion market – The State

South Carolina, which grows more peaches than the Peach State next door, might be putting a dent in another famous Georgia product soon – sweet onions.

Dozens of farmers joined leaders of the S.C. Department of Agriculture on Friday to start a publicity campaign for what they hope can expand from a new niche crop into another sweet source of profit from the fields.

Sweet onions aren’t a big deal here yet. South Carolina farmers have planted a little more than 60 acres this year, compared to about 14,000 acres of sweet onions in the Vidalia region of Georgia.

Palmetto Sweet Green Onions: "Eat one of these, and you’ll never want another Vidalia onion as long as you live," says Rep. Harry Ott, D-Calhoun, the only full-time farmer in the S.C. Legislature.

"We’re not trying to compete with Vidalia," said Martin Eubanks, director of marketing for the S.C. Department of Agriculture. On a broad scale, "we’re not going to be able to compete with 14,000 acres."

But others at the news conference apparently didn’t get that memo.

"Eat one of these, and you’ll never want another Vidalia onion as long as you live," said Sen. Harry Ott, D-Calhoun, the only full-time farmer in the S.C. Legislature.

Chris Rawl planted 6 acres of sweet onions this season on his family’s Lexington County farm, which hosted Friday’s gathering. They were the first in this soil since 2002, when Rawl ended a 10-year experiment with sweet onions that he believes was killed by marketing – or lack thereof.

"I’d get them to the market and people would ask, ‘Are they Vidalias?’ I’d say no, and they’d just walk," Rawl said.

But he insists South Carolina-grown onions taste just as sweet as Vidalias. "It’s not the soil, it’s not the climate," Rawl said. "Vidalia onions are just a fad, a marketing niche the Vidalia growers created."

Vidalia onions, by Georgia law, are grown only in 20 counties in that state. Growers there claim sulfur in the soil contributes to the onions’ unique flavor. Sales of Vidalia onions are estimated at $50 million annually.

Other famous sweet onion varieties are grown in Texas, New Mexico, Nevada and Hawaii.

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March 5, 2010 General Ag News and Notes, Vegtables Post a Comment

Florida chill puts tomato prices up the vine – latimes.com

By Hugo Martín and P.J. Huffstutter

March 5, 2010 | 9:00 p.m.

Because of frigid temperatures in Florida, you might have to enjoy a BLT without the T.

Freezing winter weather in the Sunshine State has wiped out nearly 70% of its tomato crop, sending prices soaring in many parts of the country and forcing fast-food restaurants to ration supplies of the plump, popular fruit.

In California, with a $363-million fresh tomato crop last year, the Florida freeze is being felt to a degree. At a Wendy’s eatery in Santa Clarita, for instance, the staff had taped up a sign near the drive-through menu that broke the bad news: The Florida chill was making tomatoes scarce, at least for the time being.

Inside the restaurant, a customer frowned after biting into a cheeseburger. The only red on the sandwich was from the ketchup.

A representative for Atlanta-based Wendy’s said tomatoes would be included in its meals only at the customer’s request. In Oak Brook, Ill., McDonald’s said the tomato crisis had not changed operations at the restaurant chain. A spokeswoman for Quiznos Sub Shop declined to comment on the tomato chill.

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February 17, 2010 General Ag News and Notes, Vegtables Post a Comment

Whole Foods Market Kahului Purchasing From More Than 60 Maui Producers | The Honolulu Advertiser

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Continuing upon its commitment to providing customers with the highest-quality natural and organic products while supporting the local communities in which it works, Whole Foods Market Kahului will offer products from over 140 local producers, 60 of whom are based on Maui. The new Maui producers brought on to supply the Kahului store bring the total of local vendors whose products Whole Foods Market offers in Hawai’i to more than 205.

Please Click Here to Purchase Maui Gold Pineapples Online.

This is the sweetest, best tasting, Pineapple in the world.

Grown on Maui by Hali'imaile Pineapple Co.

Please buy this product!!!
PRIDE IN ISLAND!!!

"Whole Foods Market celebrates the great variety of local businesses and farms in Hawai`i that grow and make wonderful food, drink and body care products. We are delighted to continue to expand our selection of special local products for our shoppers’ enjoyment," said Claire Sullivan, Whole Foods Market’s vendor and community relations coordinator.

"Opening our first Maui store presents a particularly exciting opportunity to support and highlight Maui producers, especially those in the farming and ranching community who contribute to the unique beauty and agricultural character of this island." added Sullivan.

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February 5, 2010 General Ag News and Notes, Vegtables Post a Comment

Mānoa: Publication on reducing rat lungworm infection issued by CTAHR | University of Hawaii News

Posted: Feb. 4, 2010

A cluster of recent cases of disease in Hawai’i caused by eating fresh produce contaminated with snails or slugs infected with the nematode parasite Angiostrongylus cantonensis, the rat lungworm, has drawn attention to this foodborne threat, which can cause eosinophilic meningitis. A publication on preventive measures to reduce spread of rat lungworm infection on farms is now available from the UH Mānoa College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR).

According to the publication by authors from CTAHR, the UH Pacific Biosciences Research Center, and USDA, slugs and snails become infected with rat lungworm in two ways. Most commonly, the slug or snail will eat contaminated rat feces. Less commonly, the nematode burrows into the slug or snail through the body wall or enters through a respiratory pore when the animal comes into close contact with the contaminated feces. Other vectors of infection include frogs, freshwater shrimp, and land crabs.

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January 30, 2010 General Ag News and Notes, Maui Gold Pineapple, Vegtables Post a Comment

What’s Up With MLP?

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Has the announcement that Maui Land & Pineapple (MLP) is completely out of agriculture the reason for it’s sudden turn away from failure? Check out the chart for the Maui Land & Pineapple (MLP) stocks performance for Januay 2010:

Here is a chart for the Maui Land & Pineapple (MLP) stocks performance for the week ending Januay 29, 2010.

Click Here to view the article regarding Maui Land & Pineapple (MLP) being picked one of the “Double Digit Gainers Beating The Dow: MLP, OTIV” at picksthatmove.com on “No News” and wrong/dated information showing awareness of global technicians tracking computers regarding this weeks move.

CLICK HERE to view the chart showing Maui Land & Pineapple (MLP) terrible performance for the last year trending downwards precariously since October towards certain and inevitable collapse until the move this week.

CLICK HERE to view the histogram chart showing Maui Land & Pineapple (MLP) embarrassing performance compared to other related stocks, etfs, etns, and indexes during the last year.

So, is this just a blip? Are investors so soured by nasty agriculture that the news that MLP won’t be getting it’s collective hands dirty in the future enough to rotate it’s stocks plunging direction towards the positive? Or have responsible management strategies brought the company back from the brink?

January 30, 2010 Agricultural Equipment, General Ag News and Notes, Organic Ag, Vegtables Post a Comment

ML&P stock investor taking over Kapalua Farms

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By HARRY EAGAR, Staff Writer

Pierre Omidyar, who invested in Maui Land & Pineapple Co. stock when the company was being pushed in a greener direction, is now supporting a for-profit/charitable combination that is taking over ML&P’s Kapalua Farms, one of the largest organic farms in the state.

Since ML&P also closed its Maui Pineapple Co. subsidiary, then leased much of its land and equipment to the upstart Haliimaile Pineapple Co. this month, the handover takes ML&P completely out of agriculture.

On Friday, Ulupono Sustainable Agriculture Development LLC, a subsidiary of the Ulupono Initiative, announced it would be assuming operations of Kapalua Farms, which not only supplies vegetables and eggs to ML&P’s Kapalua Resort but also conducts research into new methods of producing food on Maui. Ulupono Initiative is a Hawaii-focused social investment organization founded in June with backing from Omidyar and his wife, Pam. He was a founder of eBay, and they now live in Hawaii.

Warren Haruki, chairman and interim chief executive officer of ML&P, said, "We are pleased to partner with Ulupono Sustainable Agriculture Development as they assume operations of Kapalua Farms. Our desire was to find an operational partner that would be able to continue organic farming operations and to maintain Kapalua Farms as a community resource, employer and provider."

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