Comments for Hawaii Agriculture

Comment on Ginger adds aroma and flavor to dishes by Ian @ All Things Ginger

Ian @ All Things Ginger — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 20:10:32 +0000

I didn’t know that ginger is used to mask fishy odours.

Comment on Blue Plains upgrade could produce valuable farm fertilizer, but critics are wary – The Washington Post by Caroline Snyder

Caroline Snyder — Fri, 06 May 2011 17:03:31 +0000

The April 23 Washington Post article about the Blue Plains Sewage Treatment Plant Upgrade contains a number of false claims about the nature and safety of Class A sewage sludge/biosolids. Class A contains robust pathogens that have not been killed by the new process and which can regrow in cool and moist climates. It also contains an array of toxic metals and synthetic chemicals that are neither regulated nor monitored, including some that are highly toxic and can harm organisms in very small doses.

Every month, every industry, institution, and business in the Washington DC area is permitted to discharge 33 pounds of hazardous waste into Blue Plains. As these industrial pollutants are removed from the waste water, they concentrate in the resulting biosolids. To compare sludge with toothpaste and claim it is safe to put in your mouth is irresponsible. There is no similarity between pre-industrial night soil and modern sewage sludge. Field studies indicate that sludge pollutants can be absorbed by plants and get into milk of dairy cows that graze on sludged pastures.

There is nothing “forward looking” or “green” about spreading industrial waste on farms or in gardens. This unwise practice has been going on for decades, even though the latest National Academies of Sciences report confirmed that there is no credible science to support the practice. Soil scientists and hundreds of farm, health, and environmental groups, including the Sierra Club, oppose using biosolids as a fertilizer.
This contaminated waste can be utilized in a safer and more sustainable way as a domestic, non-fossil source of renewable energy. The technology to so exists and is being used in several European countries.
For more information about the serious risks linked to using sludge and sludge products as fertilizer, visit http://www.sludgefacts.org
****
Caroline Snyder is emeritus professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester NY, where she designed, administered, and taught environmental science courses. She founded and chairs Citizens for Sludge-Free Land.

PO Box 38
North Sandwich NH 03259
(603)-284-6998

Comment on AINA KOA PONO asked the state Legislature yesterday to support a 15 percent tax credit for building a refinery in Pahala by Julia

Julia — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 00:02:24 +0000

see http://www.kaunewsbriefs.blogspot.com for
stories on biofuel proposals for Pahala in Ka`u, Hawai`i Island. Coverage dates back into December.

Comment on Hawaii County Prosecutors Quit by Suzanne

Suzanne — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 22:13:08 +0000

Very interesting to read your article, and I’m shocked if the local news did not report this. Have you tried contacting the Herald Tribune to inform this of this information that you have about the other employees resigning? Their article on Kimura (Jason Armstrong) seemed to show him in an unfavorable light.

Comment on Deal means 20 years in Kimura case by Exclusive: Hawaii County Prosecutors Quit | Hawai`i News Daily

Exclusive: Hawaii County Prosecutors Quit | Hawai`i News Daily — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 20:44:35 +0000

[...] Hawaii office in Hilo. This corresponds with Hawaii county prosecutor Jay Kimura’s brother Lloyd Kimura pleading guilty to nine counts of bank and mail fraud and theft in a 24 year ponzi sch… involving 50 clients and the theft of over 20 million dollars. That story like this one got no [...]

Comment on Food sustainability: a Kona-vore’s dilemma by Kaui

Kaui — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 09:20:40 +0000

This article inspired vigilante produce shopping. See http://www.kauilucas.wordpress.com for the rest of the story

Comment on Food sustainability: a Kona-vore’s dilemma by The Dark Side of “the Mainland”: what’s under the courgette’s petticoat « Hawai'i Is My Mainland

Sun, 12 Dec 2010 00:34:54 +0000

[...] into the ocean and forest.) A recent post alerted me to potential perils in the produce section: http://hawaii-agriculture.com/hawaii-agriculture-blog/west-hawaii-today-features-food-sustainability… right here in Kona. The issue is produce that isn’t local, being sold as such, [...]

Comment on Is there cancer risk from 2,4-D? by Jim Gray

Jim Gray — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 19:55:34 +0000

Responding to the post on “Is there cancer risk from 2,4-D”. After rigorous scientific study over several decades, not a single regulatory agency in the world mandated with protecting public health identifies 2,4-D as a human or animal carcinogen. Regulatory decisions regarding 2,4-D are based on an enormous body of research that has been conducted by some 30 independent EPA Good Laboratory Practices (GLP) accredited laboratories in concert with studies and reports published in scientific journals as well as other foreign nation and international organization reviews. These decisions are recent, with EPA approval in 2005 and Canada’s PMRA approval in 2008. Additional factual information on 2,4-D may be found at http://www.24D.org.

Comment on Aloun Farm owners deny threats by dta

dta — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 01:40:34 +0000

The haole plantation owners tricked thousands of Chinese, Japanese and Filipinos to be hard labor slaves at the pinapples and sugarcane farms in Hawaii and
the Chinese, Japanese and Filipinos had no way of getting back home then.
Haole human trafficking was happening back then but why weren’t the haoles put in jail. This is no different.
The judge Oki family probably came to be in Hawaii through this exact haole hawaii sugar and pineapple slave plantations trafficking back then.

Comment on Hawaii is nation’s driest state – Star Bulletin by Brent Norris

Brent Norris — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 00:59:28 +0000

Shift your perspective. You will die of thirst and import all of your food if you don’t become more aware.

Please watch: http://www.ted.com/talks/anupam_mishra_the_ancient_ingenuity_of_water_harvesting.html

Comment on HC&S hires industrial processing plant expert – The Maui News by irv

irv — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 22:22:51 +0000

Ms. Skrobecki–Please make growing sugar on Maui profitable so it doesn’t disappear like Pineapple on did Lanai or like the 2 other sugar companies did on Maui. Maui Nui needs agriculture!

Comment on Funding could define new future in energy for HC&S – The Maui News by Dan Zelikman

Dan Zelikman — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 04:04:31 +0000

I really hope that Inouye’s confidence is fulfilled, this is such a critical element for Hawaii’s culture and history. It will be interesting to see how this develops further, cheers for the insightful post!

Comment on Lanaians looking for a means of survival – The Maui News by irv

irv — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 00:57:13 +0000

The pineapple industry brought dignity to the people of Lanai. The social and economic costs should be accounted for before agriculture is abandoned. Government control of land use is the only restraint.

Comment on Why coral reefs face a catastrophic future – guardian.co.uk by canned products

canned products — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 07:08:44 +0000

You are right we need to take a step now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Saving the nature must not be compromised.
Each one teach one about global warming .

Comment on World Tea News – Indulge Hawaii Releases RTD Tea With Stevia by Kimberly Ino

Kimberly Ino — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 06:41:36 +0000

While it is nice to see a Hawaii company launch a new product, Plantation tea not derived from any of Hawaii’s agriculture except (as stated on their website) Maui Sugar. This inclusion is ironic since a selling point of this tea is its inclusion of stevia leaf.

The day will come soon when consumers will discern the difference between hawaii grown products and products that are sold with “hawaii” marketing.

Think Global. Eat Local.
Hawaii Grown Tea at http://www.MaunaKeaTea.com

Comment on Stevia – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia by bigwave

bigwave — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 21:49:30 +0000

Anybody know if there are Stevia plants on Maui available to photograph? Mahalo Plenty Brian