Agriculture in West Maui: A reality check – Lahaina News

KAANAPALI — For those of us who remember what West Maui used to look like, it’s a cold reality check. Gone are the sugar cane fields that seemed to stretch for miles coloring the landscape with their vibrant hues of green. With the recent phasing out of pineapple in West Maui, it too was another blow to our island’s agricultural roots.

The truth is what was once the “traditional” farm is no longer a viable option for many plantations due to an unstable economy, rising operating costs and global competition. But another solution is offering hope to West Maui’s agriculture woes in the form of Ka‘anapali Coffee Farms — a “new family farm” concept that not only offers a viable option, but a promising one at that.

Thanks to a dynamic collaboration between Kaanapali Land Management Corp. and MauiGrown Coffee Inc., this true agricultural community now melds the best of both worlds — spectacular home sites with a working coffee plantation.