Last Friday, I had a unique opportunity to learn about Hawaiian agriculture directly from an expert — a farmer from the windward side of Oahu! Dean took time to tell me about his farm on video. 🙂 And I wrote a blog post for the group hosting the meeting I was at talking about some of a program Hawaii has in place that increase the stability for small farmers.
He mentioned that his family farm supplies the local farmers market and some of the local restaurants. Saturday, as a friend and I grabbed lunch at Alan Wong’s restaurant The Pineapple Room, so when I noticed Nalo greens on the menu, knowing his farm was called Nalo Farms, I had to have a
salad with fresh greens! And yes, I checked with the waiter, the greens were most definitely from Dean Okimoto’s farm!
I hope you enjoy the photos & video, even if I did get a little bit wordy on Wednesday. 🙂
[slideshow post_ID=9977]
[youtube=http://youtu.be/5vQeDi2nUIc]
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I miss being able to get fresh, local produce all year long. Thanks for stopping by for WW!
Indeed…. not many parts of the world can do that.
I love a good salad and that looks so delicious. We go to a local farmer’s market regularly … it’s so nice to get veggies and fruits fresh and support the local economy at the same time!!!!!
Yep. At the same time one of the things I always compare when traveling is grocery stores! I think we are truly blessed compared to so many places… so much available so reasonably priced too.
I think you’ve seen my Hawaii post. Our relatives have about 20 acres where they grow lettuce, romaine (don’t call it lettuce), and onions. I just got an email the other day that said they are going to try tomatoes. They seed their land in different plots at different times, and they have something to harvest every week. Very different from the way we do things around here. Their products go to a co-op and they say nearly everything is used on Maui where they live.
While on vacation I noticed a big push for restaurants to show where their food is coming from. We ate at a new restaurant called Monkey Pod and we were told that their goal was the each menu item would tell you who the farmer was that provided the ingredients for that item.
Yes, the governor did an address too about some of the push toward self-suffiency. Was really interesting!
Janice, I loved this post! I’ve always wanted to see ag in Hawaii (especially the dairies) and I have loved living vicariously through you this week. Was it what you expected?
You know, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I love tropics & islands. Having been to The Philippines, Malaysia, Turkey, etc, I know gorgeous beaches. but the Big Island was sreally great. I have LOTS of blog posts to write, sadly none on dairies though I saw a few Holsteins. 🙂