History of FOOD PRODUCTION IN HAWAIʻI
Hawaiʻi has always been known for 3 major food productions- sugarcane, coffee, and pineapple. Coffee was the first of the three to begin in Hawaiʻi. It was in 1828-1829 where H.N. Greenwell plants first coffee plant in Kona leading to the establishment of a coffee industry for Kona and by 1830 initiated as a commercial crop.
Future of of food production in hawaiʻi
The history of food production above is just a glimpse of what Hawaiʻi is capable of doing. Can Hawaiʻi feed itself? Our lands are big enough and the knowledge is at our reach. The real question is how would we do so?
Food security starts with the government. Since the 1960ʻs the percentage of the state budget the Department of Agriculture gets has dropped by more than 10%, going from about 15% down to 0.7%. The legislature too has changed much since the 1960ʻs, where majority of the legislature then were true farmers themselves. "Today, only one or two legislators are true farmers" says Okimoto in an article on Hawaiibusiness.com.
Food security starts with the government. Since the 1960ʻs the percentage of the state budget the Department of Agriculture gets has dropped by more than 10%, going from about 15% down to 0.7%. The legislature too has changed much since the 1960ʻs, where majority of the legislature then were true farmers themselves. "Today, only one or two legislators are true farmers" says Okimoto in an article on Hawaiibusiness.com.
AQUAPONICS
In November our class embarked on a new project where each group was assigned a type of system where they would grow their plants. Our group was assigned an aquaponic system. I know what youʻre thinking and itʻs okay, I didnʻt know what this was either.
Aquaponics is a system where both fish and plants are cultivated by putting waste to use. Our system specifically is home to several cabbage plants, kalo, tall grass, and green onion and the fish we use are tilapia. The way it works is the water is first filled up once, after that it is recycled throughout the system so that no new amounts of water needs to be used. This is where the fish help the plants, and the plants help the fish. Fish are constantly producing waste and ammonia into the water they live in. Our "tanks" take this water to our tubs where our plants sit and feed it into the plants. The plants then eat the water sucking up all the nutrients coming from the waste that hurt the fish, yet help the plants thrive. After the plants absorb the nitrates, the water is then circulated back into the fish tank. This system allows are school to save money by recycling water and nutrients and further our knowledge as Hawaiian scientists.
Aquaponics is a system where both fish and plants are cultivated by putting waste to use. Our system specifically is home to several cabbage plants, kalo, tall grass, and green onion and the fish we use are tilapia. The way it works is the water is first filled up once, after that it is recycled throughout the system so that no new amounts of water needs to be used. This is where the fish help the plants, and the plants help the fish. Fish are constantly producing waste and ammonia into the water they live in. Our "tanks" take this water to our tubs where our plants sit and feed it into the plants. The plants then eat the water sucking up all the nutrients coming from the waste that hurt the fish, yet help the plants thrive. After the plants absorb the nitrates, the water is then circulated back into the fish tank. This system allows are school to save money by recycling water and nutrients and further our knowledge as Hawaiian scientists.