Agriculture

FoodCorps Seeks Volunteers

Wednesday, February 27th, 2013

FoodCorps Seeks Volunteers

FoodCorps News Release

The national FoodCorps is recruiting service members throughout Hawai‘i who are passionate about healthy food, farms and kids to help connect our keiki to real food and help them grow up healthy. Sust `aina ble Molokai, the grassroots community organization that educates keiki to bring back Molokai’s legacy of `aina momona, will be a service site for two members.

FoodCorps, a national organization addressing childhood obesity and food insecurity in underserved communities, operates in 12 states and will add Hawai`i, California and New Jersey this year. The Kohala Center will be the Hawai`i host site.

FoodCorps is accepting applications for its third class of service members and is seeking to hire ten service members in Hawai‘i.…

Food Business Basics workshop on Molokai

Thursday, February 21st, 2013

Food Business Basics workshop on Molokai

Kohala Center News Release

Value-added and specialty foods consultant Lou Cooperhouse will present his “Food Business Basics: Getting Started and Finding Your Niche in the Specialty Foods Business” workshop March 15 from 8:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. at the Lanikeha Community Center in Ho‘olehua, Molokai.

The workshop is designed for farmers seeking to develop their raw product into a value-added product that they can bring to markets, entrepreneurs and restraunteurs interested in diversifying their revenue streams with specialty food products and established producers looking to take their food business to the next level.

Cooperhouse will deliver his three-hour “Food Business Basics” workshops, and then Nicole Milne, agriculture business specialist at the Kohala Center, will present two one-hour sessions focused on financial resources available to Hawai`i farmers as well as strategies for marketing agricultural products.…

State of the County Address

Thursday, February 21st, 2013

The following is Mayor Alan Arakawa’s state of the county address, which he delivered February 20 at the Baldwin High School Auditorium at 5 p.m. Check back soon for some comments from Mayor Arakawa about Molokai specifically. 

 

Aloha and good evening.

Please join me in giving Mr. Dean Wong a round of applause. He had some large shoes to fill in taking over emcee duties this year and he’s done a fine job.

Our last two State of the County events were emceed by the late

Martin Luna, a friend to this administration and our community.

Of course it is impossible not to think of Martin now as we begin tonight.…

Coffees of Hawaii Celebrates 20 Years of Coffee on Molokai

Sunday, February 17th, 2013

Coffees of Hawaii Celebrates 20 Years of Coffee on Molokai

This year marks 20 years of coffee production on the island of Molokai. Also in 2013, the entire coffee industry in the State of Hawaii celebrates 200 years of producing the crop. Coffees of Hawaii will host a free two-day festival March 15 and 16 at the plantation in Kualapu`u.

Coffees of Hawaii, Inc. (COH) was formed in February 1984, when the first contracts were negotiated with Molokai Ranch to lease the land and base yard facilities in Kualapu`u. In 1986 the first plantings of coffee were completed in two experimental fields. The company planted 600 acres of Arabica coffee on the former pineapple lands in 1988 and conducted its first commercial harvest in 1993.…

Monsanto Hawaii Offers Two Scholarships

Wednesday, February 13th, 2013

Monsanto Hawaii Offers Two Scholarships

Monsanto Hawaii News Release


Applications are now being accepted for Monsanto Hawaii’s two scholarship programs – the Monsanto Hawaii Life Sciences Scholarship and the Monsanto Hawaii Agricultural Scholarship.

High school seniors interested in a life sciences degree are invited to apply for the Monsanto Hawaii Life Sciences Scholarship. As many as 10 scholarships of $1,000 each will be awarded in 2013. This scholarship is open to graduating seniors of all high schools in Hawaii who will be attending an accredited college or university to pursue a discipline related to the life sciences (including agriculture, agronomy, biology, botany, genetics, horticulture, plant physiology, chemistry, crop science and soil science).…

Oh Rats! Part II

Wednesday, February 13th, 2013

Oh Rats! Part II

Community Contributed

By Glenn I. Teves, County Extension Agent, UH CTAHR

A serious disease spread by rats is in the headlines in Hawaii recently. Angiostrongyliasis, also known as the Rat Lungworm Infection, is caused by a microscopic nematode or eelworm. The adult stage of this nematode lives only in rats, while the immature form or the larvae are passed from the rat droppings to other animals, especially snails and slugs, and even prawns.

Humans ingest the lung worm when they eat slugs and snails hidden in produce, such as lettuce and uncooked greens, and also raw or undercooked snails (escargot) and prawns.…

Seed Company Provides Local Plants

Wednesday, February 6th, 2013

 

Molokai Seed Company News Release

Established in 2008, Molokai Seed Company provides high quality seed and planting material. We sell products to the homeowner, farmer, and home gardener with sustainable agriculture in mind. Our motto is “seed for conservation and sustainable agriculture.”

Currently we have two products available: “Sunshine” Vetiver and “Tropic Sun” sunn hemp. Check our website, molokaiseedcompany.com, as we expand our product base into other seed crops. We are also planning to have additional products like Fu Man Chews, which are of premium quality.

“Sunshine” Vetiver may be the single best method to control soil erosion and provide slope stabilization.…

NOAA Proposal Aims to Save Coral

Wednesday, February 6th, 2013

NOAA Proposal Aims to Save Coral

The south shore of Molokai boasts one of the largest fringing coral reefs in Hawaii, providing a home for fish, a draw for tourism, shelter from ocean storms, and sustenance for the local economy. Coral is fragile, though, and biologists fear these valuable organisms could be extinct by the year 2100. This is why the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) proposed to list 66 species of coral as endangered or threatened, an action that could protect the island’s reef.

Of the 66 species that NOAA may soon list as threatened or endangered, three exist in Hawaii, and two – montipora patula and montipora flabellata– call the Molokai area home.…

Molokai Mom on a Mission: Raising Awareness, Inspiring Change

Sunday, February 3rd, 2013

Molokai Mom on a Mission: Raising Awareness, Inspiring Change

Community Contributed

Opinion by Mercy Ritte

On Wednesday, Jan. 16, a unified group of charter school students and teachers, environmentalist, conservationalist, Hawaiian rights activists, people of all ethnic backgrounds, and families trekked a three mile march, from Buckman Hall on the University of Hawaii campus to the State Capital, in an effort to push for labeling GMO foods.

According to the Center for Food Safety, “it has been estimated that 70 percent of processed foods on supermarket shelves–from soda to soup, crackers to condiments–contain genetically engineered ingredients.” Studies have also revealed, over the past decade, that GMO foods can pose serious risks to humans, animal life and the environment.…

Molokai Ranch Returns to Ranching Roots

Thursday, January 24th, 2013

Molokai Ranch Returns to Ranching Roots

Community Contributed

By Clay R. Rumbaoa, Molokai Ranch CEO

Editor’s note: This is a letter reprinted with permission from the winter issue of Molokai Ranch’s quarterly newsletter.

Aloha & Comosta Molokai, These last few months have been a whirlwind of activity at Molokai Ranch, as we move forward with many of the initiatives I outlined in our last newsletter [the four pillars: animal husbandry, sustainable farming, renewable energy and green improvements]. First and foremost, we officially returned to our ranching and agricultural roots with the reintroduction of cattle operations.

Our intention is to raise and breed high-quality grass-fed and finished cattle for consumption in Hawaii.…