1-26-08

Keauhou Farmers Market

Aloha,

Yesterday my daughter Jennifer emailed me another of those internet jokes that as been circulating as long as I can remember. It's the one about the guy who had an early day scheduled and set his (MADE IN JAPAN) alarm clock for 6am. While his (MADE IN CHINA) coffeepot was perking, he shaved with his (MADE IN HONG KONG) electric razor He put on a dress shirt   (MADE IN SRI LANKA), designer jeans (MADE IN SINGAPORE) tennis shoes (MADE IN KOREA) Then cooked breakfast with his  (MADE IN INDIA) electric skillet finally got into his (MADE IN GERMANY) car filled it with GAS (from Saudi Arabia) and continued his search for a JOB in the US.

The joke was actually much longer with about 10 other countries making items we take for granted everyday.

I started to realize that we know where all of these items came from but don't really know where our food comes from -- kind of warped priorities. (unless you buy food here at the Keauhou farmers market which is the only farmers market on the Big Island that can guarantee that it sells only locally grown produce.)

If we walk into any of the area groceries we don’t know where the garlic comes from or where the taro or corn was grown. We can't even say for sure now if the bananas are from here as the largest Hawaii grower now brings them in from Ecuador, and, it still ticks me off to walk into the local markets, right now, and find avocados from Chile or Mexico.

We also need to remember that farmers markets are for buying fresh and buying local, they are not flea markets and not a place for cheap stuff. They are the place for the best stuff!

I have this idea for a program called Qc3 (QC Cubed)

The Q for quality is what all the growers here and chefs are dedicated too. We have to be if we want to be sustainable.

The C cubed or 3 c's are for Community, Communications and Commitment

Your buying local here and supporting chefs who are using local produce shows your dedication to building and sustaining our community. You as consumers, the chefs and us growers are all part of OUR community.

Communications helps to carry this though. When you talk to the growers here, your part of the cycle of communications. You can express your thoughts on what we produce, what you would like to have grown and so on. When you talk to the chefs, it's no different. Farmers and chefs need your communication. We need to know how to be better, for you and for our community.

Finally it’s a matter of commitment, the hard part of the equation. Buying Local -- all the time, is not easy. We need to put aside some of the things we might normally do and focus on the commitment to community and communicate our concerns.

Hard to find local mangos in March -- so what do we do. The commitment is not to buy them from Peru and Brazil. Not to buy avocados from Chile and Mexico or the bananas from Ecuador. Make the commitment to Eat Local-- rethink your recipes to buy fresh and buy local. The chefs do --

Speaking of chefs, I know you must be anxious to hear from and taste what Chef Devin has prepared this morning. Fruit is not just for eating out of hand -- It can be used in a wide variety of creative recipes that you are about to experience. Devin….