COM 0212.447 1996-1998 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

TESTIMONY TO: Finance Committee, Hawaii County Council re: Bill 62, Apri124, 1997 Rory Flynn, Public Affairs Dvector, Hawaii Agricultural Promotional Association My name is Rory Flynn. I want to thank Chairman Aazon Chung and the members of this committee for the opportunity to speak to you today in support of Bill 62. I am a writer and consultant, presently working with local farmers as the informational director of the Hawaii Agricultural Promotional Association. My wife and I live in Honomu. During the past six weeks, I have worked very closely with local growers and, more recently, the senior executives of Isomedix, Inc. here today. Together, we have established a process of building and collaboration and partnership. do a very short time, we have made tremendous progress. Today, we ask for your support to help us take the next step. We have a cause and it is agriculture. We have a goal, an operational 'irradiator in East Hawaii in 1998. We have a dream of a green and rural and prosperous Hawaii. Most importantly, we have a plan of action. ' t. Here is what we have done to date. We have undertaken an exhaustive effort to review and research the (c,' subject of food irradiation, its safety, its technology, its market acceptance, its economic feasibility. Much of that information has been organized and compiled in a report called "Hope For Our Harvest" and we p ! have shared that information with each member of the County Council.. At the request of Committee > ~~r' o' Chairman Aazon Chung, we provided a very thoughtful letter from Dr. George Pauli of the U.S. Food and ~ r Drug Administration attesting to the safety of irradiated food. a \ i ~ v i'o 7 (.J ~ We have re-activated a local trade association, the Hawaii Agricultural Promotional Association, to lead the , organizing effort among Hawaii growers who need post-harvest treatment to export their crops to the f i mainland. We have assisted Isomedix in scheduling meetings with growers, site owners and contractors to ~ m bring this project to fruition. We have conducted meetings with dozens of farmers in recent weeks and at ~ p°O; one such meeting with the gentlemen from Isomedix, last evening, we pledged our efforts to work with the County of Hawaii. We understand that the Council and our fellow citizens need to examine the economics of this appropriation request. That examination begins with an understanding of the current status of tropical agriculture for export. Last night, we began a process ofself-inventory. Who was committed to pledge their crop to irradiation processing in 1998? Here is our answer. From Kauai, Mike Strong, a grower of papaya, pineapple, rambutan, lychee, Tongan, and mangosteen on I50 acres. From Onomea, Les Barclay and John Hanley with 9 acres producing 60,000 lbs. of exotic fruits with another 17 acres of planting planned. In Papaikou, Liloa Willard with up to 38 acres of tropical fruits. In Kurtistown, Eric Weinert with 150 acres of tropical fruit producing 1.5 million pounds. In Hakalau, Brian Paxton and John Beymer with 8 acres producing 100,000 lbs. of tropical fruits and more acreage planned. Independent papaya growers include Florante Molina with 100 acres, 3,000,000 lbs. of papaya and Alberto Belmes with another 100 acres and another 3,000,000 lbs. of papaya. Pietro Cuccio and Theodora Mallick have 2 acres of exotics now and another 50 acres planned, another 500,00 lbs. of tropical fruits. King Cane is dead-long live the King-but Bob Denev of Hawaiian Phoenix today plants 24 acres of papaya with more acreage planned and estimates his yield to be 720,000 lbs. There are smaller farmers like Ted Shiroma of Honomu with 1 'h acres of rambutan and Herman Ah Yo with a few acres of avocado and plans for planting rambutan when seedlings are available. Janine Postlewait of Ninole, together with her husband and father, have about 8 acres of rambutan. They're ready to go. This is just a partial listing. All these farmers and many more are committed to irradiation treatment for export. All have pledged to work in a task force partnership with the County, the State Department of Agriculture, and Isomedix to make this project succeed. All are committed to mazket development initiatives, quality control, and the good reputation of Hawaii product. We aze blessed. There is a new and vibrant agricultural economy in our midst. We have a vanguard of smart farmers and renowned horticulturists, working cooperatively, helping one another in their fields, collaborating with the State Department of Agriculture, building new markets on the mainland. We have the potential of putting our underutilized Hilo airport to work, to build a statewide consolidation and transshipment center in East Hawaii. We have the opportunity to attract dollars for applied research by the Agricultural Research Service and the School of Tropical Agricultural. We have already undertaken risk. We have invested our lives and fortunes in building a new tropical agriculture in Hawaii. We ask you to join with us. We're prepared to join in a task force effort with you. It's April. It's springtime. It's the season of hope. It's when the baseball season begins, and maybe that's a good reference point. Years ago, we got into the game of a new, bold, family farm agriculture. Every day, we work in our fields of dreams. With hard work, we got on base. With some remazkable help from Dr. Lyle Wong and Isomedix and many others, we got the lift we needed to lick our quarantine problem. Now we need a new team member. A resolution of support is nice, but it's too much like cheering from the sidelines. We need the County of Hawaii to get in the game. We're ready to take some coaching and direction. But we need the County of Hawaii to step up to the plate. We're in scoring position. We've got a lead. Bring us home. ~3Cic ~ (2 . ~ ~ 7 Iii ~av rosented F.L '~~R ~ 4 1997 - -