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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0931.016 1996-1998 Testimony to County CounI Wednesday August 5,1998. Janine Postlewait Friends of Agriculture-Hawaii page 1 My name is Janine Postlewait and I would like to give you a little background on myself and events in my life that have brought me to this point, speaking to you here today. Eight years ago my husband and I and our three preschool children moved to the Big Island from Washington State, having committed to buying a piece of sugar cane land on the Hamakua Coast with visions of having an orchard on which we could raise our children and provide an income for ourselves. We had chosen an orchard as we thought this would be a good use of the land, being able to provide an income for ourselves and for our children, when they were grown. The Big Island seemed one of the last places that this vision could be achieved, as land was affordable. We had no experience in agriculture but only a strong desire and vision for our family. In looking for fruit trees to plant on our land, my husband met a tropical fruit farmer who had a two year old orchard and was selling young grafted trees. He was also willing to share his expertise and help us establish our own orchard of these high value fruits. Since coming to the Big Island our family has grown to include two more children. We have worked very hard and with great satisfaction on planting and establishing our orchard. Our only source of income over the years has been my husband's income from working construction jobs here and on Oahu. My time has been fully occupied raising our children and working on our orchard. Our vision of being full-time farmers seemed to be drawing closer, especially in 1997 when we received the first fruits of our labor, money from our first Rambutan crop that was sent to Chicago to be irradiated and sold on the mainland. That is when I began educating myself about irradiation, What was it? RECENEo t1me..------ . pore.----c- our,ty coundt p 2 Gomm. Na._ 7,) ~b Fite No. I i ' 7F Ref. To: Presented Gavin.." ad. p, AUG 5 1998 Testimony to County Cows Wednesday August 5,1998. Janine Postlewait Friends of Agriculture-Hawaii page2 Was there any waste product from this facility?. Was the Cobalt 60 able to be transported safely here? How safe was the facility? What dangers were there for workers, the surrounding area, people outside of the facility? What about the fruit itself? Was it safe to eat? I asked all these questions as a mother and a resident of Hawaii willing to stand against the irradiation facility if any of these concerns were not addressed satisfactorily. What I learnt was very encouraging and I was impressed with the safety procedures, the safety of the proposed facility and the thorough research and development on using this technology for irradiating food. It appeared our vision for our family would be able to be realized. I had been raised in New Zealand, a nuclear free country, and was amazed to learn that New Zealand has irradiation facilities for medical purposes. Is not this another good use of this technology? Our family would directly benefit from an irradiation facility here on the Big Isand. We would be able to live the rural lifestyle, raising our children here in Hawaii. I submit to you that not only would our family be able to accomplish our vision but this is a vision held by many people and families for themselves and for this island. I ask you, choose to keep irradiation available for agricultural purposes, for the benefit of our island, our people, our children.