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SUPERFRUIT OF THE GODS
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Revitalizing Breadfruit

Revitalizing Breadfruit

"The Ho'oulu ka 'Ulu Project.“

Ho'oulu ka 'Ulu is a project to revitalize 'ulu (breadfruit) as an attractive, delicious, nutritious, abundant, affordable, and culturally appropriate food which addresses Hawai'i's food security issues. It is well known that Hawai'i imports about 90% of its food, making it one of the most food insecure states in the nation. Additionally, since the economic downturn of 2008, many families lack access to affordable and nutritious food. We believe that breadfruit is a key to solving Hawaii's food security problems.

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Take your time to develop new products: Desmond Twigg-Smith

 MG 9544Desmond Twigg-Smith rakes coffee parchment at his processing facility, which is open to the public.Desmond Twigg-Smith of Holualoa Kona Coffee Company grows certified organic coffee and processes from ripe beans through to roasted coffee for sale at his on-farm retail outlet. “We have control of all stages of production, which means we can maintain quality. It is very fulfilling to take our coffee all the way to a final product,” explains Twigg-Smith when reflecting on the wet and dry milling and roasting facilities he has developed over the years. For him, producing products that he can take pride in is much more than earning a living, it’s a lifestyle that gives satisfaction beyond what money can provide.

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Hamakua Heritage Mushrooms Farm: Janice and Bob Stanger

Aliimushrooms5Aliʻi mushrooms growing at Hamakua Heritage Mushroom Farm.Thirteen years ago, Bob and Janice Stanga bought property in the Laupahoehoe area of Hawai'i Island with the idea of creating a niche food for island chefs raising either mushrooms or edible snails. Mushrooms won and The Hamakua Heritage Mushroom Farm became a reality.

The enterprise started small and eventually grew to fill a 16,000 square-foot production building that houses their own sterile tissue culture laboratory, incubation rooms and six indoor growing rooms. The facility is equipped with automated specialty mushroom cultivation equipment and climate control installations, and is where they produce a variety of mushroom species of exceptional quality.

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Value-Added Innovation for Hawai'i Growers workshop

IMG 1649CElevitchKen Love speaks to a group of enthusiastic workshop participants in Kalaheo, Kaua'i on March 27, 2013.During the last two weeks of March, over two hundred island residents took part in a statewide workshop series to educate small-scale farmers and producers about adding value to their enterprises. The workshops, sponsored by the State of Hawai'i Department of Agriculture Specialty Crops Program, were presented by Craig Elevitch and Ken Love, Hawai'i Island locals and leaders of the sustainable food movement in Hawai'i.

The workshop, "Value-Added Innovation for Hawai'i Growers: Making the Family Farm Profitable" focused on ways to enhance locally grown and produced products in order to create more profitable and sustainable small agricultural businesses in Hawai'i. Workshops were held in Hilo and Kona, as well as on Kaua'i, O'ahu, and Maui, and registration was free of charge.

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Puna 'Ulu Festival 2013 slideshow

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The second Puna ‘Ulu Festival 'Ulu a me Niu—Celebrating Breadfruit and Coconut!.

The second annual Puna ‘Ulu Festival took place Saturday, March 2, 2013 at Kua O Ka Lā Public Charter School in Puna. Over 2,500 people attended the event this year, which included many well-attended cultural practitioner demonstration, games, chef demos, a cooking contest, and much more.

See the captioned festival slideshow here.

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Supermarkets demand perfect produce: Tom Palusak

XR0Y8235CElevitchTom Palusak, Produce Manager of Choice Mart in Captain Cook.When Tom Palusak started working as produce manager in 2007, he felt it was important that local produce was well represented in Choice Mart’s offerings. Many of the store’s customers are local farmers from the area, and it was only natural and appropriate to give customers the opportunity to buy local. Four years later, about 50% of Choice Mart’s produce comes from Hawai‘i farmers.

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The human elements of value-added enterprises

value-added-banner1If you look behind the scenes at any successful value-added farm enterprise in Hawai‘i (there are many), you will find that their most important resource is people. Entrepreneurs are the "heart," "soul" and "brains" of the operation. The resourcefulness and tenacity to run a small farm comes from the people who run it. Here are a few characteristics of successful value-added farm enterprises.

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