Local produce growing, but imports are growing faster

"Despite a national trend toward eating local, Hawai'i is growing increasingly reliant on imported foods." - Honolulu Advertiser, May 7, 2007

Front page yesterday above the fold, Imports tip Isle produce scale, Demand for fresh fruits and vegetables is increasing and we're importing more and more to meet that.

It's not all bad news. Local farm production has roughly doubled since 1960, but imports have tripled during the same time period. What the article doesn't mention is that population during this same time period has also doubled from 632,000 to 1,275,000. In other words, local production has kept pace with population growth, but people are eating more fruits and vegetables than in 1960. Imports have increased faster to satisfy our taste for fresher food.

At the same time, less land is being devoted to local farming. Scroll down to the graphs at the bottom of the article to see the impact. Local farm production dips from 2000 to present, roughly corresponding to the explosion in real estate. An acre of townhouses is more profitable than an acre of tomatoes. With the high cost of land, water and labor, farmers are shifting their fields away from plantation crops like pineapple and sugar cane to staples and speciality items. (Sweet potatoes, tomatoes and asparagus are mentioned as examples.)

What does this all mean? Farmer/blogger Richard Ha is quoted for the story, ""People will pay for added value... Hawai'i consumers are looking for local produce." He's absolutely right--for a niche group of "buy local" chefs and consumers. Local food is fresher, usually tastes better and is good for our economic health.

But bottom-line prices still drive the majority of our produce purchases. It's hard to justify extra coins for local fruit when you're scrambling just to pay rent. Despite that, local produce has gained enough mindshare for this story to headline the Honolulu Advertiser. That in itself gives a glimmer of hope.