Island Breath: Future of food on Kauai

SUBJECT: GMO EXPERIMENTS

SOURCE: JERI DI PIETRO ofstone@aol.com

POSTED: 16 JANUARY 2006 - 1:30pm HST

The future of food production on Kauai

The Gay & Robinson sugarcane mill in Kamakani, the last on the island of Kauai.Photo by Juan Wilson.

A Panel & Agenda for Food Industry Forum
by Glenn Hontz of Kauai Community College on 14 January 2006

You are cordially invited to the first meeting of the Kauai Food Industry Forum for 2006. The meeting will be held in the Kauai Community College Dining Hall on Saturday morning, January 21, 2006, from 8:45am until 11:45am. You are welcome to bring friends or associates.

The theme of this session will be:
Working together to Impove Cooperation in Key Sectors of Kauai's Food Industry

We will be summarizing recent developments, analyzing problems and creating recommendations for action by the Forum in the following six interrelated areas:

1. Improving Use of Agricultural Lands
2. Increasing Needed Assistance to Farmers
3. Improving the Supply of Fresh Foods to Markets, Restaurants and Consumers
4. Increasing Manpower & Building Industry Leadership
5. Funding for Start-ups and Expanding Food Enterprises
6. Improving Communication & Cooperation Between Government and the Industry

A panel of Kauai’s leaders has been assembled to examine these problems and to help shape proposals for solutions. Promising current projects will be reviewed and new proposals for funding will be outlined. Ample opportunity will be provided for input from the Forum membership and their guests.

The following members have agreed to serve as panel members to share their ideas and suggestions as a kick-off for total group discussion.

PANEL FACILITATOR:
Ken Curtis, KCC Grants Manager

PANEL RECORDER:
Laurie Ho, Resource Conservation and Development

OVERVIEW OF SESSION:
Glenn Hontz, KCC Food Industry Program

PANEL MEMBERS:
Beth Tokioka, County Office of Economic Development
Cammie Matsumoto, KCC Professional Development
Daniel Hamada, Superintendent Kauai DOE Schools
Fred Atkins, Kilohana Plantation
Gary Hooser, State Senator
Hermina Morita, State House of Representatives
John K Isobe, Office of Continuing Education & Training
Joseph Dunsmoor, Farm Manager/ Consultant
Joyce Takahashi, Kauai Community Kitchen Project
Michael Furukawa, Grove Farm
Roy Oyama, Kauai Farm Bureau
Susan Tai, Small Business Development Center
Terry Sekioka, University of Hawaii Extension Services

Help us to make 2006 a year of genuine progress. I look forward to seeing you this coming Saturday.
Best regards,

email:
Glenn Hontz
Forum Chairperson pro-tem
Kauai Community College

phone:
808 246-4859