TPM HAPPENINGS
Simon Russell Speaks to TPM
by Valerie Sisneros
Simon Russell, a local farmer and dedicated activist, spoke to TPM at our May general meeting. Simon ran a hard-fought campaign in 2012 for State House of Representatives / District 13. He expressed his gratitude to TPM for all of our support. He spoke on a variety of interesting topics; number one on his list was the Hawaii Farmer’ s Union, in which he currently presides as Vice-President here on Maui. I learned that 90 % of the food on Maui is imported and 92 % of the food products we export are not really foods that would sustain us. The majority of farm products we ship out are corn, macadamia nuts, sugar, pineapple, biotech seeds, and flowers. Statistics show that we live in an area with the least amount of food security in the entire country. This seems insane when you look at all the great land and mild weather that Maui is blessed with. Simon says that in 1960 Maui was farming 2 million acres of land, today it is down to 1 million acres, with half of the land now utilized as real estate instead. He spoke about the times when farmers were families working the land for generations, but that is no longer the case since so much of the labor has been replaced by machinery. He said that most local farms are now just one family doing the best they can to feed themselves and possibly a small part of their community. Simon comes from three generations of farmers on Kauai whose family farms were wiped out by Hurricane Iniki, and they were never able to completely recover. One of the biggest challenges for farmers is the issue of the global marketplace. The island’ s pineapple industry has been disappearing due to cheaper labor costs in the Philippines and other countries. Although land on Maui was predominantly Ag land for decades, it is now utilized in the following order;( 1) Real Estate,( 2) Tourism,( 3) Government Services, and( 4) Agriculture. The Hawaii Farmer’ s Union focuses on Regenerative Farming. This is the concept of growing food to feed the local communities, getting access to the land for farming, and finding people interested in farming. In addition they explore natural farming techniques. The group meets on the Fourth Tuesday of every month at the Haiku Community Center from 5:30 to 8:30 pm. In the current climate of uncertainty, local farming, and learning more about growing our own food, makes so much sense. Simon also spoke about current legislative action and the status of various bills. One of the issues Simon was very involved in was the repeal of Act 55, the PLDC,( Public Lands Development Corporation); created in 2011. This legislation would allow a majority of state land to be privatized for reasons that are definitely not in the best interest of the people of Hawaii. One example he gave was that, had Act 55 remained in effect, China could buy up huge plots of land, set up businesses and we would have no say. The people of Hawaii rose up against this travesty and over 2000 people went to the Hawaii State Legislature building in protest. It is imperative that we continue to stand against these massive land grabs by the government. He said it is a terrible idea to use State Land as collateral for debt, with the government now attempting to drain every possible resource for revenue instead of simply practicing fiscal responsibility. There is some local support for Maui’ s large landowners to sell parcels of land to Land Trusts to be farmed by local farmers. All of the issues that Simon discussed have a direct effect on our quality of life here on Maui. We appreciate all that he does to make a difference; he is a patriot and an inspiration. For more info on the Hawaii Farmers Union, visit their website: http:// www. hawaiifarmersunionunited. org /
Pono Press, June 2013, Page 4