Joel Winicki and his family live in Olinda. They own and operate Maui Grown Tomatoes, with their main farm in Haʻiku.
The Aug. 8 fire burned through their upcountry community. But 80 mph winds also ripped through their farm.
“We have three 300 foot by 30 foot greenhouses down there and all three of them took major structural damage," he said. "One of them lost the cover, so we lost all 600 thriving vines that were in it. Another one took major enough damage to it that we are now losing all the vines.”
Before the fires, they produced about 60,000 pounds of tomatoes annually. They sold to most Maui retailers including Mana Foods, Whole Foods, Down to Earth, local shops, food trucks and West Maui restaurants.
They have been working to expand and diversify their crops but Winicki said tomatoes still pay their bills.
“We've taken a complete nosedive in production," he said. "We went from the week before the fire, doing somewhere along the lines of 2500 pounds a week, to currently, 500 pounds a week. It’s going to nosedive from here in the next couple weeks as well.”
Winicki said they've never asked for assistance in the past, but now they’ve applied for three grants to help get them through.
“We just need enough to get into the new season and it takes a while for the money to come in because from the time we actually plant a seed, it takes at least four months until we have any color, like sellable color, of tomatoes and then it takes a few weeks to a month to actually start receiving checks from what we've sold," he explained.
"It's a four or five month wait for money. So that's why if we don't have enough funds put away for the off season, it's detrimental like to the farm, clearly.”
As his own farm took big hits, Winicki spent the first several weeks after the fire focusing on helping his community. They battled the Olinda fires with whatever they could find.
“Some really phenomenal friends and neighbors of ours and I spent many days fighting the fires ourselves with chainsaws and excavators and hoses and just water rigs that we could make up and put out the fires with as they keep popping up,” Winicki said.
Supporting those who lost more than him was important for Winicki.
“I feel pretty grateful that we still have a home," he said. "So many people don't. So many people lost friends and family. It's really hard for me personally to sit back and just take care of our own personal needs when I feel like we have the ability to help so many other people.”
Winicki said tomatoes are a challenging, labor intensive crop to grow. The time away from his farm to fight the fires meant additional crop loss.
With many West Maui restaurants closed, demand for local produce has dropped and farmers across the island are feeling the loss. It’s making Winicki and others think about what comes next for the local economy.
“When we spend our money with local businesses, that money stays in circulation right here in our economy," he said. "It's a long term thing, I think. It's not a short term fix.”
