Young Farmer’s Perspective on Agriculture; Atherton Banjo Concert with Tony Trischka; Elections and Campaign Spending Bills; Hawaiians Outside the Kingdom
Young Farmer’s Perspective on Agriculture: Ken Koike
This year began with the announcement that HC & S would stop sugar production on Maui. Soon after came word that Hamakua Springs Country Farms on Hawaii Island would also close. Since then, we’ve been asking the question: where does agriculture in Hawai‘i go from here? We’ve asked farmers to reach out to us with their views of the path ahead. Ken Koike is a small organic farmer and since we last spoke with him, he’s had to defend the lease on his Waianae farm from being revoked. He says that’s because the department of agriculture doesn’t understand small organic farmers and wraps them in too much bureaucracy. Koike is the Farm Project Coordinator for Ono & Pono Farms. He was one of five people from Hawai‘i able to visit and study Cuba’s organic agriculture in the summer of 2010. He currently oversees two organic farm operations in Wai‘anae Valley.... one in the Wai‘anae Agricultural Park on 9.4 acres where they are raising fish and kalo in an aquaponics system along with canoe foods such as: breadfruit, sweet potato, banana, sugar cane, turmeric, ti leaf, candlenut tree and salad greens - and a second 1 acre farm with livestock of chickens, pigs, ducks, rabbits and goats.
- Intro Music: Primitive by Real Estate
- Outro Music: Marbles & Drains by TM Juke
Atherton Banjo Concert: Tony Trischka
There’s a lot you can do with a banjo, and its role in music seems to change with each decade. It’s a rhythm instrument in traditional jazz, a lead voice in bluegrass, and these days, in Tony Trischka’s hands, it can be all of the above. He’s bringing a wildly varied program to our Atherton Studio this Saturday, February 6th, playing music by Earl Scruggs, Bill Monroe, J.S. Bach, John Phillip Sousa, and the Beatles, among others.
- Intro Music: Farewell Blues by Tony Trischka & Earl Scruggs
- Outro Music: Belated Wedding Hoedown / Angelina Baker by Tony Trischka
Elections and Campaign Spending Bills: Janet Mason
Bills that support democracy may not be on your go to topic list for this legislative session. Good government groups including Common Cause and the League of Women Voters are trying to make sure those measures get at least some of your attention. Janet Mason is Co-Chair of the Legislative Committee for the League of Women Voters of Hawaii. She is a retired small business owner and worked for 17 years as insurance risk manager for local publicly-traded firms.
- Intro Music: Human – Tin Tin (Out Mix) by The Pretenders
- Outro Music: French Letter by J-Walk
Hawaiians Outside the Kingdom: Boyd Bond
Early nineteenth century history is filled with references to “Kanakas” on sailing ships and starting new lives as laborers, gold miners, and fur traders in the Northwest. Boyd Bond is a Hawaii island historian who wonders why so many Hawaiians would leave paradise behind and venture so far afield. He’s giving a talk at the Lyman Museum in Hilo on Monday, and he joined The Conversation prior to that to tell us about early Hawaiians on the mainland.
- Intro Music: Pua Lili Lehua by Jim Kimo West
- Outro Music: Kolowaka by Keola Beamer
