Will Environmentally Restorative Practices Transform Maui’s Toxic Agriculture?

Author: Jonathan Greenberg

Marketed as an island paradise, Maui is not the first place one would think of as ground zero in the battle for the future of agriculture. The golden beaches of Lahaina were recently ranked as the second most popular honeymoon destination in the world (after Las Vegas), and its surfing is legendary. The billions of dollars spent by tourists each year are at least 20 times greater than the value of the island’s agriculture. But amidst complex discussions about the effects of chemical farming practices on public health, whether to choose an industrial or regenerative farming model, and the profitability of future crops, Maui stands at the crossroads between America’s farming past and its green future.

This crossroads is located on 32,400 acres of what is Hawaii’s last sugar plantation. The sun swept farmland is largely owned by Alexander & Baldwin, a 145 year old company whose land holdings and controversial water “rights” grew from the colonization and gunboat diplomacy that uprooted the once independent kingdom of Hawaii. At the start of this year, with world prices for sugar down and agribusiness losses of about $30 million, A&B announced that it would close the plantation before the end of 2016, and lay off most of its 675 workers.

There is great interest across Maui in creating an agricultural future that is more economically viable than the past chemically dependent, water hungry plantation model. This, and a desire to help save agricultural jobs, have inspired Maui Tomorrow, a 26-year old environmental advocacy organization, to facilitate a discussion across the entire community. The organization recently released Mālama ‘Āina: A Conversation About Maui’s Farming Future, a detailed 50 page report (viewable here) that analyzes opportunities to grow profitable crops and market Maui-branded value-added products, using farming methods which offset climate change, end chemical spraying and crop burning, use less water, and restore soil quality. The goal is to transform the industrially farmed A&B lands into a sustainable source of food and energy crops, and diversify an island economy that now imports 90 percent of what its people consume. Maui Tomorrow is asking business leaders, farmers, activists and political candidates to present their own comments, ideas and proposals about economically beneficial and environmentally restorative alternatives to monocrop agriculture. The organization has started this process by hosting a community dialogue on its new website, at www.FutureofMaui.org.

“We believe that this unique opportunity to expand the vision of what’s possible for agriculture on Maui can result in positive outcomes for all concerned,” said Albert Perez, Executive Director of Maui Tomorrow. “Working together, the people of Maui can end the era of toxic chemical agriculture and instead embrace regenerative agriculture, which creates multiple income streams from the same land area, and improves profitability by eliminating the cost of external inputs such as fertilizer and pesticides. This type of agriculture can improve the health of our soil, water, and coastal ecosystems, and increase agricultural jobs, thus maintaining important economic diversification.”

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