trouble in paradise

What would you do if you lived on an island where 90% of the food you eat is imported and there was a possibility that one day those imports would stop?

Hawaiians are facing a real dilemma. If all imports to Hawaii stopped today, they would have enough for everybody for one week. This has them worried.

Every since my vacation in Maui last week, I have been trying to answer this question for myself?

My first thought was they could eat a lot of really cool fruit. I had been enjoying a beautiful spread of different fruits every morning for breakfast while pondering the question “Does it get any better than this?” so it seemed totally plausible. But, by dinner, I was ready for some veggies and began to wonder what I could eat for local vegetables.

While out on our tourist adventures or hanging at the resort, we found that many people on Maui are growing vegetables and raising animals. Heck, those roosters that woke me up every morning belonged to somebody! We met lot of people on a farm tour, at farmers’ markets and in a gelato store that are thinking about how they can produce more food themselves–eat more locally grown food. It was inspiring.

Now that I am back home in Northern California where we can get most anything grown local here, I still find myself thinking about Hawaiins’ dilemma.  What would I do? How could I try to be more self sustainable? Then I realized, I live on an earthquake fault line, I should have similar concerns. Hmm…

If you are interested in learning more about the growing sustainable food movement in Hawaii, check out the amazing publication Edible Hawaiian Islands.