 This is Think Tech Hawaii. Community Matters here. Hawaii Food and Farmer Series. My name is Stephanie Mock and I will be your host of today's show. Our series aims to work and speak to those who are helping to further a local agricultural scene here in Hawaii, whether we're talking to farmers or chefs, restaurants or all those advocacy and partner organizations that help support farmers and agriculture behind the scenes. So just because you're not a farmer doesn't mean that you can't support local ag and help further it in our state. So today our show is titled Hawaii Farm Bureau and we're going to be taking a look inside one of our good friend and good colleagues, Rachelle Lomousal from Hawaii Farm Bureau and she's going to tell us a little bit more about their mission, about the work that they do on the ground and behind the scenes to help support our farmers, whether it's legislative advocacy, economic opportunities, educational and so much more. So Hawaii Farm Bureau is a very close partner organization of my organization of Oahu Resource Conservation Development Council and it's really necessary to have this network of partner collaborators and organizations that can support our farmers in a variety of ways, whether it's technical assistance on the ground in conservation or whether it's economic opportunities and marketing classes to further local agriculture. So today I have a very good friend and colleague, Rachelle Lomousal of Hawaii Farm Bureau and I'd like to go ahead and introduce her and thank her for joining us today. So thank you so much for joining us. Yeah, it's a pleasure to be here. All right, you don't have to be nervous. We're just going to talk a little bit more about Hawaii Farm Bureau and about you. So in local agriculture as well as mainland agriculture, a lot of farmers are around 60 years old. That's an average age in agriculture and so I think it's really important that we meet young leaders and up-and-coming leaders like yourself that show all the work that you do to help support our farmers, both young, middle-aged and older farmers, right? Yeah. So I want to hear a little bit more about you as a person and how you became involved in local agriculture. So my great grandparents came to America as migrant plantation workers and my dad just recently acquired some land to farm as well and I found interest in what I could do for that industry with my degree. I graduated from UH Manoa with a political science degree and I want to see how I could contribute to agriculture in the future of it. So you have a long family history it sounds like and you want to continue that tradition and see how you can bring your own skills to help our local farmers, right? And so you're talking about you have a political science degree so you don't hear a lot about that in agriculture. Most people think I have an agriculture degree, right? Yeah, right. So but it just goes to show you that agriculture is really an interdependent field. You need political scientists, you need the farmers in the field, conservationists and it's a whole big world out there. So right now you are now working with Hawaii Farm Bureau. So I thought you could give us a quick overview of what Hawaii Farm Bureau is kind of like the 30-second snapshot and then we'll talk more about the work that you do. Yeah, sure. So we are a advocacy non-profit organization. We've been founded in 1948 with a group of farmers but we've been incorporated into the state of Hawaii in 1950. So like I mentioned earlier tying in my political science degree, our main mission for Hawaii Farm Bureau is to be the voice of agriculture and to really push or to help our farmers continue to farm while we go and advocate for them at the state legislature. So you want the farmers to do what they do best and farm and be in the fields working and processing their production and you want to be that voice for them so that we can support them not only in the field but in our local political scene as well. Exactly. So you get to use your political science degree every day then and support the farmers. Pretty much, yes. Fantastic. And so how long have you been with Farm Bureau then? So it's been a little over a year and I'm very excited to to see everything and just the future of our industry thus far that I've been part of the Farm Bureau. So you were talking about your this grassroots advocacy organization. You know, is it just the board of directors? Do you have members? What is the makeup of this organization? Yes, we're approximately made of 2,000 members. Wow. We do have a board of directors and we also have representatives from each county. We have about 11 chapters currently and of course there's more there's room for growth if we have more members so and this is 2,000 members throughout Hawaii? Yes. Wow, fantastic. And you started in 1948 so you're almost 70 years old basically. Yes. Wow and then you just continue to grow with more members every year. Yes, sometimes every day. So I thought we'd take a quick moment to check out a video that Farm Bureau produced just to kind of show you know the impact that they have on our farmers in our state. Yeah, sure. All right, let's check it out. Yeah. Hawaii's core is its country. Just 2% of the population growing everything so you don't have to. Small farmers with big stories about their love for the land, their love for the work despite the hardships and risks, and their quiet pride and a job well done. Hawaii agriculture big, small. We support it all. Hawaii Farm Bureau, we're growing for you. So Hawaii Farm Bureau supports it all that's what I you know big agriculture, small agriculture, basically anyone who's farming here in Hawaii. So you have a very broad mandate with 2,000 members that you're working with and I know that you're going to continue to grow especially with the all the new emerging farmers that we hear with the diversified ag especially with the plantations closing. So it's very exciting. So you know you have these 2,000 members. I thought we could take a moment and pretend I'm not a member. I must admit I am a Hawaii Farm Bureau member. Why should I be a member of Hawaii Farm Bureau? If I'm someone who's just kind of interested what are some benefits I could get from membership? Well yeah of course so other than just giving you folks or farmers a voice at the state legislature and continuing to farm at their farms we also provide member benefits. We currently exclusively have a member benefit with Aloha Air Cargo which gives them 20% off their shipments into islands and we also have a Hawaiian airline discount for Trans-Pacific traveling and we also have discounts with Granger so things that they can use it on their farms for their operations and we also currently have or we just acquired a contract with John Deere which will also provide discounts to our members as well. Wow so they get that voice, that lobbying voice, that advocating voice but they also can get some discounts for inputs and their operations to minimize those costs because as we know it is an extremely expensive business to be in and so the opportunity to kind of minimize those costs and minimize risks ultimately so that they can continue farming long term. Exactly yeah so you know you're talking about these discounts and stuff that you have what are some of the programs that Hawaii Farm Bureau does to not only support farmers but also a larger population? So we currently host the Hawaii State Farm Fair every year at Kualoa Ranch this year or this past July was our sixth year being at the ranch and that's just kind of a way or a platform for us to share our agriculture industry with the community and the public and a lot of our partners come out and they share their resources and they're and educate the public about what they do and we also have we also partner with the 4-H group and they bring out their animals that the kids bring out their animals that they raise throughout the year and they showcase them at the farm fair. We also have a Kiki Farm Hands tent and where the public can come in and have a hands-on experience basically because Kiki Farm Hands right on agriculture like whether it be riding those little baby tractors for the kids seeing all the different equipment like rakes and holes that are and the wheelbarrows that are used on farms and how they're used and we also get to practice milking a cow it's not necessarily a real cow but it's a feature that they have on this fake cow that you are able to kind of go ahead and see like how hard it is or like you know how fun it is to to be in a farm and milking a cow and also we have a soggy hatchery that comes out and they show us or they showcase how chicks are being raised yeah and so we have a bunch of stuff every July our farm fair is basically one of our way of reaching out to our community and we also have for our farmers FSMA training which is basically for our the new regulation federal regulation that was brought down to food producers which is called the food modernization act and we provide some funds so that our farmers can attend these training courses and learn more about FSMA itself and how it's going to be implemented in the state of Hawaii so you provide that legislative advocacy but you also provide that educational opportunity for you know the the community you were talking about farm fair which is extremely popular I think you mentioned it had 15,000 attendees this past July yeah oh my goodness I can't even imagine planning that 15,000 people in a weekend yeah and then you also provide that educational opportunity for the food safety modernization act the FSMA these things these very real regulations that are going to affect our farms not only throughout the nation but especially here in Hawaii with our you know such a huge fruit production area so exactly oh that's fantastic so I thought we could talk a little bit about you know we talked about the legislative advocacy and I know that people can check out some of the initiatives that you helped get passed on your website right yes and and can they voice what kind of legislation they're interested in on the website or by becoming a member how how can they get their voice better heard so that Farm Bureau can become that ultimate voice yeah so if you're a farmer or if you're a friend of a farmer you know we do have a member membership opportunity for you folks to just continue our partnership with those that are in the industry and also supporting us and so and that way you know your voice and with all of these collaborating efforts we can create a larger impact at the state capitol and that way your voice will be heard and I'm sure you update your members all the time of like we need your voice please yeah provide support and testimony of course yes all that's fantastic so I thought once we come back from our messages we could talk a little bit about the future of Hawaii Farm Bureau because I know we focused on you guys are almost 70 years old right you have 2,000 members and it's only going to continue to grow just with all the you know all the amazing programs that are out there to help support new farmers we have GoFarm and all the different educational opportunities that you guys I do with FISMA and I know you guys have a variety of other programs that you help support farmers and I like the fact that you guys also want to inspire ag enthusiasts so for example I'm not a farmer and yet I can still be a Hawaii Farm Bureau member and keep up to date on legislation what action is needed and all those opportunities yeah all right all right we're going to be right back after these quick messages to speak more with Rochelle Lomousal of Hawaii Farm Bureau we learned a little bit about her long family history in farming we're going to talk more about her future with Hawaii Farm Bureau and Hawaii Farm Bureau's mission and how that's going to really work towards furthering our local agriculture here in Hawaii welcome back we've been speaking with Rochelle Lomousal of Hawaii Farm Bureau on today's episode titled Hawaii Farm Bureau we're taking a look at this amazing grassroots advocacy organization that truly is the voice of agriculture here in Hawaii and how their programs and their advocacy efforts really support farmers but also the community and ag enthusiasts alike so we can create a better food system here in Hawaii by supporting farmers via economic means educational or legislative means as well we talked a little bit about the amazing farm fair that they had this past July with 15,000 participants to really involve the community and make the community aware that agriculture is really important not only for our own sustainability efforts but also in terms of just creating a vibrant food system as well as building community you know getting to know your local farmers or understanding all the hard work that it takes to farm whether it's livestock or orchards and everything in between so today we're talking with Rochelle to learn a little bit more about why farmers should be part of Hawaii Farm Bureau or other advocacy farming organizations and what kind of opportunities are provided so we talked a little bit about the economic I would say opportunities via discounts you know for inputs for tractors and that kind of thing as well as transportation and shipping costs and we're going to talk a little bit about how Hawaii Farm Bureau is going to move in the future so as ag is diversifying here in Hawaii what is Hawaii Farm Bureau going to do to continue to support their farmers but also continue to support all the other amazing ag measures that are going on so thank you again for joining us Rochelle thank you yeah so your organization is almost 70 years do you guys have anything planned for your 70 70th year next year it's okay if you don't know yeah we're not quite too sure even a bigger farm fair 20,000 people 25,000 that's usually our goal is to start early so we can attract a larger crowd and so yeah it's always in our goal oh that's fantastic so we talked a little bit about you know this food safety modernization act this fisma the dreaded fisma that's coming and it's a fear that all farmers you know in the united states are having not just farmers in Hawaii and so I thought you could talk a little bit more about how Hawaii Farm Bureau wants to continue those efforts in not only fisma but other educational opportunities yeah so like I mentioned earlier we've been providing some training course training courses to our farmers throughout the state and we'll continue to do that and also reach out to the next generation of farmers whether it be participating with our FFA groups and you know giving them resources such as internships whatever they may need or to have a hands-on experience that's something that we're looking more into to do and just be I guess participate have a role in that we already do but we want to be there even more for them so these educational opportunities for fisma could you give a little bit more information you know is it a webinar is it a workshop oh and is it just on the wall who or is it throughout Hawaii yeah so it's statewide and it's a workshop that you have to attend and a certified person that is able to basically commence the course is is the one facilitating it and our farmers I in turn will be able to get some type of certification through that training course yeah and so you said it statewide do you have any upcoming workshops or listeners may be interested in yes so in on Molokai we do have a workshop coming up sometimes in September and you can view that on our website as well under events and so just be on a lookout for that if you do live in on Molokai or in Maui or if you just want to fly in for like a day please let us know as soon as possible though so we can provide some type of funding for you if you are especially a member of Hawaii Farm Bureau so you provide kind of like these mini scholarships so that they can use that certification oh wow and so you said we can find that on your website under events do you also list other Farm Bureau events or yes we do um so we have when we normally have partnerships with certain groups like or cnd yours uh we'll we'll list the events um on our calendar um and so anything pertaining or related to our culture we'll definitely post it if you just let us know and shoot us an email yeah so the even if you're not a member you can still check out that website see those interesting courses and upcoming events that you know Hawaii Farm Bureau hosts but also supports as well for its partner organization so we talked a little bit about the events calendar and personally my favorite is the farm and food magazine I was hoping you could for those who don't know farm and food um I thought you could talk a little bit about what am I even what's farming food farming food magazine so it's just another platform for Hawaii Farm Bureau to kind of share like what our industry is like we do stories from our local farmers our local growers and the issues that we face as um an industry whether it be a nursery or growing food and we also have like a we show like history um historical pictures of uh just like you know like how farming was back then and um so it's a very resourceful magazine um not only is it entertaining and has lots of nice pictures but beautiful photos but it's also very it's a good educational piece as far as kind of um wanting to know a little bit more about what is ag and so it's just really nice to be able to have that to share and communicate with that to others that don't really know about our industry and I really like that you know it's paper you know in this digital age even though I love technology you know you're constantly getting email blasts or checking out websites it's really nice to have just like this beautiful magazine to just kind of look through um and she's not lying there are beautiful photos in it absolutely and so how often does this magazine come out so it's a quarterly magazine that you can actually subscribe through um our publishing company um Pacific Basin uh so there's same company that um publishes um Hawaii Business Magazine if you're not familiar with that but uh so Pacific Basin um and um I believe it's a $20 um annual or monthly subscription probably probably yeah we're not going to cite the price okay check out the website for my information yeah but it's an amazing publication and I think it's a great tool and you forgot to mention that if you become a member oh yeah you get the magazine right so you don't even have to worry about that monthly subscription right just become a farm bureau Hawaii Farm Bureau member and it's automatic and you can continue to just get this beautiful and informational tool in the mail sent straight to you and so thank you yeah and thank you for being our member of course that's why I'm having you on but I know what a great organization Hawaii Farm Bureau is and the fact that you have 2,000 members and continue to grow every year just means that and you're about to reach 70 years you know it's a it's a moment to its occasion so you can actually continue to grow because my hope is that every farmer joins a farming advocacy organizations you know so that they don't get stressed out about having to advocate for themselves and farm and provide their family a livelihood you know if we can diversify and separate all those opportunities then you know then we can have people like you being the voice while they can farm and do what they do best so yeah so and you also have an online newsletter so I mean you guys really can reach your members in a variety of ways paper website farm fair in person and so and then I thought we could talk a little bit more about your team because I know we focused on you today and I wish we could have the whole team with us but I thought you could maybe you know talk about your team and how you guys work together to make to fulfill Hawaii Farm Bureau's mission so aside from the State Farm Bureau Brian Miyamoto who is our executive director he you know he manages all of just us at the same Farm Bureau which is like a five full-time employee is myself included our general manager for the farmers market our community relations manager Megan Kono and our admin assistant Gladys Hino and we also work closely with our county counterparts they don't necessarily have full-time stoppers some of them are fortunate enough to have maybe one but we do have a lot of volunteers and so a lot of them are you know are helpful people well of course are helpful to you but they're the ones that really push for what we do and they're the ones that you know get rally up the crowd so that we can continue to do what we do so Kawai Farm Bureau Maui Farm Bureau Hilo Farm Bureau Kono Farm Bureau and the ones that are here in Oahu South County South Oahu County Farm Bureau which you're a part of yeah where to call me out Oahu County Farm Bureau and East County Farm Bureau so you know a lot of these are members that are part of these Farm Bureau like I mentioned they are just volunteers and they're all just delegates that want to perpetuate our industry and just this career you know yeah so we have a huge support chain whether it's the farmers or you guys the legislative advocates or the volunteers that help support you guys as well as the community who supports local agriculture in general well I want to thank you so much we're out of time today but thank you so much for joining us Rochelle I hope our audience has learned why Hawaii Farm Bureau is such an interesting and unique organization and how they really do support ag here in Hawaii yeah so again I would like to thank our guest Rochelle Lemosal from Hawaii Farm Bureau for joining us and I want to thank you the audience for tuning in today we hope you enjoyed today's show if you're interested in learning more about Hawaii Farm Bureau please check out hfbf.org where you can learn about upcoming events how to become a member and all the great work that they do at the legislature but as well as with their farmers markets and how you can support local ag via farmers or becoming an advocate or becoming a volunteer so we want to thank you again and we'll see you next time on Think Tech Hawaii's Hawaii Food and Farmer series bye