 This is Stank Tech Hawaii, Community Matters here. And welcome to Hawaii Food and Farmer Series. I am your host, Justine Espiritu, and today's guest for our final finale performance of Hawaii Food and Farmer Series, we have brought on all our VIP co-hosts throughout the centuries of our show. So today with me, we have Pomai and Matty J and Steph, and we're just gonna take a little time today to kind of reflect on the purpose and evolution of the show and what, how we feel about it and all the progress and impact it has made across the island, across the state, across our lives. And the world. And the world. And all the lives we've touched and changed. So many lives we've touched. So to kind of go back again a couple years ago, the original kind of impetus of the show when local food was, had a lot of energy behind it, lots of young farmers, programs like GoFarm were kind of starting. Also though a lot of folks that have been farming on the island obviously for a number of years and I know my kind of motivation was to kind of highlight and kind of profile some of these folks that were, were making our food farmers. I had been stalking that we're really shy and I just wanted to bring their story to light. And that was really kind of the start of bringing on individual farmers to kind of get their background and we've had a lot of fun with that. Our original episode had Yang from Small Country. Oh, Yang. That's what you guys opened with? You opened with Yang? I know. That was bold. That was very bold. That was Shantaku. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. So that was kind of the start and then. Definitely. You know I think I have something on that. I was wondering if we could bring up something really fast from the beginning of our show. Starting with this already. Yeah. The little step is already taking over. She's like, okay. No, it's perfect timing. And we have a little video of that very first show. Like you weren't prepared for that. I didn't take notes, but I did make videos. Okay. To the video. Our very first episode of the Hawaii Farmers series. We will be hearing stories of Hawaii's farmers and supporters. I'm your host for the series, Justine Espiritu. And we are so thankful to Think Tech Hawaii for giving us this opportunity. I will be having a co-host, Matthew Johnson of Oahu Fresh. And we're briefly going to describe the purpose and reasoning behind this show and then introduce our guests. So to start off with, we were interested in one, bringing on Hawaii's agriculture movers and shakers to hear their story on how they became involved in agriculture. As well as ask them, what do they see as how we need to improve Hawaii's food system? As well as get some background and personal information about them and kind of learn and understand why they love what they do. Well it looks like I've been saying the same thing about the show for two years. That's great. That's a great little walk down memory lane. So yeah, so kind of starting off with those farmers and then just understanding as we learned more about our food system or just tapping into our different networks, the variety of people we've had on the show has been really fascinating. And then even going from then as guest, you guys coming on to then help curate the future guest I think has made it really interesting. And I don't think it's been any less relevant, it's cool, I just saw the last episode you had on Donia, Elemental Accelerator, and I did notice there were like 90 views and so people are still watching it and they're interested. So it's so cool to see that you guys are able to continue that and that obviously there's no lack of interest or people to bring on and talk to. Yeah. Well I have a quick question. Why were you stalking farmers? Because that's like a normal pastime of many people. You know it started with Ted Nakamura, he has this, you know he had a little bit of land. Yeah, I would go and volunteer and try to bring people and it's just he, just when he talked about the work he did and growing food he had such a connection and such a purpose behind it and I was working it down to earth at the time and he would just come by and chat and at that time it was just such a disconnect of what are people like that are growing or what's their day to day like, what's his lifestyle like. So I used to go up to the North Shore and just hang out with him and harvest and make seedlings and it was just really enlightening and then the conversations even beyond growing food just life in general that you get into. So it was cool when you tap in just a little bit of the surface of growing food it just like opened up this whole network of people and then like I want to hang out with you all the time and hear what you think about everything. I want to share that story with everyone else. Yeah. I think all of us were kind of stalking farmers, I mean that's kind of how we all got into this stuff. We're like we had no choice. I mean I know, I like trying to criticize just seeing here but I've heard stories about you. She just was talking about like I'm stalking farmers with no background so I wanted to know. We just wanted everybody to know that you're safe with us, we're not. We're not predators. We're stalking you in a good way, we're stalking you in a super good way, we're just researching you, we believe in you. Yeah, Matt. Yeah. And we all, it's our, it's our, some of us, it's our job. We have no choice. Well, one thing that I took some quick notes here, just kind of talking about, just one thing I really liked about the show was just the diversity of the different types of farms and different people, different groups that are involved in trying to support local farming, local food. I think that was like the original intent where I think we all agree that there are these different networks, different patches of groups doing local ag and I think we all agree that it's all good, it's all needed. So I was just kind of looking at the list of people we had on the show. We had like our large institutions like Kamehameha Schools. We had, you know, accelerators like Mana Up, Elemental, Accelerator as well. And then Go Farm obviously had a huge, I mean, there's probably at least 10 episodes. Yeah. Go Farm, Go Farm, Go Farm, yeah. I mean, Go Farm was definitely, well, it's interesting. It's a thread that kind of makes its way through a lot of the episodes. That says a lot about Go Farm. And kind of through the system, the food system, because they start like as these baby seedling farmers and then it's like scaling them and what did they become and then what did they make and who did they work with. So I mean, I'm grateful to have been like sort of even though at the end like looped into like this network of sort of like renegade, beginning farmers because I mean it's a little ballsy to become a beginning farmer. Like, oh, we're just going to go into it. But that this show really provided like a platform like, no, there's other people who are stalking you and believing in you. Right. I actually just saw a comment on a YouTube Think Tech episode of someone who just is getting land on the Big Island. And they commented on one of your shows. Oh yeah? I just have land. How do I get started? What can I do? That's sweet. Okay. That reach out to my fans, I guess. Dave, talk to them a little better. Yep. And then you'll have to help them create a plan. Yeah. Ask them the hard questions. I encourage them to join GoFarm. Yeah. Yep. Yep. Another cool thing that came up, which was a turning point I think for the show was when Farm started reaching out to us to be on the show and there is... GoFarm on the Big Island, right? The Big Island, yeah. They farm on the Big Island, I think primarily tomatoes. And they had a fundraiser campaign. So they had to go fund me going. It came on the show. It flew over to be on the show. Wow. And kind of all of that. I'm not saying anything, but they did reach their fundraising goal after they were on the show. Oh, that's cool. And it was one of our highest viewed shows. They had like 950 views. Wow. Yeah. Right on. Yeah. Similarly, organizations or farms being able to use the show as a platform was feeding Hawaii together. Similarly, had a fundraiser campaign to raise some of the capital costs to relocate their food pantry. Okay. So awesome to kind of, for the show to provide that opportunity. I also think for beginning farmers, specifically GoFarmers, it was a place for them to like, practice. That's what I was going to say. Public speaking. Public speaking. Being in the city. Sharing your story in a way that's not three hours long. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I mean, and I feel like one of my favorite episodes is when we brought John Augustine and his family over. Oh yeah. And then he brought his kids in here and they freaked out in here like all on camera. I really lived for that. That's not the only group of kids. We did a few episodes with kids kind of taken over. My friends from Philadelphia, the Dilworth family, when they were here, they had a couple of kids in here. I think we helped the kids the whole time. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, they loved it. They were great. We also had some, we had a couple of guests from Puerto Rico, friends of yours. Yeah. We also had your friends from San Francisco. So it wasn't just Hawaii. Yes. Global. Yeah. Global. Yeah, the urban ice cream folks. Yeah. Yes. Are you still in touch with them? Yeah, they are actually, yeah, they are just opening a storefront in this kind of redeveloped theater area in San Francisco. So they're going to have their first storefront in their kind of a, what's that, like landmark business or what do you call it, like the mean one, the highlight, the spotlight. The marquee. The marquee. Anyways, they're doing great. Also post Hawaii Food and Farmer interview. Now the marquee show. Yeah. Store. It was definitely a door opener for people to like, even I think getting, like making definitely farmers like feel of value. Yeah. You know, and that like, no, we see you and we, can you tell us who you are? And it's something that they can share with anyone. If that's a grant, if that's just showing other funding opportunities of like giving them a little bit of a legitimate legitimacy, even though we're not like CNN or anything, it does show that they're able to tell their story, connect with an audience. Winning a war. Matt, we're going to fight later. And then giving legitimacy and not talking about public speaking, but also using it for funding opportunities. And then I had one of my friends on Casey who owns High Pie and she sources local ingredients for her baking business. And she's originally from Wisconsin. And there was a chance for all her family in Wisconsin to kind of like actually see what she's doing out here in Hawaii. Cause you can talk, talk, talk, but then they're seeing photos and her sharing her story with like a stranger, essentially. And just making it something that will last forever. Like it's going to be online forever. I want something to take, take it down. Don't take it down. But. Jamie's back there right now. Just deleting all this stuff. Done. Done. What about any networking opportunities with your own businesses? Did Oahu Fresh make any new customers or new connections through this? Maybe, I think, did anyone after the show connect with local harvest? What was, is that Steve on Maui? Steve Phillips. Yeah. I think, I mean, obviously with what we do with Oahu Fresh, I mean a lot of the farms you bring on, it's part of the network that we're trying to create also with the food hub. So there's not, not like a specific like big deal that came out of a specific episode, but just kind of creating those relationships and definitely getting to meet some farms that I hadn't met before. And I think just like you said too, it's, you know, a big part of the, I think what we wanted to do with the show is that we all know that these, these farms, these groups that we work with have such interesting stories, but they're not typically the kind of people that are, you know, having their Instagram page blown up or, you know, doing interviews. Like they're, they're more typically more reserved or just kind of focused on what they're doing. They're busy people. So I think I was neat to kind of grab those people and I think we all did a good job of, you know, pulling out their stories. Like why are they doing what they're doing? I know I learned a lot and had a lot of fun. Having Kola on from Kakao Ii. I think it was one of my highlights where he was literally blocking. He was kind of like leaning over in front of the camera and kind of blocking my face. And almost like he was just like that. He's just getting excited. I thought you meant he was like trying to steal the spatula. No, no. He just naturally steals. Yeah, like he kind of has like this this energy and you're like just reel it in, come back and we just let's tell them why you're here. But I mean, but that's how Kola is. Yeah, anybody who knows Kola, I mean he's just you know so passionate about what he's doing and he's so passionate. And he's literally just like kicking over the table. We're going to take a quick break to brainstorm more favorite memories and we'll be back in a minute. This is Think Tech Hawaii. Raising Public Awareness. When I was growing up I was among the one in six American kids who struggled with hunger. But with the power of breakfast the kids in your neighborhood can think big and be more. Go to hungryis.org to make breakfast happen for kids in your neighborhood. Aloha. Hi, I'm Marcia Joiner inviting you to come visit with us on Cannabis Chronicles a 10,000 year where we explore and examine the plant that the muse has given us and stay with us as we explore all the facets of this planet on Wednesdays at noon. Please join us. Aloha. Welcome back to A Little Stroll Down Memory Lane for the finale episode of Hawaii Food and Farmers Series. I am Justine Espiritu an original co-host. We have Pomai and Matty J and Steph our legacy host that are still carrying the torch while I am retired. So we're just having some extra reminiscing. Yeah, I just have a quick video that we showed the beginning of your very first show. I wish we could have heard the sound. And here is Matty J and then Matty is there. I just kind of did a little montage video of the 107 episodes today. It's very short. It's very short. But I thought we could play that now where we are today. Everybody needs a step in the group. There are different themes of ag organizations that we had. We had, I mentioned, institutions, accelerators, nonprofits. Oahu RCD who you worked for really kind of took it on. I know you guys have been including some of the episodes and newsletters same as us with Oahu Fresh and then also Big Ag. We had from Monsanto, Pioneer. We also had Urban Farming and as I mentioned too San Francisco. And it does seem like we've done a lot but I still feel like we really only scratched the surface. It's fantastic about there's so many interesting stories out there. And that it's always changing. I feel like that's like there's a lot of new school that is really coming into the game and I feel like that's exciting and we are a part of that. System of I think also multiple industries connecting with touch. So I feel like we really tried to do that. Certainly on like, no, when we look at all of this I feel like we really tried to show that food and farm is like everyone. Yeah, I agree. And I think just because this is a finale, it doesn't mean anyone watching now can't revive it at any time and take it on because it'll be just as interesting and just as dynamic. It's a community show. It doesn't live just within us and talking more about those different sectors. For a couple months I started diving heavily into ag tech and I had the drone mapping guys from UH on. I had the Agathon people on and just kind of these different sectors where they're like, I'm not a farmer but like I'm working with a farmer I'm trying to help them in some capacity because I sometimes like a farmer I get a little bit of tunnel vision of like I'm doing this business of this and I'm like let's look up and look at the opportunities just with tech or restaurants or go farm or anything like that. Tourism, education, I mean fashion, health is like health and beauty. Well it got to a point it's like if we didn't have someone lined up it's like literally we can just, who's the last person I talked to? I'm sure. That's happy. I'm going to say that. Last minute scheduling of a guest? That sounds ridiculous. Not everyone does it but that is a formula for something that is like alright. That's just great about our topic you know it's just it really is relevant every person's work touches on it. Similarly awesome about I think our topic was the background image that we got. I mean we were never in a spaceship you know thank God for that. Thank God we always have these beautiful landscape backgrounds. How about favorite episodes, favorite moments, I remember my favorite moments. When we had Nick and Tim on from North Shore Land Trust. So you know how when we're getting ready to go to break we have kind of our signal where you kind of tap on someone's leg to let them know like hey we got to go to break. So Nick with North Shore Land Trust is sitting right next to me and he's talking about it. Just super passionate and you know I think it was Zuri at the time was kind of talking to my ear like hey we got to go to break. So I tap him on his knee and he immediately just freezes. Like dear calm the headlights. You know like right away I just know what's going on in his head. He thinks like he's saying something he shouldn't be saying. And I just start cracking up laughing and that makes him even more like freaked out. And then we just spent the rest of the episode making fun of him. He hasn't spoken to me again. Building relationships. Building relationships. Making those bridges happen. I have a similar memory of him getting caught off guard. I think another time we maybe didn't have a guest. So it's like great we're going to Mattie we're going to interview you. We're going to talk about food hub. It was kind of new and developing. And then we threw a kind of surprise and brought George down. I think this is when they were they were upstairs with Impact Hub. So he came down and started talking about we're interviewing you and then you were saying you started there's that tension for a minute. Still to this day. Who's the original hub? I haven't always been warm, huggy, cozy stuff. Food and farm is not always we're very controversial. We're pretty controversial. We're on the more edgy show. We're edgy, you know. Boundless. How about you Steph, a favorite? My favorite show was actually having you on the first time because it was like you were half host already and half guest and like you know so well already that you'd be like really informal and giggling. Migratourism is really capitalizing on the tourism market. And you'd be like right Mattie and I just love the juxtaposition of like very formal polite. So that was actually my favorite. It was really fun. Mine too. Reeled into this group like hey so what are you doing for the next year? The last time I saw you let's all do this together. I'm never going to see you again. Whenever you first came on I would do this every week. I was so hungry I was like yeah this is so cool. Contain that. Why don't you just do one and see how it goes. It's like a world though. Like when you're getting really super into it like just do your one do your one year. Do your one year. You've got to make a little bit of a long term. But no regrets. It was super fun. And I feel like again just keeping that connection in all of our communities sort of together. I think it really is about community leadership. I mean it's food and farming much more than that. It's like everyone knowing their part in what we're all trying to do and being okay with that and okay letting other people do their part too. So I mean I'm super grateful. I just get to spend 30 minutes here talking about favorites. What else you got on your sheet? That's it. Oh. Oh. Justine has won. So I already did the vids. I only have a phone. I had a good one too. I mean it was really fun. We have a fun time hanging out. Just bringing people on. Sending them up with microphones. Putting them on screen. But people would get really really nervous. You have to tell them you're super comfortable. I won't name who it was but it was a relative of mine. Maybe it was my last episode. But she was so nervous. It was a really good question. And it's live. We have the microphones. I started asking something about how much space or how much area. And I started asking and she was like don't know. Right into her microphone. And all I could do is crack up laughing. We're going to move on. You don't want me to ask you. Speaking of being nervous. You guys asked me. I was a guest on your show. I was going to do one show. And I had a friend of mine write out a script for that first show. And I memorized. Five pages of script. Because I was so nervous. I knew it was live. It sounded like I was reading a teleprompter. Because I just memorized this. Like an actress. And the next show I was like I got this. And my second show was terrible. It was in my mind. I was like oh my gosh. I should have memorized the script again. It's like every show I've done. Every show I've been like so tell us about where are you going next. I think that was the fun of it being every week. Because you don't have time to stress out about it. What about future plans for us? Because it's not over. We're still food and farm and community. We have two minutes left. 30 seconds. I could start. A little bit of a culmination of some of my work with The Walk of Fresh and even the show we had applied for the local food, local places community food plan which included elements of transportation as well. So a big community plan was put together and because of the Department of Health that's taking the initiative to organize some of these groups with one part of that plan. But even in my role with Bikeshare Hawaii because of how inclusive food is with transportation and making communities livable and healthy I'm still able to work on a piece of that project that was still kind of related to food. That's always fun. Connecting alternative transportation and local food. Putting all the pieces together. Bigger system. Like another think tech show in itself. Yes. 30 seconds. I feel like I have more of a message and I feel like that message is there is so much opportunity in agriculture and food and farming but people I think really have to be diverse and look at what keeps them relevant in the marketplace and the business place they cannot be afraid to collaborate they cannot be afraid of the world and the 21st century is our old school and in real life connection so that is my message stay with us stay farming, stay eating local food and believing in like the system and our mission. That should be our last thing. I think you should just say it again. Let's go and then we'll bring it back to you. I have to say that again. So yeah, we've still done a lot of work with the Alahu Food Hub which is a shared use commercial kitchen space which has been installed a renewable energy more efficient refrigerator system that we're actually hoping we can actually use with farms who need to have on-farm cold storage so it's a neat kind of sub-project so always innovating trying different things trying to make things work and then this Sunday we're going to partner up with the book shop and Curiosities and Kamu Ki Christmas Market. So Sunday afternoon two to four. So hope you guys come by. And they're starting a food themed book club. So there's that too. That's right, yeah. Yeah, so I'm still with the well who are C&D working with farmers doing conservation planning but also branching out into carbon sequestration and seeing how we can create a carbon market for farmers so we can pay them for all the great work that they're doing and help supplement their income with farming but also helping to train that next cohort of agricultural leaders that you're talking about. Recognizing that farming is just not that image of someone out in the soil weeding, it's managing people it's managing logistical operations it's accounting, it's agritourism recognizing that there are so many opportunities but helping younger people see that so we can continue agriculture in the future. I mean I feel like I should say and I'll be a go farm Hawaii because everybody's in a plug for their business so if any of my people are watching gofarmhawaii.org follow us on social media and you'll know what's up we always got a lot of things going on but I feel like we all always have a lot of things going on so I feel like we'll always be connected anything else? Let's end on the good note Are we getting drinks after the show? What's happening after the show? What's happening after the show? Finale What? I don't know what's going on You're still going? So you can stay in touch with us by emailing What? Email think tech and they'll forward it to me Following our organizations all of our organizations At Oahu RCD Do you have another video that you know? At Oahu Fresh There you go Thank you Bye