When you think of Hawaii, what comes to mind?
Focus, people, focus. This is a food blog.
Of course, you think of...
The pineapple has a long and rich history in our 50th state.
James Drummond Dole traveled to Hawaii in 1900 with $1,000, degrees in agriculture and business, and a dream of cultivating pineapples. He started growing them north of Oahu and, obviously, became very successful. Dole continues to grow and sell pineapple today and its visitor center on Oahu is a popular tourist destination.
But the pineapple presence in Hawaii isn’t what it once was. In 2006, Del Monte, which began its pineapple business in Hawaii in 1916, announced that it would put an end to its operations because it was no longer economically feasible to grow pineapple in Hawaii since it could be grown cheaper in other parts of the world.
A headline this weekend is enough to rattle a Hawaiian right down to his poi:
“Pineapple could vanish from Hawaii”
Maui Land & Pineapple Co. of Maui is planning huge layoffs and a massive cut in production. Expensive land and labor costs are taking their toll as the unthinkable has occurred: Hawaii having difficulty competing pineapple-wise with Mexico, Costa Rica, Ecuador and other countries.
Many Wisconsinites will be fuming to hear this bit of news. Hawaiian agricultural business would make up the slack in part by growing crops for the production of ethanol.
Pineapple hasn’t vanished completely from the Aloha state, but it’s disappearing at an alarming rate. To see American production of pineapple deteriorate is almost unconscionable. Hawaii without pineapple? Think Milwaukee without a brewery. Sad.
Read more from this weekend’s Honolulu Advertiser.
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