The president of the Hawaii Farm Bureau provided convention attendees with some insight into Hawaii’s agricultural picture. Dean Okimoto, said relationships between chefs and farmers are increasingly becoming a way to bring attention to local food production. According to Okimoto up to 90 percent of Hawaii’s food is imported, leaving the islands vulnerable in the event of any disruption in the food chain.

Michelle Galimbas’ family has 18-hundred mother cows on 10-thousand acres of pasture. Galimba said one of the biggest challenges is finishing and processing the cattle for consumers on the mainland. The expense of feeding cattle grains that aren’t available locally wasn’t economically viable, so until recently, her family had always sent their cattle to the mainland to be finished.

Today, Galimbas’ cattle are on pasture their entire lives, but for the last month are fed a combination of wheat bran, barley, corn and molasses with supplements. This feed program provides a consistent product to chefs and offers some security to the ranch. The Big Island has suffered drought recently. Galimba said if the cattle had been raised solely on grass, - we would have been in trouble.