8 Agricultural Industries That Have Shaped The Hawaiian Islands
By Megan Shute|Published April 01, 2020
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Megan Shute
Author
With more than 10 years of experience as a professional writer, Megan holds a degree in Mass Media from her home state of Minnesota. After college, she chose to trade in her winter boots for slippahs and moved to the beautiful island of Oahu, where she has been living for more than five years. She lives on the west side but is constantly taking mini-road trips across the island and visits the neighboring islands whenever she can getaway. She loves hiking, snorkeling, locally-grown coffee, and finding the best acai bowl on Oahu.
Most people are surprised to learn that the Hawaiian Islands are home to countless incredible farms, ranches, and sprawling fields in addition to our pristine beaches in a variety of colors and towering verdant mountains. In fact, agriculture is one of Hawaii’s biggest industries, and you’ll find a variety of farms scattered across the islands, including macadamia nut, coffee, and cacao farms as well as fruit farms, cattle ranches, and more. So, in honor of Hawaii’s agricultural history, let’s take a look at 8 industries that have influenced our beautiful islands.
The Hawaiian Islands were once the pineapple capital of the world, growing more than 80 percent of the globe’s pineapple. Second only to sugarcane, it was Hawaii’s second-largest industry. Unfortunately, with rising costs of labor and production in the United States, this is no longer true — but you can still find pineapples grown right here in Hawaii by Maui Land & Pineapple and Dole.
King Kamehameha the First’s Spanish advisor introduced the first-ever coffee plant to the Hawaiian Islands in 1813 and in 1828, the first coffee tree was planted in Kona on Hawaii Island by a missionary. Coffee became a commercial crop in the following decade, and today, you’ll find more than 700 small coffee farms scattered across the state. Fun fact: Hawaii is the only state in America where coffee is grown commercially.
The first sugar plantation opened on Kauai in 1834, but as early as 1802, people on Lanai were reportedly using stone rollers to crush the sweet juice from the sugarcane. By 1959, one out of every dozen people in the workforce were employed by the sugar industry. While times have changed and many processing mills have closed, sugar is still being grown in Hawaii.
Some 200 years ago, Lahaina was considered the whaling capital of the world and one of Hawaii’s largest port cities. Though whaling has since died out as one of Hawaii’s agricultural industries, the history of this era can be seen across town.
The Hawaiian Islands are not often associated with the cattle industry, but the state is, in fact, home to one of the largest contiguous cattle ranches in the country: Parker Ranch. The birthplace of the paniolo — or Hawaiian cowboy — the cattle industry has played a major role in Hawaiian history.
Brought to Hawaii from Australia in 1882, macadamia nut trees were raised as ornamental because of their beauty. The first macadamia nut plantation was founded nearly 40 years later in 1921, but it wasn’t until the 1950s that the crop became profitable. The Hawaiian Islands now supply approximately 90 percent of the world’s macadamia nuts through hundreds of farms and eight processing plants.
Though no longer a part of Hawaii’s agricultural industry, the sandalwood trade began in the 1790s and took off in Hawaii in the 1810s but only lasted two decades before collapsing. Hawaiian forests were ravaged, and sandalwood from India and other areas in the Pacific drove down the price enough to make the Hawaiian trade unprofitable. Luckily, sandalwood trees tickets away on less-accessible mountain slopes survived the trade.
Once a staple of the Hawaiian diet, taro is still an integral part of the islands’ culture, though the root vegetable is not native to the state. Back in the day, taro was grown on approximately 35,000 acres of Hawaiian land, though today, taro production covers less than 350 acres. Fun fact: residents and visitors of Hawaii consume approximately 6.5 million pounds of Hawaii-grown taro per year.
Did you know about the history of these eight major agricultural industries? Which one of these Hawaiian-grown products is your favorite? I’m personally partial to a strong cup of Kona coffee and consume more Hawaiian-grown pineapple than perhaps one should. We’d love to hear from you in the comments below!
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