Posted on: Friday, February 11, 2005
Farmers market opens next month in Mililani
By Catherine E. Toth
Advertiser Staff Writer
The organizers of the popular farmers' markets at Kapi'olani Community College and Kailua Town Center are bringing their concept to Mililani next month.
This farmers market will be about the same size at the one in Kailua, which lures hundreds of visitors every Thursday night. The KCC Farmers' Market, co-sponsored by the Hawai'i Farm Bureau Federation and the Culinary Institute of the Pacific, has about 30 vendors.
The Mililani Farmers' Market will be the only major farmers market in Central O'ahu.
"We knew there was interest in this market and thought Mililani was a good place to start," said Joan Namkoong, market coordinator. "There's a lot of people out there and the demographics are good."
Mililani High School parking lot, 2-4 p.m. Saturdays
848-2074
OTHER FARMERS MARKETS
• Kailua Farmers' Market: 5-7:30 p.m. Thursdays, Kailua Town Center parking garage (behind Longs Drugs on Kailua Road). • KCC Farmers' Market, 7:30-11:30 a.m. Saturdays, Kapi'olani Community College parking lot C. INFORMATION FOR VENDORS Cost: $65 a week for Hawai'i Farm Bureau Federation members, $90 for non-members Must have: GE tax license, business liability insurance, food permit (for food vendors) Requirement: All products must be grown or produced in Hawai'i "We're hoping those farmers will join the market," Namkoong said.
North Shore Cattle Co., which participates in both the KCC and Kailua farmers markets, sees this as an opportunity to expand its market and get new customers. Its ranch is located in Helemano.
The company plans to sell its grass-fed beef at the Mililani market, in addition to sausages and hamburgers off the grill and maybe steak plate lunches.
"Farmers markets, right now, are a big part of our company," said North Shore Cattle Co. general manager Ryan Lum. "When you put together the sales we do (at the farmers markets) along with the exposure that we get, you see what I mean." Students in the Mililani High School agriculture program had run a small-scale farmers market on Saturday mornings for more than six years.
But attendance dwindled over the years as vendors pulled out. Now only the students sell their vegetables, fresh flowers and hydroponic lettuce at the school for an hour every Saturday morning.
Jeff Yamaguchi, who's been running the ag program at Mililani High School for more than 15 years, said his students will sell their produce at the new market from a booth provided rent free by the market operators.
"This is a way for the public to know that we still have ag and (Future Farmers of America) programs in the high schools," Yamaguchi said. "A lot of people don't realize that."
On Maui, the Maui Ag Marketing Coalition said it will be opening a weekly farmers market on Fridays, 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., starting April 1. The market will be hosted by Maui Community College on the grounds surrounding the Pa'ina Culinary Arts Building.
The market will feature only produce grown on Maui and ag-related products made in Maui.
Reach Catherine E. Toth at 535-8103 or ctoth@honoluluadvertiser.com.
The Mililani Farmers' Market will open every Saturday afternoon starting March 12 at Mililani High School with about 20 vendors selling everything from locally grown beef to shave ice.
Organizers also hope having a farmers' market in Mililani will encourage farmers in Central and Leeward O'ahu to participate.
WHERE AND WHEN
