Kauai Archives - Marco Garcia Photography

Mooo! Milk on Kauai

Last April, the New York Times had me document a controversial issue on Kauai. eBay founder Pierre Omidyar’s proposal to create a small dairy farm near Poipu, Kauai has made many sour in the nearby community. I traveled to area to photograph the area, meet supporters and photographing opponents. I also got to fly in a helicopter over the land where the proposed dairy would sit.

Kauai has a history of fighting development fearing their already shrinking tropical paradise will disappear. While many locals welcome jobs and the opportunities development brings, many newer arrivals to the Island fight tooth and nail to protect their newly purchased slice of heaven.

The controversy over the dairy stems from opponents fearing environmental damage from pollution and the environmental impact on tourist in the region. Along with many other resorts and hotels, the Grand Hyatt sits not far from the farm area in Poipu and they fear smells and other issues will affect their high paying guests.

The Ulupono Initiative, Omidyar’s local investment firm, strives to create a more self-reliant Hawaii and a local dairy farm would likely bring Kauai’s infamously high milk prices down. However, opponents argue the gains do not outweigh the losses.

Past industrial farming has wreaked havoc on Hawaii as plantations once diverted streams to their sugar cane and pineapple fields and waste has polluted once fertile land. While many initiatives and technologies has improved farming overall, fears still exist over new farming projects. A recent dairy farm on the Big Island was accused of illegally discharging animal waste polluting local water sources and this didn’t help Ulupono’s case for a new farm on Kauai.

While Ulupono are making great technological strides to protect the land and limit pollution, its not enough for some residents and lawsuits have been filed to stop the dairy from getting started.

While I was there, I met with a few of opponents who took me to Maha’ulepu Beach claiming the dairy’s waste would damage the pristine area. Its the same beach I photographed from the helicopter that ran big on the front page of the business section.

front page of the business section August 14, 2017

At the mouth of the stream that feeds into the ocean, I clearly could smell something foul in the run off. They said it was raw sewage flowing down from the above farm areas and little was being done to control the pollution. Warning signs were posted around the stream stating to keep out of the water.

While the bad smells at the stream startled me, Hawaii’s future must create more sustainability. We must be more independent and depend less on the monopolies that control the shipping of goods to and from the Islands. The dairy farm is taking great strides to protect the environment and to keep the land in farming hands means it has less chance to be turned into homes by developers.

I believe Hawaii’s future is to be self reliant but at what costs? If we allow a few to control the future of Hawaii because they fear bad smells, we will continue to be at the mercy of outsiders. But we must ensure a new farm won’t pollute the environment. While fresh milk won’t lower the cost of gasoline or other goods, it is a good start for a brighter future. But we can’t allow sustainability to turn into sour milk.

The NYT article can be found here.

A slice of paradise.

Hawaii is a wonderful place to live. Near perfect weather 365 days a year, beaches, bikinis, mai tais. Just paradise, as some might say. But we’re cursed with limited land leading to sky high home prices and a general high cost of living. Yes, milk does cost $8.00 a gallon and the average cost of a single family home is well over half a million dollars. And with paradise, everyone wants a slice and people are willing to pay for it. Developers are trying to cover every inch of Oahu with suburban sprawl and swallow up the air with glass and steel towers. Currently, developers are planning to build up to seven high rises in the Kakaako area. The soothing sounds of rolling ocean waves and the rustle of palm trees have been replaced by the beep beep beeps of trucks backing up on the multiple construction sites around town. The old joke of the state bird being the Hawaiian (construction) crane is again, reality.

Progress can be a helluva thing! Not many of us want to see Hawaii change drastically but development means new jobs, spending, new homes, tax revenue, investment, and other “positive” changes. Many old neighborhoods in Honolulu are run down and well-planned development can bring new vitality to the slumping city. Yet developers only want to build luxury residences for those who can afford it. High labor and material costs, shipping, land value all force developers to think luxury rather than affordable. Many companies are lobbying the State and the land holders to rezone no longer used farm land so they can build homes. Where there was once pineapple and sugarcane, developers want to put miles and miles of cookie cutter homes…many which will be priced too high for the average working family in Hawaii. The union workers who will be hired to build of these condos and homes won’t be able to afford what they built. More than 85 percent of planned Ritz-Carlton luxury condo in Waikiki sold during a private weekend sale with prices ranging from $750,000 to $15 million. Brokers had clients in Tokyo, Shanghai, and Europe. I would assume very few locals, if any, were able to purchase even the lowest priced units. The American Dream for many born in Hawaii will never be realized in their homeland.

As Oahu struggles under the weight of all their construction, the outer islands have their own growth and development issues. Maui, Kauai, and the Big Island have mega resorts and ultra rich neighborhoods, isolated and vastly expensive. Some would argue the best of the outer islands has been swallowed by developers, gated and closed off to locals. Although State laws demands public access rights to any beach front area, many developers simply limited public parking or placed lots far away from any access points. Many claim the rich have privatized Hawaii’s beauty and indeed many projects have but they’ve also protected pristine areas from further construction as well. Some local residents have not always been the best stewards of the land. Tourist and rich land owners don’t often smash green Heineken bottles on the rocks, leave garbage strewn in the parks, nor off-road in 4×4’s all over the beach. Recently a young boy on Oahu severely burned his hands because someone improperly disposed of hot coals from a BBQ by burying them in the sand. “Malama ka a’nia,” as some would say, isn’t always practiced.

In July, I worked on a job with writer Jim Carlton and the Wall Street Journal on a controversial development project on a ridge overlooking Hanalei Bay on Kauai. The developer is eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his investment firm wants to build 30 plus luxury homes on land already zoned for development on the Princeville ridge. The project would develop the homes which would sit across the river from popular Black Pot Beach. The community fears the new development would be an eyesore and some feel the rich might demand restrictions at the beach and land fronting the property. Many just don’t want any more development on their tranquil island paradise.

The ridge, once a Club Med in the late 1970’s, has foundation work built from a prior development plan but the project went bankrupt before any of the units were built. The ridge now sits undeveloped and overgrown with evasive species covering the area. Omidyar’s plans to also restore an ancient Hawaiian fish pond along with eradicating many of the evasive species and helping restore and protect the environment. The fish pond has been ignored and abandoned for decades and its a welcome sign Omidyar’s wants to help the community but the anti-development crowd feel its a band aid for a housing project many do not want.

The community on Kauai last fought the Hawaii Superferry, an inter-island ferry which transported people and vehicles. The protesters feared additional traffic and population on their already taxed communities and wanted to keep Kauai from being further spoiled. From the outside, it seemed many malahinis, or newcomers, were the most vocal as some local residents welcomed the Superferry as an alternative to the monopoly of the airlines and shipping companies.

Those who support the development see it as needed jobs for the community. Kauai’s isolation, the State of Hawaii’s strict business regulations, and powerful unions have kept many businesses away. Construction, service, and other related jobs can help ensure many Kauaians can afford to stay in the area. Omidyar’s project could employ many for generations. The State and local community also benefits as tax revenue will help improve the infrastructure and schools. Everyone could possibly benefit from his development project. However, the community remains divided as the development of Hanalei Bay will drive already high land prices higher leading to higher property taxes. Many old time residents have been forced to leave the area due to an ever growing tax burden.

But sadly, a new wave of newcomers, tourist and new residents, are already changing the idyllic nature of Hanalei. There’s more traffic, more construction, more noise. Those old time residents are slowly being uprooted by new faces more suited in Laguna Beach. This new wave of malahinis can afford to pay the higher taxes and cost of living. Plate lunch joints and cans of Bud are making way for tapa bars, bottles of merlot, and art galleries. There seems to be more dredlocked trust fund kids surfing the waves at Hanalei Bay than the locals who grew up in the area.

Change is inevitable. If something is good and it gets out, everyone wants to go there. Red Hook, Austin, Hanalei. And I think its human nature to want to shut the door behind you once you get in. Many pro development people in the area know the jobs will help but feel those against it are the same newcomers who are against anything that might spoil their slice of paradise. That crowd already secured their views, their properties, their way of live and now want to limit who can now come in. Ironically, many of those in the anti-development crowd forced change when they first arrived.

But when you experience Hawaii, whether it’s in Kauai or Oahu, you quickly see how wonderful a place the Islands can be. Everyone knows your name in Hanalei. People don’t lock their doors. Neighbors will help neighbors in that small town way. That’s the allure. Its an unspoiled paradise where the sunsets are magical every night. Yet every year I’ve gone to the area, I can’t help but to see more and more tourist, more and more new residents, more and more development. Everyone wants a slice.

The genie is out of the bottle and the land has gotten away from the locals.

We’d all like to keep all of Hawaii pristine but at what cost? Hawaii is paradise but its a prison if you can’t afford it. And its a beautiful prison to many locals who can’t. Too many malahinis show up with money who can afford it and force the change. The locals just can’t keep up. The anti development crowd can continue to fight changes and they might win this battle against Omidyar but there will be many more to come. It would be a paradise if many could live their lives growing, sharing, trusting, and enjoying a wonderful slice of Hawaii but everything has a price tag.

Los Angeles Times goes organic.

Just a quick posting of tearsheets from a travel piece I shot for the LA Times and the new travel trend of Agrotourism in Hawaii. Well traveled tourists are now recognizing the value of eating off the resort and eating and shopping locally. Fresh fruits, vegetables, and produce can be pretty good albeit rather pricey at times. But on an island, everything can be pricey.

So some have asked how much certain things cost here so here is a quick rundown:

gallon of milk: around $6 for mainland, $8 to $9 for locally produced.

gallon of gas: HNL: $4.45, outer island $4.70+

lb of bananas: local apple bananas are about $1.30, imported are around $1.09

pineapple: Costco price is $3.29 or so, tourist price at fruit stand, $6

lb of ground beef: $3-4

locally grown tomatoes: $5/lb, imported are about $2.99/lb

But some of these costs didn’t surprise me from New York but they are shocking when you go to a place like San Antonio where you pay like $1 for 10 limes/lemons where at Safeway locally you get a lemon for like $1.29 EACH.

But to get back to the shopping locally at local farmer’s markets, things are obviously fresher and more unique and you will get a taste of the small farm as opposed to the corporations growing produce on the west coast. You can’t buy mangosteens or rambutans at Safeway but you’ll pay for it at the farmer’s markets but the tastes and joy of eating something exotic really do make you feel like you are in the middle of the Pacific.

Lots of the exotic fruits and produce grown here are not native but they do add flavor to the local cuisine. Its great tourists are now recognizing the value of having a sustainable trip where things are sourced locally rather than imported at high costs. This creates local jobs, demonstrates we shouldn’t convert every inch of ag land into condos and resorts, and sustains a better way of life for everyone one on the Islands. The drawbacks…well the major one is the costs of doing business, and the costs of labor. Hawaii has no access to cheap immigrant labor to work in the fields, labor laws are strict and surely add to the costs of doing business, and Hawaii is clearly not business friendly. Costs and taxes are high enough to drive small and start ups off the Islands. Historically, the plantations took advantage of the labor here which drove a rise in unionism and now housekeepers at the big hotels are paid as much as the night managers. How the hotels survive is by passing that cost onto you.

Regardless of my ranting, locally grown whatevahs is the trend across the country. I’m glad we’re pushing more of this into our lifestyle even if it does costs a little more. A locally grown avocado is pretty tasty. Locally grown greens are crisper and its always neat to know I got an egg from a local chicken and not off a boat.

Oh, the above picture of the farm girl, Norah Hoover. Ah, what a beauty. She was working on the Kauai farm that produces stuff for Common Grounds in Kilauea. As the staff was walking me around showing me parts of the farm and gardens which produce a good portion of the food for their restaurant, Norah walks over, barefoot no less, to plant kale into the field. I immediately was drawn to her as her off the shoulder shirt, overalls, and bed head red hair fit my image of what organic farming and life is like on Kauai. Sure enough, the LA Times and others have used that picture to be the lead for the story. She made a great picture.

The martini shot

The past few weeks have been slightly tough with work and personally. My father in law sought refuge with us after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. He lives in Tokyo so there was no damage to his house or anything around him. Minor broken dishes and the likes but life went on. However, with dwindling food supplies, continuous aftershocks, and the fear of a radiated Godzilla returning to strike Japan, it was best to have him come and sun in Honoruru. Having a third person in our condo isn’t bad but its not holiday time so work must go on.

As far as the tsunami is concerned, I must say its been tough not going and documenting the drama unfolding has overpowered my desire to travel to the wasteland. We figured its best not to have a retrospective on my life after going.

Before and during all of this I had a hectic shooting schedule which had me shooting numerous jobs and as it always seems, all at once. One of the most intensive jobs shooting a travel piece for Delta Sky magazine. Sky assigned me to travel to several islands and I got to shoot everything from horseback riding to a celebrity chef. The spread was published in their April 2011 issue. I’ve already had a few flying friends send me notes they are seeing the Delta line across the friendly skies…no wait that United.

The pdf spread can be found here.

Sky tasked me to document multiple locations around Hawaii within a short time and lots of freedom. I got to pick and choose from a list of locations and venues and decide which would make great art versus what could be picked up from hotel stock. We figured there would be very little value in shooting hotel rooms and beautiful sunsets because most hotels have libraries of that stuff. So I concentrated on the unique, rather, the more editorial view of most of the locations.

One of my favorite images came out of the Halekulani Resort in Waikiki. The Resort has numerous gorgeous stock images of their hibiscus signature pool but the images sell corporate beauty, not what its like to actually see it. You see an idea, a concept, not the reality of a pool filled with tourists. I scouted the pool before I realized dusk and above would get me a great shot. I asked the hotel to get me a room above with a balcony overlooking the property. It didn’t take long to see the images I wanted to capture.

The mag loved it. They actually wanted to use it as the opening spread but the higher ups wanted a different type of image showcasing Hawaii a bit more.

The opening shot of the spread ended up being, again, at the Halekulani. I got a really nice room at the hotel and tried to shoot the model, Cindy, slung sexily over a lounge chair with Diamond Head in the background. Sadly, the sun decided not to cooperate. We had NO sun…the entire day was cloudy. At the end when we gave up, we popped a bottle of wine and Cindy went out onto the balcony to enjoy the view from the $7000/night sweet…errr…suite at the Halekulani. Diamond Head, the night sky, and the beautiful girl drinking wine on the balcony all lined up into a perfect martini shot. Delta was extremely happy as was I. This is the second major spread in their magazine in so many years. I’m fond of this shot and all the work it took to make all of this work out…actually what little work we did to get this shot.

a few from that wedding…

Since the article for the New York Times was published on Sunday, I can post a few here.

I was pretty smitten with this photo but what really makes the entire job is actually the couple. They were a blast. They were completely unaware of me and that’s what made the photos. I caught moments unguarded.