Agriculture Department acting director Peter Gurr says hydroponic vegetable farms on island have already been checked and “these guys were clean” and are allowed to continue to sell their vegetables to the federally funded school lunch program as well as in stores and restaurants.

Gurr recommended in an Oct. 25 letter the suspension of supplying the school lunch program with locally grown vegetables except for local taro, green bananas, ripe bananas and hydroponically grown vegetables until further notice.  An identical letter went out the following day to local storeowners and managers, restaurants and roadside stands informing them of the vegetable ban and included the same exceptions.

However, some local residents and a few local farmers have questioned whether the hydroponic farms have been checked by DOA farm inspectors, who have started re-inspecting non-hydroponic farms. Others have taken their concerns and complaints regarding Gurr and hydroponic farmers on social media with very negative comments, according to local residents who have read the messages.

During a Samoa News interview Wednesday, Gurr was asked if there are enough hydroponically grown vegetables to serve the school lunch program during the temporary suspension and he responded, “Yes, it can be done” pointing out that hydroponic farmer Kuki Avegalio is currently supplying the school lunch program and he has the largest farm located in Pavaiai.

However, other hydroponic farmers sell to local stores “because they get more money from the stores,” said Gurr, who identified other hydroponic farmers such as Larry Hirata and “my nephew Ian.”

Gurr says that when he decided to place a temporary ban on local farmers except for hydroponically grown vegetables, “I was hesitating because of my nephew” and the negative comments that would follow “targeting me.”

“And I said ‘this is wrong. Let them accuse me. I could not worry about them’,” he pointed out, “I know they’ve [hydroponic farms] been cleared. I’ll take the heat. Food safety for our children and the general public is of the utmost importance.”

For making the decision, Gurr acknowledged that Avegalio has been “criticized on social media and it’s not fair”. He also acknowledged that he has been “hit by that” — criticism — on social media.

“We tested all of the hydroponic farms for coliform and these guys are clean,” he said. “So we can’t say to them ‘you’re out’ when the test comes back they are clean, [and] perfect — 100% — for hydroponic farms.”

Arona Palamo, who is a consultant to DOA, and was with Gurr during the interview, said “We’re hoping that local farmers” who are affected by the temporary ban, “will look at this in the long term, not just look at the short term of just to get money... but the magnitude of the seriousness of this problem” with te illegal use of chemicals, including overuse of pesticides and fertilizers.

“It is beyond anything that I can see with all my life doing this kind of work,” Palamo said.

Among the violations cited by Gurr in his letters to Education Department and local stories as well as restaurants were: the use of toxic foreign labeled pesticides; use of pesticides with no Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) registration numbers; overuse and abuse of fertilizer; and use of illegal fertilizers with foreign labels.

See yesterday’s front page for other details of the interview with Gurr and Palamo and future edition for the rest of the issues covered in the Samoa News interview.

BACKGROUND

Late last year, the American Samoa Community Hydroponics Development Project was awarded a $400,000 grant from the US Department of Agriculture to, among other things, implement hydroponics farming to reduce food insecurity and food safety issues, as well as increase access and emphasis on healthy foods within the local communities.

Hydroponics systems, while requiring significant start-up capital, is a healthier, more economical and sustainable option for American Samoa, according to the project’s summary description. However, there are only a handful of local farmers “literally 4-5” who are well versed and experienced in using Hydroponics systems.

All are operating successfully and have been providing a steady supply of locally grown produce for the School Lunch program, local restaurants, and grocery stores. However, their supply is limited, the summary adds.

Community workshops to establish more hydroponics farmers is part of the grant, and owners of Tutuila Greens Hydroponics Farm have offered to use their time and expertise to conduct quarterly workshops in 3-4 languages and provide cooking demonstrations to show the community different ways to prepare healthy meals with locally grown vegetables.

"With more local farmers using hydroponics systems, we will increase the availability and accessibility of fresh vegetables in our community," the summary said, adding that American Samoa will no longer have to rely on container shipments from the US mainland or New Zealand.

The Pacific Youth and Community Development, whose project director is Roy Fua, is among the 32 organizations from across the country that has been given the monetary awards via grant funding.

And recently, in 2016, PYCD celebrated with awards the completion of hydroponics workshops, adding at least 5 more farmers to the mix — a focus of the non profit organization’s program