bob

What is the rationale behind the screening of carry on luggage for
agricultural products when leaving Hawaii for the mainland? Why does
the
state of Hawaii care if you take something out? I can understand why
the
state might not want agricultural products brought in, though the simple
form one fills out doesn't really prevent someone from bringing in
whatever
you might have. And now that United is charging for meals (!) I bet
that
more and more people will carry on food. If you are flying to Hawaii
and
have packed a lunch that contains a banana, how are you supposed to
respond
to the form if you plan on eating the banana on the plane? You're
bringing
in a banana peel, an apple core, or a peach pit!

nobody

It doesn't. Those checkpoints are _federal_, run by the U.S. Department
of Agriculture, to prevent the spread of agricultural pests or diseases.
There are things here in Hawaii that aren't native to the mainland, and
if they made it there, they might have detrimental effects on crops or
ecosystems.

And yeah, it leads to funny things. My mom came to visit a few years
back, and on her way back had to give up an apple at the airport, even
though the apple had come from the mainland in the first place.

--
Dan Birchall - http://danbirchall.multiply.com/ - images, words,
technology

hawaii citizen

I used to work for USDA screening luggage going to the mainland for
fresh fruit and
other agriculture products. We have 4 different types of fruit flies
present here in Hawaii
that are not on the mainland presently. It would cause immense harm to
the agriculture
industry in California for example if any of the fruit flies spread
there. Hence the screening
process.Yes I have heard people grumble time and time again and throw
fruit even why are we taking their fruit. But they fail to see the
bigger picture frankly.

alvin e. toda

IIRC the fruit fly once got to California from Hawaii
about twenty years ago? They think it was in some
smuggled fruit. Governor was in trouble-- Brown, wasn't
it-- when he ordered malathion spraying all over the
State. Think he may have lost out in running for
president on this one. Some claimed it mucked up their
cars and were pretty upset. Even more so were those who
have allergies and thought that they might suffocate to
death. Didn't even notice when they were spraying. But
it did catch the fruit fly bug in California. IIRC they
sprayed for weeks.

--alvin

howard bennett

I think that's the Medfly you're thinking of -- Mediterranean Fruit Fly.
There were other things that helped scupper Jerry's national ambitions,
but
that episode was a big one.

What irritates me is that there are all kinds of fruits imported to
California from Mexico and parts south in the off season, and that's
allowed
in despite the enormous use of very toxic pesticides outside the US.
Meanwhile the growers in Hawaii are told they have to IRRADIATE their
fruit
before they can export it to another part of their own country. Canada
(maybe because it's so far north and so not bothered by our Hawaiian
bugs)
is quite happy to accept Hawaiian fruit as-is.

as it has in the past ... (see e.g. Alvin's post).

One of my pet peaves is that they don't check things the same
way when you come to Hawaii. Many detrimental things have been
imported, hurting native plants as well as agriculture here.
But all we have when you come into Hawaii is the honor system
to please leave all 'agricultural products' in the bin at the
airport.

Wondering why we don't get the same sort of protection here ...

Maren
Tropical seeds - Job's Tears Jewelry - Plants & Lilikoi
http://www.jach.hawaii.edu/~maren/palms_etc/

nai`a

.... Because we're not California.

Aloha mai Nai`a!
--
" So this is how Liberty dies ... http://www.lava.net/~mjwise/
" To Thunderous Applause.

alvin e. toda

I guess Canada doesn't have the huge fruit industry
like the US has. Doesn't Washington for example have a
lot of apples and cherries-- at least I've noticed
these in the supermarket here in Hawaii. And like
Hawaii, I think it's a kind of political thing in the
US where the public doesn't have as strong a lobby as
the farmers do. Not too long ago,

IIRC there was an article in the Honolulu Weekly about
the scale of GM experiments in Hawaii completely out of
control. It's a little safer in a way because we don't
have amount of bees here that polinate our local
plants. GM varieties have a little harder time
spreading here. And we worry about invasive species
getting here. We have enough brewing locally.

Re. Gov Brown, I think his pacifist politics also
brought a lot of fear to rednecks and right-wingers. He
was too much to the left of centrist Democrats like
Clinton.

--alvin