• Mahalo for passing Amendment 2 • Drinking 4 beers, running 1 mile shouldn’t be celebrated • Beer mile deserving of coverage Mahalo for passing Amendment 2 Mahalo to Hawaii voters for passing state Constitutional Amendment 2, which allows agricultural businesses like mine
• Mahalo for passing Amendment 2 • Drinking 4 beers, running 1 mile shouldn’t be celebrated • Beer mile deserving of coverage
Mahalo for passing Amendment 2
Mahalo to Hawaii voters for passing state Constitutional Amendment 2, which allows agricultural businesses like mine to access low-interest loans so that we can invest in expanding local agriculture throughout the state.
As a member of the Local Food Coalition, I am proud of the work we’ve done to get this question on the ballot for voters to decide.
Those of us working in agriculture know it’s more than a full-time commitment. We don’t have the time or money to promote an issue on a statewide level. We’re grateful to partners who are willing to step up and help make growing local food easier for us producers.
Our campaign to raise awareness about the benefits for Hawaii agriculture wouldn’t have been possible without the financial support of Ulupono Initiative and others.
Ulupono recognizes that our local agricultural producers face challenges in accessing financing. They knew investing in the campaign was right for their mission, and our work, of increasing local food production. As a result, we producers now have financing options.
Ron Weidenbach
Hawaii Aquaculture and Aquaponics Association
Drinking 4 beers, running 1 mile shouldn’t be celebrated
On Dec. 10, I read TGI’s Wellness Wednesday article “4 beers, 1 mile.” I read looking for a “teaching point,” a reason that drinking four beers during a 1-mile run is wrong. Nothing. The article celebrated this “event” in a county park. The “rules:” drink a 12-ounce can of beer or the equivalent (must be 5 percent alcohol), run ¼ mile, repeat four times.
Just one week ago, on Dec. 3, Annaleah Atkinson taught us “The mathematics of alcohol consumption” in another TGI article.
She explained the alcohol content of 12 ounces of beer is the same as 5 ounces of wine or a shot of hard liquor. This raises the blood alcohol content (BAC) .02 in a 150-pound person. Four drinks will get you a BAC of .08, at which point you are legally drunk.
Using the math she explained, it will take over five hours for your body to detoxify and remove the alcohol from your blood. She also explained four to five drinks is the generally accepted number considered to be binge drinking.
In one week, how did we move from explaining the negative effects of drinking to celebrating the same thing? I’m sure a number of participants would have achieved a BAC of .08 or higher in their binge drinking “wellness” activity. One participant’s realization should be highlighted. When asked why she participated, Martine Twist explained: “Peer pressure. … I thought it would be really fun. It’s not though. It’s not fun at all.”
Let’s not celebrate in adults what we are cautioning our youth to avoid.
Rose Murtagh
Koloa
Beer mile deserving of coverage
I would like to comment on Kelly Sheffield’s recent letter to the editor criticizing Editor-in-Chief Bill Buley’s recent article on the “Beer mile.” She calls it irresponsible because people on the island have alcohol problems.
People on the island have obesity problems, too; does that mean we should not have articles on food?
Bill Buley has a done great job as editor of The Garden Island newspaper since arriving almost two years ago.
I watch the paper like a hawk and have noticed a great many more advertisers and many new voices. The Forum page has featured many new names, not the same old same old, although I miss being frequently published. Bill likes giving everyone a voice in the paper. So send your thoughts to TGI!
Bill and I don’t always see eye to eye. The recent monk seal issue coverage was a little too much for me with four front-page articles about it in a week’s time. Although I did not care for it, many others did.
In the case of the beer mile, it was newsworthy and not something everyone would choose to do. It was all done in fun. Bill exemplified that in his fine writing and extraordinary photo skills.
The old expression from poet John Lydgate, same name as Kauai’s John Lydgate and used by President Lincoln, also applies to The Garden Island newspaper: “You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time.”
TGI does not please me all of the time, just some of the time. That’s enough for me.
James “Kimo” Rosen
Kapaa
