I Say 'Quarantine,' You Say 'Protective Measures'

Michael Levine/Civil Beat

The state is now one step closer to segregating world-famous Kona coffee from the rest of the islands in an effort to limit the spread of one of the world's worst pests: the coffee berry borer beetle.

The Hawaii Department of Agriculture's Advisory Committee on Plants and Animals unanimously approved at its meeting Wednesday afternoon a recommendation that the Board of Agriculture implement an interim rule. The rule would require permits — and costly mitigation methods like heat treatment or methyl bromide fumigation — before unroasted coffee seeds can move between Kona and the rest of the state.

Despite the hassle, some in Kona testified in favor of the quarantine.

"I'm not asking, 'Please put more financial impact on our company' ... but I'm thinking about the farmers throughout the rest of Hawaii," Hawaii Coffee Association President Tom Greenwell, owner of Greenwell Farms in Kona, told the committee. "They're good people. ... I believe they'd be devastated."

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