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Rob Barreca made his living as a website developer before signing up with GoFarm Hawaii.
“I had always been interested in food and farming, and was fortunate to be able to save up a little money and leave that tech job and devote full time to farming,” said Barreca, 33.
Now he is using his high-tech skills on a Web application that helps farmers connect with customers via hawaii.localorbit.com. Farmers use the app to input what they plan to harvest that week so customers can pre-purchase online, before the pickup or delivery day.
“You can have 10 different restaurants, buying totally mixed and matched from 10 different growers,” he said. “For the buyer it’s easy because they just make one purchase. For the growers it’s easy because we know how much we need to harvest.”
The initiative, also known as Farm Link Hawaii, has been running for about six weeks, with pickup points in Chinatown and Waimanalo, and plans to expand gradually.
Barreca said he has been encouraged by the response. “I tell them I’m a new farmer, this is local produce, no spray, and they’re like, ‘Yeah, I want that!’” he said. “The demand is there. I think it’s just connecting all the dots, opening these marketing channels.”
