More island-grown fruits and vegetables are available than what you see at farmers markets and in the produce section of super­mar­kets. Value-added products like fruit preserves and pickled vegetables are often made with local produce. Take, for example, kim chee.

Several brands of kim chee use won bok, cucumber, head cabbage and radishes grown on Oahu. These include Halm’s, Kohala, Kewalo, Sweet Charley, Man Nani, A-1 and High Max, all of them made by Halm’s Enterprises, which has consolidated production of all these one-time family labels.

But each brand stays true to the original recipe and traditional flavors, according to Halm’s Mike Irish, who has become Hawaii’s "kim chee king."

Takuan made under the Waimea and Koko brands, and pickled mustard and head cabbage are also part of Irish’s pickled vegetable empire.

An estimated 6,000 to 7,000 pounds of island-grown vegetables are processed each day into kim chee and takuan, no small amount to satisfy our love of pickled vegetables. Check labels on prepared food products for the use of ingredients that support local agriculture!

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Hawaii food writer Joan Namkoong offers a weekly tidbit on fresh seasonal products, many of them locally grown.