FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                  May 18, 2007

Release No. M-52-07

MAYOR HANNEMANN HOSTS AGRICULTURE EXHIBIT

AT HONOLULU HALE ON TUESDAY

            Members of Oahu’s farming community will be at Honolulu Hale Tuesday, May 22, 2007, for “Ag in the City – Grown on Oahu,” an interactive exhibit about Oahu’s agriculture industry.

            The exhibit is presented by the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation with the support of Mayor Mufi Hannemann, the Mayor’s Office of Economic Development and Oahu Resource Conversation & Development, Inc.

             Representatives of virtually every sector of agriculture on Oahu will be on hand from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

            “We invite the public to come by and meet members of a diverse industry that continues to contribute to Oahu’s growing economy,” said Mayor Hannemann. “I have been and will continue to be a staunch supporter of agriculture, which remains a vital lynchpin of our economy.”

            The exhibit will begin with a brief ceremony at which Hannemann and Dean Okimoto, president of the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation, will speak. The mayor will present a check for an agricultural grant to Oahu Resource Conservation & Development, Inc.

            At the exhibit, samples of products will be available to the public.

            Also participating in Tuesday’s exhibit are the Waimanalo Ag Association; Hawaii Beekeepers Association; U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service; USDA Rural Development program; Aloun Farms; Hawaii Association of Conservation Districts; Alluvion, Inc.; Fruits & Veggies – More Matters; Maui Land and Pineapple Co.; Hawaii Crop Improvement Association; Agricultural Leadership Foundation of Hawaii; USDA

 Farm Service Agency; University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources; Hawaii Aquaculture Association; Hawaii Department of Agriculture Hawaii Seal of Quality

program; Hawaii Agriculture Research Center; Hawaii Department of Agriculture Biosecurity program; and Meadow Gold Dairies.

-30-

Media contact:

            Michelle Ching, Mayor’s Office, 523-4208

            Brian Miyamoto, Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation 848-2074

            Matt Johnson, Oahu Resource Conservation & Development, Inc., 483-8600 ext. 113