A few weeks ago, my dad, Kenneth Kamiya, received the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources Distinguished Alumnus award. It was something he had never imagined to be a recipient of at all and was so humbled to receive it. It was truly an honor to see him recognized for his decades of work to support and advocate for agriculture in Hawaii and to some degree, globally.

Here was a poor farm kid who was born of immigrants who has made a difference in the lives of so many people over the years. My dad was born in a shack and had nothing. He had to enter the Air Force and go to war in Vietnam to get a chance to go to college. When given an opportunity to learn, he took at and has applied it through his entire career.

Not many in our community knew that this farm kid was honored so I shared this with the You Know You’re From Kaneohe group on Facebook. As a result, he started to run into friends and acquaintances who congratulated him and he called me and asked what I did.

“Eh, Jone. What did you do? Plenty people telling me congratulations. No need to say anything!”

My reply was, “Dad, for all the work you have done all of these years, people should know about your honor. We were told that the farm should be shut down for using science and you kept at it. You’re still at it because of what you stood for.”

He made some grumbling but I told him that the anti-GMO activists disparaged us for years trying to lie and launch campaigns against your work but we kept at it. Where are they now? Are they still campaigning against our work? Are they feeding Hawaii with what they told the public?

Nope. Gone from the scene are the Babes Against Biotech, the Center for Food Safety, and all the other pop-up activists. You don’t even hear a peep out of them because they never stood for truth.

When I told him that, he got quiet and I could see him in my mind, nodding in agreement.

I told him that really has become clear to me why Norman Borlaug influences him so much. In the state of the world now, it is important that we must seek ways to bring back peace so that our children do not have to go to war. Like what my dad repeats:

“World peace cannot and will not be built on empty stomachs and human misery.”

My dad and brother continue to feed our communities and nourish it. We are able to do this because we stand with truth and science.