DAVID JOHNSTON – FRUIT FESTIVAL Advocate

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Founder and director of the MAUI FRUIT FESTIVAL the 3-Day event scheduled June 13-16, 2020 in Kihei, Maui, Hawaii. Celebration of Fruit and the many aspects of our Tropical treasures as well as Participant driven activities, including information, presentations, gift-culture philosophy, hitchhiking unconference, Camping on Festival site activity… and more…       (COVID-19/SARS put end to that!) 8-5-2019

Summary of Video Content: Interview with David Johnston about the Maui Fruit Festival

• [00:02 → 02:14] Introduction and Host Background
  Jason Schwartz, host of the Neutral Zone Maui radio show on 88.5 FM and online platforms, introduces the program and welcomes listeners. He previews today’s guest, David Johnston, a longtime Maui resident and environmental advocate, who has been involved in innovative community and sustainability projects. Jason distinguishes this David Johnston from the well-known David Johnston of the Maui Academy of Performing Arts, clarifying that the guest today is a different individual focused on environmental and lifestyle initiatives.
• [02:14 → 04:50] Guest’s Background and Event Introduction
  David Johnston shares his personal background: born and raised in Maui, moved to Minnesota, returned to Maui as a teenager, and pursued education and farming experiences, including in Japan. He introduces the Maui Fruit Festival, scheduled for October 8th to 11th, an event centered on celebrating and promoting a gift culture with a focus on planting fruit trees, hitchhiking, bicycling, camping, and raw vegan fruitarian lifestyles. The festival is inspired by global examples such as Bhutan’s massive tree planting efforts and other fruit festivals in North America and Europe.
• [04:50 → 08:26] Personal Journey and Dietary Philosophy
  David describes his personal dietary journey: vegetarian from age 13, vegan by 30, and increasingly committed to a raw vegan fruitarian diet (80% fruit, 10% protein, 10% fat). He explains the health benefits he has experienced, including increased energy, mental clarity, lighter digestion, and reduced digestive discomfort when eliminating beans and bread. He highlights his participation in the Woodstock Fruit Festival in New York and the Canada Fruit Festival, which inspired him to create a similar event in Maui to bring this lifestyle and community closer to home. He also discusses hitchhiking as a low-carbon travel method, having hitchhiked extensively including in Japan, and his involvement with eco-village and couchsurfing platforms to promote sustainable living and community-based travel.
• [08:26 → 14:41] Festival Details, Location, and Philosophy
  David confirms the festival location at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Hall in Kihei, Maui, near Times Market and the oceanfront, emphasizing the beautiful setting and accessibility. He discusses the environmental motivations behind the festival: promoting a compassionate, low-carbon lifestyle that supports sustainability by encouraging fruit cultivation and bicycle use. He stresses the simplicity and decentralization of fruit growing as a means of self-sufficiency, contrasting it to industrial agriculture. David shares enthusiasm for tropical fruits popular in Maui like mango, dragon fruit, jackfruit, durian, persimmons, and more, describing their flavors and cultural significance. He frames the festival as a platform for education, community building, and celebration of abundance and sustainability.
• [14:41 → 19:55] Gift Culture and Festival Activities
  David expands on the concept of “gift culture,” a key philosophical underpinning of the festival. Inspired by the gift economy principles—giving without expecting anything in return, modeled on natural generosity seen in nature and human relationships—the festival encourages participants to share knowledge, resources, and experiences freely. The event will be participant-led, with opportunities for attendees to host talks, workshops, and conversations on nutrition, health, fitness, and other wellness topics. Activities range widely, including acro yoga, dance, beatboxing, photography, and functional fitness. There will be no commercial vendors selling products; instead, the festival operates on a gift-giving model where all food (raw fruits and vegetables) is freely shared, creating a pressure-free, community-focused environment.
• [19:55 → 23:44] Logistics and Sponsorship
  David discusses the need for sponsors and community support to enable the festival, inviting local farms, businesses, and Hawaiian Airlines as potential partners to provide resources like fruit or financial backing in exchange for promotion. The venue offers ample space for workshops, booths, food preparation, and a stage for performances, right on the beachside with stunning sunset views. The festival will also offer camping on-site for participants, making it a family-friendly staycation event during school break week. David emphasizes the all-inclusive, no-money-exchange model, with porta-potties and basic facilities arranged to support attendees comfortably.
• [23:44 → 27:45] Music, Community, and Support Groups
  The festival will feature live music from local and visiting musicians, enhancing the celebratory atmosphere. David highlights the importance of community support networks around raw vegan and fruitarian lifestyles, including support groups for overcoming challenges such as cravings or social pressures. He envisions the festival as a place for mutual encouragement and shared learning, promoting inner work and personal growth alongside nutritional education. The event aims to integrate diverse elements of Maui’s existing health and sustainability communities into a cohesive, vibrant gathering.
• [27:45 → 33:04] Personal Reflections on Legacy and Inspiration
  Jason and David reflect on the legacy of David’s mother, Dottie, a pioneering environmentalist who inspired his lifelong commitment to sustainability and compassionate living. David shares how his upbringing and exposure to vegetarian and vegan values shaped his path. They discuss the broader cultural context of the festival’s gift-giving theme, linking it to ancient Hawaiian values of aloha and universal generosity, as well as modern ecological and evolutionary biology theories emphasizing cooperation and giving as foundational to life and human society.
• [33:04 → 39:12] Gift Economy Philosophy in Depth
  David goes deeper into the gift economy, explaining it as a maternal, unconditional giving model inspired by nature—trees giving fruit, the sun giving light, a mother nourishing her child. He recounts attending a gift economy conference and learning from Genevieve Vaughan, a key advocate for this way of thinking. The gift economy contrasts with transactional money-based economies by focusing on inspired giving without expectation. This philosophy aligns with the festival’s goals of creating abundance, community, and environmental stewardship. They discuss how gift culture can coexist with traditional economic models, providing a pathway toward more compassionate and sustainable social systems.
• [39:12 → 44:35] Exotic Fruits and Natural Food Connection
  David shares more about exotic tropical fruits featured in the festival, including durian, breadfruit, jackfruit, mangosteen, and lychee. He explains their nutritional value, unique flavors, and cultural significance, encouraging people to embrace fruit as a natural, evolutionary food suited to human biology. He emphasizes the inherent appeal of colorful fruits to human senses and their role in human evolution, positioning fruit as an ideal food source for health and sustainability.
• [44:35 → 47:04] Hitchhiking and Unconference Model
  David discusses the hitchhiking unconference element of the festival, inspired by the Hitch Fest in Portugal. Hitchhiking is promoted as a low-carbon, community-building travel mode that fosters connection and cultural exchange. The unconference format is participant-driven, with attendees setting the agenda and contributing talks and workshops spontaneously, promoting a dynamic, democratic, and engaging learning environment. David expresses interest in recording sessions to share knowledge beyond the event.
• [47:04 → 53:46] Bamboo Bicycle Building and Eco Village Concepts
  David describes his involvement with bamboo bicycle building, highlighting it as a sustainable alternative to metal bikes with lower environmental impact. He envisions workshops teaching bamboo bike construction, aligning with the festival’s themes of low-carbon living and self-sufficiency. He also explains the concept of eco villages—intentional communities that practice sustainable living through shared governance, renewable energy, and innovative waste management systems. He talks about challenges such as zoning laws and the need for new regulations to support eco villages, citing examples from Scotland and Hawaii. David sees these models as critical for the future of sustainable living.
• [53:46 → 55:44] Raw Vegan Fruitarian Diet as a Peaceful Lifestyle
  David emphasizes that his dietary choice is not a restrictive diet but a peaceful, compassionate way of living that minimizes harm to animals and the environment. Eating mostly raw fruit and vegetables aligns with natural cycles, requiring minimal energy inputs and supporting regenerative agriculture. He contrasts this with industrial food systems and highlights the ethical and ecological benefits of his lifestyle.
• [55:44 → 56:28] Closing Remarks and Contact Information
  Jason thanks David for his commitment and leadership in launching the inaugural Maui Fruit Festival. He encourages viewers to visit the festival’s Facebook page and website (soon to be live at mauifruitfestival.com) and to contact David via email at hellomauifruitfestival@gmail.com for more information or participation. Jason praises David’s thoughtful, responsible approach to sustainability and community-building and expresses optimism for the festival’s impact on Maui and beyond.

1. 1. 1. Key Insights and Themes

• Sustainability and Low-Carbon Living: The Maui Fruit Festival promotes a lifestyle that reduces environmental impact through local fruit cultivation, raw vegan diets, bicycling, hitchhiking, and community resilience.
• Gift Economy and Community: The festival is built around principles of unconditional giving and participatory sharing, fostering deep human connection and cooperative learning.
• Health and Nutrition: Emphasis on raw vegan fruitarian diets as a path to increased energy, clarity, and compassion, with educational workshops and support groups to guide participants.
• Cultural Legacy and Inspiration: Strong ties to Hawaiian values of aloha, environmental stewardship, and community, as well as global movements for sustainability and gift culture.
• Innovative Living Models: Presentation of eco villages, bamboo bicycles, and unconference formats as practical examples of alternative, regenerative lifestyles.
• Inclusivity and Accessibility: Family-friendly, no-money-exchange format, camping options, and a broad range of activities designed to welcome diverse participants.

1. 1. 1. Keywords

Maui Fruit Festival, David Johnston, gift economy, raw vegan fruitarian, sustainability, eco village, hitchhiking, low carbon travel, bamboo bicycle, community building, nutrition workshops, gift culture, tropical fruits, participatory event, unconference, environmental activism, aloha spirit, regenerative living, family-friendly event, Maui VFW, October 2024.

1. 1. 1. FAQ

Q: What is the Maui Fruit Festival?
A: A community event focused on celebrating fruit cultivation, raw vegan fruitarian living, gift culture, and sustainable practices through workshops, talks, music, and shared meals.

Q: When and where is the festival?
A: October 8th to 11th, 2024, at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Hall in Kihei, Maui.

Q: How does the gift economy work at the festival?
A: Instead of buying and selling, participants freely share food, knowledge, and skills to create a supportive, pressure-free environment.

Q: Who can attend?
A: The festival is family-friendly and open to all ages, especially welcoming those interested in sustainability, health, and community.

Q: How can one get involved or get more information?
A: Visit the festival’s Facebook or Instagram pages, check soon-to-be launched website mauifruitfestival.com, or email hellomauifruitfestival@gmail.com.

Q: What kinds of workshops and activities will be offered?
A: Topics include nutrition, yoga, acro yoga, dance, beatboxing, photography, fitness, bamboo bicycle building, and more, led by participants.

Q: Are there vendors selling products?
A: No, the festival operates on a gift-giving model with no on-site sales; food and activities are shared freely.

Q: Is camping available?
A: Yes, camping on-site is part of the festival experience.

This thorough summary captures the spirit, purpose, and practical details of the Maui Fruit Festival as presented by David Johnston in his interview with Jason Schwartz, offering a clear guide for interested community members and participants.

00:02

[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] good morning everyone I’m Jason Schwartz I’m here at the neutral zone Maui neutral zone calm you can also find us on Facebook live J aku which is 88.5 FM where a hundred watt station which means we’re line-of-sight so if you’re in colony and you don’t have anything between a kaku’s roof and you you’re gonna catch the station but we have other ways to be found on tuned in on your phone also Maui neutral zone comm has all of our shows all of my shows and

01:38

on YouTube I have a terrific guest today now you’ve heard this name before you if you have been out in this community you know the name David Johnston and first thought is that’s that David Johnston yes this is David Johnston David Johnston I’ve known for a good long while but many of you think of that guy from mapa the Maui Academy of Performing Arts and he in fact will be a guest here on this show in the future but I have David Johnson and I’ve known many years David welcome to our show thank you

02:14

Jason you are someone I’ve known when I first met you you were I would say you were in your probably white 20s and you with your mom your mom Dottie was a great lady who I always thought of as a hero in the environmental movement on Maui before it was fashionable you know some of us me included you know and some of us stood up how are you doing what brings you to the show today I’m doing well how did you write you know I think you’ve grown up and you’ve been David Johnston this whole time but I don’t know if you’ve

02:51

announced yourself to Maui in this kind of way because I know David and we’re in a group together that’s called the mankind project mankind project it is anyway you should check that out that’s another separate thing but David has been planning and talking to me I remember when you were talking to me about ecovillages and you were he’s always been on the cutting edge watching what’s going on or gonna let him introduce himself but I just thought he’s doing something here in October

03:26

October 8th to 11th of this year and I thought way before the event to kind of put it out there so you can share using this show if that’s you know important to you to get people to know about it where is this event tell us about it so it’s the Maui fruits festival it’s uh it’s celebrating I’ll read from the poster here is co-creating a gift culture by educating for planting fruit trees hitchhiking bicycling camping and raw vegan fruitarian living and learning so I just happened to see that in Bhutan

04:10

and I don’t know if anyone knows where Bhutan is you know where Bhutan is up there near Tibet yeah and then that they planted some incredible number of trees in an or so amazing right so you want to do something on that kind of an idea to be able to help our planet and our island – yes we have lots of fruit here well what inspired you to want to do the fruit festival well I well first I’ll just introduce myself I I was born and raised in Maui grew up here till I was 10 moved to Minnesota came back when I was 16 to

04:50

Maui graduated lion Luna high school went to college got involved with farming traveled to Japan learn about natural farming and was really work on some fruit farms in Japan and Maui and really got a sir really got excited about the went vegetarian when I was 13 and went vegan when I was 30 and then I got into when I went started reading about raw vegan fruitarian diet or the 80/10/10 diet 80 to 80 percent is from fruit calories ten percent is protein and ten percent is fat so the diet our way of eating is not a diet it’s a way

05:39

of eating is mostly fruit and then for calories and nutrients and greens dark leafy greens salads that kind of stuff salad vegetables and then a little bit of nuts and seeds so I got excited no that’s that’s it there’s no animal foods and no cereal grains or beans but it wasn’t until I went to the Woodstock fruit festival and in New York that I got so excited and felt part of a tribe of people that are following this way of eating and that was what inspired me and then I went to the Canada Food Fest last

06:26

year and the New York Food Fest also the Woodstock Food Festival on if in Maui because it’s a long it’s a long way to travel and stuff for that for those and I wanted to bring something home to Maui and I’m also inspired by the hitch fest which is in was in Portugal last year and this year which is all about celebrating traveling in a low-carbon way of traveling through hitchhiking and I’ve been hitchhiking myself I traveled to Japan he’s like for a month in Japan he’s like on the big

07:03

island growing up and on the mainland and it’s a affordable way for young you know people from Hawaii that want to travel the world and they can couch surf and stay at farms and ecovillages is a platform called couchsurfing and another one called eco bossa org a loose ball a VCO ba si org I went to a training in Spain for their website and became an ambassador so I promote eco basa as a portable way to do work trade to stay at eco villages Wow so you’ve been involved I want to say in the

07:51

frontlines of things I’ve been talking about for all these years you’ve actually been out there and doing it now I don’t know how old you are are you in your 40 now I’m 42 I’ve been vegan for 12 years I mean you look you look young you look healthy thank you have you you’ve been doing this good diet most of your life but I’m getting better and better now is this bitter how’s it how do you feel well I’ve been about 95% raw vegan fruitarian for this month will be a year

08:26

and I got a lot more energy more lightness of feeling I I get insights more clarity in my mind about things and being able to you know come up with ideas and inspirations and stuff like that digestion is really as soon as I stopped eating beans I got a lot less gas I feel much more light fruit is really easy to digest you miss bread or beans and I do you know I used to eat a lot of Mexican food and I love my you know burritos and stuff but you know it’s it’s just a new way it a whole new world opens up when I can still add

09:16

the flavors of Mexican food to my food and still get tacos and raw tacos and yeah and I’ve seen people make I want to say bread and it’s really a raw or vegan I want to say it’s just like they make impossible burgers or beyond burgers to be like burgers I think things that simulate bread that you that swear you’re eating something that churros seems like bread so if you are interested in this your Maui fruit festival I know is going to have a website up here imminently at Maui festival calm yes and we are on Facebook

09:57

at Maui fruit festival on Instagram at my food festival YouTube contact you have what’s the best way I would say you know they can they can go on to Facebook and send me a message I also have an email that they can send me welcome yeah yeah you can also send me an email to hello Maui Food Festival at gmail.com okay hello Maui fruit festival at gmail.com and I guess you have all kind give us a bit of a picture this is going to be in Kihei is that yes it’s it’s gonna be at the Veterans of Foreign Wars

10:48

Hall which is yes W Hall which is I guess that’s all the news that the street yeah it’s um into the one behind like times market right yeah behind as ekiz it’s I’d say couple blocks north of Zetas some on the that’s at Oceanside I always found the easiest way for me as I go down Lapua and I go to the end of lipoma past the light and times market then you make a right there on an Street that’s the street yeah I remember I’ve had friends with houses there over the years it’s so funny you know they were

11:23

renting all those places are now mega it’s become mega mansion row two or three you know as Maui expands I want to say it’s underwater Park with the rising sea water you wonder why are people buying houses that are with a level of the water is going to be at their second floor yeah I was yeah that’s an interesting I mean it’s like we have a lot of concern for the animals and for people and for the environment with the global warming that’s happening and part of my way of eating is a is a it’s a

12:03

choice to you know it out of compassion for by not eating animals and protecting their life and then also just it’s a very low carbon way of eating will come footprint yes yes people have heard what that means is less emissions less impact on the destruction of our atmosphere right that’s a really strong thing to be doing yeah and it feels like something that you know it’s it’s been done here by the Native Hawaiians they they cultivated huge gardens of bananas and and different fruits and bred fruits and

12:46

you know and it’s it’s something that I feel I can do like I can grow my own food I don’t need a huge combine to harvest some grains or beans I can plant a fruit tree and I can pick the fruit with my hands I don’t need any sort of machine so and I don’t need a petroleum if I’m using my bicycle to harvest with my bicycle trailer fruit so that’s something I promote is bicycling also and it sounds like it can be very decentralized and then I don’t exactly and you get something from a

13:21

store or from a local grower you can grow your own exactly that’s a great thing and I bet I’m sure you’re gonna have all kinds of demonstrations here at this what kind of fruit have you found is the most popular around what do people like I I found people like like the exotic tropical fruits like dragon fruit mango jackfruit durian durian not you know I have a friend named is durian and I never know that’s a fruit isn’t it yeah people go really estatic for that it has a really good taste it’s got more

14:02

of a fatty flavor it’s really good frozen semi-frozen tastes like vanilla custard oh you see that they just simulated ice cream I mean I’m thinking of everyone that you know they don’t want to give up those things they like you know right right but you know it for our future people that are like you are the ones that are going to be leading the charge toward self sustainability toward being responsible for our environment I’ve always really appreciated that you know I’ve always been very conscious of what

14:41

you’re doing and wanting to do less harm you know I very much I’ve always known not about you you know thank you yeah I feel I’m inspired by Gandhi and another a bunch of other figures but he has a quote it says be the change you want to see in the world you know and I’m really inspired by that and another quote is um live simply so that others may simply live to me I feel like learning to change oneself and the biology ecology within inside the gut is a first step that I can do you know and that I can

15:23

take from then on I can start taking other steps you know create the environment that I live in and so this festival that’s coming up I bet you’re gonna have different speakers and people coming up to educate people throughout the day yeah the way the model is is it’s kind of like a we’re promoting gift culture very much like a gift economy that happens for some of the burners out there that I’ve gone to Burning Man we promote gift-giving at our event and so the people that show up are going to

16:05

be given the opportunity to speak and I’m inviting all my friends that would love to come and speak so you’re in for a treat there would be a lot of nutritional knowledge being shared and it’s a very participant led process the first first day we will have a schedule for the whole event and and people will be able to fit themselves in to the schedule if they would like to facilitate and start out with a talk and then facilitate a conversation sharing their knowledge about nutrition or if

16:41

they want to lead a workshop perhaps in yoga acro yoga static dance whatever the participant wants to bring to the event so it’s really on the participation that will bring make the event happen and we really focus on connecting people so we looking at your I know this isn’t though exactly the final but what I notice you have workshops here all kinds of subjects things I don’t even know what they are I said I’m learning already yeah these are is beatboxing beatboxing is something that comes from

17:19

like hip-hop and you know yeah a healthy birth alternative media Wow contact improv dance photography functional fitness wow it’s going to be a lot of fun yeah and people and you know I think it’s important for our dances to explore your Facebook page and your website as we’re going along yeah so they can get ready is it a thing you have to get tickets for yeah we’re gonna have the tickets launched soon it’s my first festival so it’s a learning process I had to find a website platform

17:59

which was a lot to find figure out which to go is and ticketing and know it’s a new world out there yeah yeah used to think oh I’ll just get some of the handle tickets now you have to make sure that your website is compatible with this other ticket website yeah yeah so so yeah those those workshops and other things you mentioned are all possibilities things I personally am involved with I’ve experienced here in Maui I feel like the Maui community the Maui tribe here has a lot of the things

18:36

that are offered at other festivals like the Woodstock fruit festival or the Canada fruit festival and we all have skills that we can bring in this is just bringing it all together and giving us you know all-you-can-eat buffet of tropical fruits and veggies and there’s gonna be lots of fun at the event so well you know and I’m thinking what supports an event is I’m guessing his sponsors right so someone has to come there and say we want to share this product so I’m sure that’s going to be

19:14

developing so yes any kind of sponsors that I’m hoping you can attract through sharing what this event is going to be yeah as I think a lot of our local people of local people and the tourism people would love an opportunity to share in this kind of a way yeah I mean we’re looking for sponsors if you know Hawaiian Airlines or you know a fruit farm that has a want to promote their their brand of their fruit they wants to sponsor maybe kick in some free excessive fruit for the for the participants um we would love to promote

19:55

them in our advertising and marketing I imagine you’re gonna have I’m only imagining I want to call them vendors but people that have different things that are related to the potential audience you’re gathering now you know stand to be also so on what I think of the VFW yeah nice I think of a place where you can do cooking or preparing the food yeah and the stage and the dance floor right an extraordinary open land for booths and workshop areas yes they are right at the beach them for you

20:33

that aren’t on Maui this is a spot it used to be king kamehameha fish pond of course that was before we Americans took over but is it but this is quite a spot in key a it is I I was over there the other day and just admiring the view and it’s the sunsets are going to be amazing you know a lot of young people who love to go to festivals they always say the it’s beautiful on a beachside festival you know people coming from through the Hawaiian Airlines and all these other airlines are coming and they’re gonna be

21:13

staying here in all kinds of different ways yeah Nikki why you talk about the Eco basa right right well well we’re actually the venue will have space for camping so it’s three nights that there be able to camp there and so yeah everything is all-inclusive we’re talking through the show we’ll get all these pieces because I know that it’s gonna be a lot of fun is that a Friday Saturday so it’s actually it was it was hard for me to get but I the weekend so what we have it starts on Tuesday and it

21:47

goes to a Friday but the school the public schools are out for that week so it’s a it’s a family-friendly event the kids can come you know parents can come with the kids camp out have a nice staycation right here in Maui you know eat as much fruit veggies as you want and yeah it’s really going to be a lot of fun I was just gonna say when you say about eat as much as you want stay there I’m sure you have a nice vision of I want to call them porta-potties you know ways of yeah we will have porta-potties there’s a few

22:27

bathrooms on-site but and the we’re kind of like Burning Man in the sense that there’s no transact financial transactions there’s no selling of products or anything we’re celebrating gift-giving so there’s not any vendors on-site per some oh yeah so what we want to take care of everyone with all-you-can-eat food of raw fruits and vegetables and so they won’t have to worry about you know bringing money to buy this or that oh that’s good I guess once your website is there people can

23:05

understand that because I did not understand that yeah so the reason why we don’t want vendors and we want to celebrate because there’s less pressure we want people to just either enjoy their company connect create a community a sense of community you know and we want people to connect and and that’s kind of what we’re focusing on and connect with the knowledge that everybody brings to share that wants to facilitate conversations around nutrition or wellness health fitness yeah I see again I’m I’m afraid to say

23:44

exactly what it is because I but I imagine one of the things that attracts people is music have you gotten any groups your guess you’re gonna be doing that yes a couple of groups that people want to come see and they have probably a following that would probably be yes we’ve got some musicians that want want to come and we’re excited because when I was at the Canada free Fest they had some of the best musicians and it was amazing and you know I I would love any musicians that want to come and

24:24

perform contact us let us know we hello Maui fruit festival yeah at gmail.com Authority wrote in yeah yeah yeah thanks Jason welcome so we also have the the festivals that I went to like the Woodstock fruit festival vegan support group in Kihei and it’s something that really resonates with me being able to feel like I can sit down in a circle with other people and be supported appearances other people of going through with maybe they have a craving to eat some cook food or they have challenges so to be supported in that

25:13

way and share what’s challenging for me and in this way of eating is really beneficial so I hope people come with with the feeling of wanting to be supported and offer if they want to support others as a support group for a lot of different topics some of the topics are you know raw vegan support through support for inner work kind of like what we do in the men’s group you know and for couples to have a couple’s group its challenges for that to you you sound like you’re a lot of you building

25:51

Frankenstein you’re taking a lot of pieces that are really important than valuable and bring them together there’s a lot of concept I imagine that and your website’s going to help a lot of people kind of yes it you know I have a all the thing about images and a few words here and there yeah to kind of give them the picture well that’s just a couple of months away so it’s got you know a little bit of time for things to develop I’m excited about putting the idea out early so that you can track some of

26:22

these people because the subject is super important what a great game for young people are say young people of all ages to be aware that they can be less impact be healthy and like I say you really look like a young man you know I mean not that in being 40 or 42 is old to me it’s a young man yeah but a lot of people that are living now would like to be able to live more gently on the land that’d be more self sustainable and be able to have some way to create something just like you’re talking about I mean all the

27:05

things you’re talking about seems like I want to say the new responsible planetary citizen yeah that’s it more like someone who says I have concepts and I’m going to share them in something that I know which is a fruit festival which shares a great concept and do it in Maui so if you’re in Canada might be a good time for you to come over to Maui or if you’re in Spain or who God knows where people are come here to Maui yeah we get a lot of in Hawaii Canadians that that fly here for the during the colder

27:45

months and this will be in October so it is a little quote or and it will be persimmon season and that’s a good thing we have here yeah we hope to get some durian if possible it depends on when they flower but people love to to go for the durian we are gonna take a break I’m here with David Johnston David Johnston is here talking about the Maui fruit festival which is going to be here on Maui in October we’re gonna check in with our sponsors and supporters and be right back okay David the neutral zone

28:29

with me Jason Schwartz would like to sincerely thank David Bryan for his support David was founder and head of school at new roads fool in Santa Monica California and as the board chaired the Ojai Foundation and on the board for brave new films the neutral zone is heard live Mondays at 11:00 a.m. here on kak u 88.5 FM the voice of maui and again on saturdays at 7:00 a.m. as well as on TV and on Maui neutral zone dot-com Hawaii youth service directory is online at a o8 youth comm we envision a Hawaii where

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familiar oldies from the 50s 60s and 70s plus some of those rare tracks you won’t hear on any other radio program right here on ka k you 88.5 hi I’m Jason Schwartz host of the neutral zone KNK U is a listener-supported station this means that all the great programs you hear like mine are sponsored by you as well as our underwriters if you would like to help keep the voice of Maui looking loud and clear go to kak UF m dot org slash donate today and give and don’t miss the neutral zone Mondays at

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11 a.m. on 88.5 FM a voice of Maui they’ll challenge your authority because that’s what kids do but this car is your territory and in here your word is law so when you say you won’t move until everyone’s buckled up you ain’t budging it until you hear that click never give up until they buckle up a message from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Ad Council for more information visit safercar.gov/therightseat ivar we’re up to like show 54 I think but we also all

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of us are on kak you on Facebook and you know you’re on Facebook also David I’m here with David Johnston who is against you’d say the founder of the Mallee fruit festival which is happening here in Maui and PA at the Maui VFW October 8th to 11th on a week that the kids are out from school what a great idea have something when the kids can come and benefit you know what do they say I think whoever said it was at George Benson I believe the children are our future teach them well and let them lead

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the way yes I agree with Hank that kind of thing is really when I think of this whole thing I think of you and I actually think of your mom a lot because she was really a really strong and guiding force I’m sure the reason that you interested because you were exposed to some really great things with her yeah yeah yeah she she raised me you know with a lot of vegetarian foods and when we were young we traveled together on on a hippie bus on in the mainland for about six months when I was about four I’m purposely

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holding it up this way can you see it very music aha I want to get a picture of it I’m going to make sure that people see it then we’ll we’ll put a link up on our website too and stuff like that yeah your mom really gave you a good foundation for really growing into a thoughtful caring man you know and I’m very very happy to you know shared space and time with you and gotten to know you over time because you you’ve got I mean when I look at your your poster here gift-giving culture now I just that

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concept alone we can take a show what does gift-giving culture about really so yeah there’s there’s this this idea that and in all in nature and in animals and in human culture the the sharing the as Hawaiian say Allah you know we we we give without expecting anything in return it’s it’s given in one direction and if someone want is inspired to give to to the person who gave them something then it’s taking turns giving it’s not an exchange it’s just they’re inspired to give to that

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person so the focus is on the other and I really got inspired when I went to the gift economy conference in 2004 in Las Vegas I I I bought tickets for my mom and my aunt and we both we all went together and we learned from a woman who organized that her name is Genevieve on and she has a website called gift economy calm and she promotes the modern that’s this idea this of a maternal gift economy so maternal in the sense that the way that we a mother would give breast milk freely to her child and

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wouldn’t charge money you know a way of this maternal loving compassionate kind way of giving freely as a mango tree would give mangoes to us or the son would give us free sunlight there these are models in the nature that we can and in or inside our body or organs are giving to other parts of our body supporting life so this is the there’s a theory in evolutionary biology that the single-cell organism was formed from the DNA of bacteria that created the single-cell organism and life in in the

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ocean which eventually moved on land so whenever it is an evolution there’s a giving when a Zadi evolution is there’s a taking as a hoarding this is interesting yesterday Luana gudinas was talking at a church gathering and she was talking about the times that she’s feeling better is when she gives I think many of us feel the giving nature you know I was just here as you were talking about thinking how does giving and gifting match up with economy and our whole robust economy and I keep thinking that it’s it all works

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really very well it just just it’s like an emotional shift that happens we have to sort of realize that we’re all on this together you know I mean it’s a gifting culture like you’re talking about a body that supports you know different parts of it or a tree that’s giving its fruit that’s really I think a really important concept well it’s happening already in in life in in in financial transactions giving is happening the money is just an overlay of that you know so but it essentially

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is where we’re giving the gift of culture is happening now it’s just it so it’s overlaid with money and the the way that we can find more community is by creating community and giving more and and creating abundance when we have more fruit trees growing there’s more abundance and prices can come down for food when we have more abundance we can create more spaces for community like at a festival shade and shade like that yeah and so so I was really inspired by going to that if the economy conference and and then I

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got involved with you know going to these festivals and and and trying to connect the two ideas like how could we have a festival that promotes gift culture and gift-giving you know and that’s what for me I have been raised in in Hawaii born and raised here so and learning about the Aloha spirit and learning about how what does that feel like when I give you know I I feel great just as you mentioned you know I mean it so I just think that the idea of gift-giving is really a spiritually elevated concept and the fact that it

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can be brought into an economy and brought into you know a way of life for people I think like you’re talking about how it’s an overlay for business I was just thinking about that Mamie maybe meaning that there’s an old expression leave some of the gold on the table leave some of the spoils on the table so that everyone can win not take it all you know we see a a concept now that seems pretty rampant in the world but in America you know where the people are really always that greed factor then

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a different element than giving giving them is a really elevated thing that’s great yeah I mean you see when when people stand up for their rights as activists and a they say this is this is in my heart this is what I’m going to protect you know this is what I’m standing for they’re they’re giving they’re giving from their heart they’re they’re saying this is life that that’s important you know and so it’s important I think to to to connect with the gift within you know we like we say we’re in

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the present moment which is a present it’s again you know and how can we embody being a being appreciative of that gift in them in the moment and how can we live our life to the best potential to the highest potential you know well it’s great I’m really very much appreciating how much thought you’ve put into the creation of this a unique festival in Maui and Maui fruit festival I am sure that you’re going to have some of the large producers or alone to say let’s say hello to you and want to somehow plug

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into this and then the small once – yes let’s see small ones big ones and durians I mean like when you talk about some of these more exotic fruits it would be really an exciting thing to see some of these things out there and available to people yeah I only heard about it dirty and I’ve still never seen one there they’re they’re pretty big they’ve got kind of pokey parts to it and it’s it’s tough sometimes opening it you might have to use a knife or something but there are certain ways

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that’s along the creases that they say is a secret to open in it easy about breadfruit they look pretty gnarly to me but a lot of people have all kinds of ways they enjoy breadfruit yeah breadfruit there’s jackfruit that’s a favorite of mine it’s so one of the biggest fruits in the world it can get to like I don’t know how big but some of them is like 40 40 pounds or something you know Wow and but yeah it’s it’s a challenge but once you get it open this it’s so good it’s

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got a lot of calories and some raw mostly yeah yes eally raw and some other fruits that we have in Maui you know persimmon like on the poster we have oranges and strawberries grow on Maui light cheese grow on Maui you know mangosteens that’s a favorite what’s up those thing it’s it’s a purple outside fruit that you open up and it’s it’s got little sections kind of like like an orange has no no it’s um it’s uh it’s I don’t know what it’s related to but it

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is mangosteen it was mangosteen yeah it’s a taste very sweet and kind of the texture of like light qi sim of similar but i like lychee yeah that’s one of my favorites well you know it’s really interesting because I I don’t often go to fruit as you know one of my choices but I’m gonna give fruit a chance give fruit a chance someone wrote a song like yeah Oh wasn’t fruit I don’t like John Lennon give peace a chance I hope you people will give fruit a chance yeah fruit fruit a popular thing I know I it

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is I think um you know if you if you if you put a fruit in front of a baby and a chicken the baby is going to reach for the fruit to eat you know yeah so it’s it’s art for me I feel it’s our natural food it’s something that we have our hands are designed to pick you know our teeth are eyesight’s we see different colors but we are attracted to colors of fruit so I think it’s a symbiotic relationship we evolved with fruit our ancestors monkeys come from tropical climate with

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fruit so it’s something that feeds and nourishes me um I just want to share it with other people what I’m looking at this you know featuring I’m interesting to me the Maui hitchhiking unconference yeah what is that yes oh so I was inspired by the H fest in Portugal I found out about what they were doing there I’d love to go someday and to me growing up here hitchhiking you know it’s something that it’s a lower carbon way of traveling if someone picks up a hitchhiker there they’re

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cutting back on the carbon impact of driving giving someone a ride that person doesn’t have to get in a car and drive there was about him furious when you said it hitchhiking I thought about you kill Anandi yeah Nikhil Anandi our friend he he helped too you know he lobbied some council members in the mid 90s and helped to pass a law actually in Maui to legalize hitchhiking so you know Maui is open for hitchhiking it’s it’s a great way to get to know people for me when I was hitchhiking in Japan

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stepping into a car with a Japanese person was like stepping into the Japanese culture you know I they when when people give someone a ride they want to talk they want to they want some company you know a lot of times people pick someone up to talk to them and it really creates a accelerated friendship where you get to know another person and and where they were traveling to and and what their interests are and it’s a taking turns giving conversation geneviève on talks about her husband was

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a linguist and she talks about how when she studied the principles of gift economy that language is a model when someone is speaking as I am right now I’m literally giving words in sentences that your mind will deconstruct and formulate meaning from and then that may be useful for you and then when you talk I will listen so we’re taking turns giving words to each other so this is literally a gift economy that we’re practicing here and so that’s what happens when you hitchhike and I love it

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so what’s the unconference that’s in the unconference aspect so that is a few you know Google you might find the definition in Wikipedia it talks about how its participant lead so the agenda is set by the participants instead of having a preset agenda and preset speakers the speakers are the participants that want to feel themselves out into the schedule and give a talk and then facilitate a conversation that’s interesting I’m hoping that you’ll be recording some of this for all of us or all of us I hope

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to be there that’s a great idea to be able to share it later you know I yes I remember when I was first doing TV shows here and whatever the subject if it was out somewhere and there weren’t many people at an event that was always better for me as a camera guy and then I often times put things up on the air and they got much more I want to call it afterburn from the media than the actual event in this case yours is very experiential and I know it’s gonna be terrific but there’s something really

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great about having you know the later experience especially this will be the first one right yes the first Maui fruit festival you know what they say the first server is the best no I yeah I think that the the Ketchikan bicycling culture and in walking you know these are all low lower impact ways of carbon impacts that that that I can choose to do you know and you know I also took a class last year in bamboo bicycle building in he and people who actually yeah someone came from Brazil and taught us

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and I’m inspired to share that knowledge I would like to eventually offer a bamboo bicycle building workshop too so that’s interesting what do you do for the wheel the wheel so the wheel is still has the metal rim with the the rubber tire but then the spokes can be ambu and the the whole body can be bamboo even the handlebars well and what about the brakes the brakes we still use two traditional bicycle brakes and um so it’s more of what we call it not a gear changing kind of like more a manual I

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want to say like humans use yeah these new bicycles have all these gears you got to be the you know a semi rocket scientist to use one of these yeah you can still have those different gears I mean I have a bicycle it’s a folding bicycle and it’s a it has rubber as the it’s like of rubber rubber cord as the chain and yeah so it doesn’t use meadow for that so that’s the idea is what is – how can we eliminate hiring higher carbon impact materials like metal replace it with bamboo so this food

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festival is really I’m just already in talking to you it is an event that people can be involved in talking about all kinds of facets of of good living sustainable living yeah let me and they can eat eat eat and eat and enjoy all kinds of fruit fantastic yeah yeah I’m I’m inspired by the Eco village movement where that is an intentional community where people come to live together in a sustainable way whether it’s their waste management or their you know Energy’s solar or wind power their governance is

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decided in by the participants so for example housing community I’m making it up 50 acres broken into numbers of or not even broken into however it’s done and those people ownership separate ownership coming together or United looking this well the Eco village there’s different models but one is where you have like a the land is held in a Land Trust and then the participants the people that want to live on the land and they will have a plan and they will come up with design and they may hire someone

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they may just use their own skills but they it’s kind of like self-help housing so they will design it they’ll build it they may hire some support for that but it’s an affordable truly affordable sustainable way of building residential communities does it fit with the codes that we’ve got going on now probably not right some some codes it’s challenging were what I’ve been working on is to create a new law that is called eco village zoning so it would be a new zoning category that would cut through

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some of the red tape but also take a lot of the responsibilities away from the county because these are people they’re gonna have off grid so they won’t have to bring electrical electricity to the county won’t have to pay to bring the electricity to the community they’re gonna have their own waste management systems there’s really amazing ones I was in Scotland in Finn horn and they have their own living machine where it’s like the waste from the affluent goes through these chambers that has plants

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that are growing in each chamber and it’s filtering as it goes through each chamber at the end it’s much more cleaner and can be you know you know used for underneath trees and waste water and underneath that’s great isn’t it amazing how many things like Finn Dorne is not a new place and I talked about javi Otis and they were awarded from the UN in 1976 is a great example of self-sustainable 1976 is 50 years ago people and it’s like they were just shocking to me how the world needs to hear you gotta

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keep knockin on their head it’s like when I started this maui arts and music thing in 1991 where i ran you know green party people say you were right you were right i don’t want to be right i want us to do it maybe now is the time when the leadership from people like yourself then anyone was still around but it’s you that are going to be walking this path and leading the future mm-hmm it’s so great to hear that there are people like you who are leading this charge that are caring and sensitive to the

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needs of each other in the world the world needs more good examples i don’t want to put too much energy on what’s going on in the world yeah because every day we hear about things that are just absolutely makes me wonder if i’m on the same planet as these people and things that happen that just show that people are really and they need good examples and what you are and what you’re showing is a really good example that’s why i really yeah i wore this shirt today it says raw not war and

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you know i was involved with the protest movement against iraq war and you know I feel like which one in ever yeah the second one yeah I guess 2003 and 1991 you were like a little known so yeah I feel like you know eating a raw vegan fruitarian and the reason why I say raw vegan for carrion is people think fruitarian what do you only eat fruit well with the raw vegan part that means you also greens and vegetables and little nuts and seeds so the reason why I like I feel like that is a peaceful diet a peaceful way of eating is because

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you know it doesn’t it doesn’t involve like a lot of energy to produce it it can grow it in your back orchard you can grow your vegetables and fruit is is something that you know the tree is giving it’s just going to fall on the ground one if you don’t pick it so and it’s not killing the tree when you when you take the fruit it’s actually helping the tree promote and grow more of itself with the seeds if you plant the seeds you know so that’s what I love about this this way

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of eating is it’s a peaceful way of of eating and no well thank you for being a brave and forward-thinking guy who is bringing the Maui fruit festival we got about a minute and a half so I want to make sure the Maui fruit festival October 8th to 11th and this year in Kihei at the Maui VFW now very soon well first of all you can all look up on face book the Maui fruit festival or soon Maui fruit festival calm but also what was it the first word help hello hello Maui fruit festival at gmail.com is a

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way to get in touch with David Johnston thank you for taking the lead and thank you for being someone that over the years I watched you know I want to say as a kid you weren’t really a kid but you were a young adult being responsible and loving to you to your mom and and she passed but you know you’re responsible to your father and your world and also to our world and you know it’s people like you that make me realize that I can let go of the reins a little bit there are people that are

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watching what’s going on with our world thank you for being here with me today David inky Jason but I’m David Johnston Maui fruit festival Jason Schwartz what are my maui arts and music but also the maui neutral zone calm thank you guys for joining us next week we have an artist do we have Sivan here great artists and we got people from council coming up we got all kinds of people coming up thank you all for joining us thank you David we will see you next week Aloha [Music]