Our Story
It's all for the love of bees.
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We, John & Jen Lair, bonded through our love for honeybees, gardening, and caring for children & animals. We are passionate about organic farming and eating healthy foods.
Since 2015 we have been creating delicious meals together from what we grow in the tropical environment of the Big Island, Hawaii.
​We are dedicated to growing food, providing pure honey & hive products, and being healthy role models for our children.
We are here to do our part to make the world a better place for the future generations.
Guided by the bees and committed to providing healthy organic meals to our community, we look forward to sharing Island Organic Cuisine with you!
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Feeling Inspired to Help?
We are graciously accepting donations for our new adventure in building our home and landscaping our new land.
Thank you for your support!
We appreciate all of you who have reached out and offered support in various ways.
We love you!
In 2008, I, Jen Rasmussen Lair started Paradise Nectar Apiaries, specializing in treatment-free hygienic beekeeping practices and pure hive products.
Paradise Nectar grew to be the main provider of treatment-free honeybees, Top Bar Hives, pure honey, beeswax, pollen, and natural-cell queens.
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My true passion is sharing the sweetness of honeybees with others through teaching workshops, retreats, private lessons, AirBnB experiences, and courses through local schools and the University of Hawaii. Working with adults and children and teaching them how to love and care for honeybees has been the mission of Paradise Nectar Apiaries since 2009.
In 2014 I met John Lair, and he started apprenticing with me to learn about beekeeping. Our relationship blossomed into a beautiful partnership as we began co-creating life together tending to bees and caring for my two children.
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In April of 2015 we were blessed with our first Dreamland.
We grew our apiary to 87 hives and had a thriving business with abundant bees, pollen, wax, and honey.
We had cleared the land, built our cabins and established ourselves before May of 2018 when we lost our 5.5-acre organic macadamia nut farm to a lava flow that covered the majority of our land. We were able to successfully move most of our hives to our friend's properties before the lava covered our farm.
We were invited to share a home and 9.19 acres with a woman named Vicki and moved to the new Dreamland Farm in Wainaku, Hawaii on August 4, 2018, with 67 healthy beehives and what we could rescue from our farm.​
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In 2019, I began to see changes in the beehives that were detrimental to honeybees. After two years of research and observation, I determined that the cause of the sudden deaths and near losses were caused by the use of herbicide by neighbors and county workers.
The losses were traumatic, and Paradise Nectar took a financial hit due to the loss of honey that was contaminated by toxic chemicals and the loss of bees.
I looked for resolutions and justice with the governing bodies and found none.
After two years of nonstop losses that came in waves, I was determined to save my bees. I saw the same effects in hives all over the island that I care for, and it became obvious that this was not just my problem. This affects us all.
I started planting flower-bearing seeds and starts every day, determined to grow enough blossoms to feed the bees.
The farm grew more beautiful every day as we started growing more food to feed us and the bees.
The bees continue to struggle during the times when spray is used, but they are growing again thanks to our efforts.
The farm is abundant with food and bees, and we are being called to share this with the rest of the world.
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In September 2024, we were notified by email that Vicki intends to sell the farm at the end of the year.
We were devastated at first, since we have many crops growing and 3 businesses functioning on the farm and had been told that this was to be our forever home.
But now we are embracing the change with excitement.
We have purchased an acre in Eden Roc, Hawaii.
Excavation begins on October 16, 2024!!
John will be building our new home, and we will be moving our fish business, bees, animals, and more!
The bees will be surrounded by lush ohia forest and once again we will get to harvest delicious lehua honey!!
The best part is that we have not seen any herbicide spray near our new land!
There is a lot to do in the next few months,
but I intend to keep Island Organic Cuisine open
Tuesday-Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Come see us and enjoy some delicious organic food!
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Our Commitment to Health
When we designed our menu and mobile kitchen we had your health in mind, which is why we bought the best cookware to make your meals with to ensure that your food is toxin-free. We have selected the highest quality equipment that is free of BPA, PFOA, PFAS, Cadmium and Lead. Our pots, pans and waffle maker are all made by GreenPan, a trusted company specializing in healthy ceramic cookware.
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It is important for us to know what is in our food and where it comes from. We have researched the ingredients we use and the companies that offer them to make sure that we are serving you truly healthy organic cuisine.
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Many of the ingredients we use in our menu selections come from Dreamland Farm, grown by us, such as radishes, collards, tomatoes, taro, kale, and more. We are delighted to serve up delicious donuts, fries, and poppers all made with cassava we grow. After years of harvesting and processing cassava we have crafted some amazing recipes that will keep you coming back for more.
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We source many of our ingredients from local organic farmers including lemons, limes, avocados, bananas, and more. We are always looking for more farmers to share their abundance so we can offer as many local ingredients as possible.
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For years now our family has felt limited by the options for healthy fast food. There are only a few places on island that offer completely organic cuisine! We are ready to fill the void Big Island. We happily bring you fresh, delicious, organic cuisine at affordable prices so that you can feel good about grabbing a meal to go after a long day of work. You deserve to treat yourself without compromising your health and nutrition for your family. From our family and farm to you, we bring you purely organic meals with options for every dietary preference. Enjoy!
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