Gov. Lingle to press White House to use local coffee

By Sean Hao
Advertiser Staff Writer

As Gov. Linda Lingle makes her rounds in Washington next week, a small but significant item on her agenda is to persuade the White House to serve only Hawai'i-grown coffee to its guests.

Lingle, who arrived in the capital yesterday, is toting a basket with a selection of coffee grown on the Big Island, O'ahu, Moloka'i, Maui and Kaua'i along with a letter "suggesting this would be a nice thing to do since we're the only state in the union that grows coffee commercially," said Steve Bretschneider, chief marketing officer for the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

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