Film, summit explore rural Hawaii’s solutions to our state’s food problem

KAPOLEI—For over 1,000 years, the Hawaiian people produced enough food to support an estimated population of one million. Today, 85 percent of Hawaii’s food is imported. And if current trends continue, Hawaii’s last agricultural lands will be gone by 2040, according to the Hawaii Farmers Union. Can Hawaii change course in time? Hawaii’s farmers say “yes.”

An upcoming film and summit intend to educate and remind Hawaii residents about the importance of preserving our ag lands and pursuing a state of food sustainability in our islands.

The new documentary Na Kupu Manaolana—Seeds of Hope: The Future of Agriculture in Hawaii exposes the world to the individual heroes that are working to find a way for Hawaii to feed itself. These “seeds of hope”—innovative farmers both large and small, ranchers, distributors, educators, and everyday citizens—are scattered throughout the island chain and are growing new ideas that can solve Hawaii’s food crisis and inspire a world to become more sustainable while returning to the land. Through personal stories, the film will explore Hawaii’s post-plantation period, food security, education, and nutrition and ultimately demonstrate how everyone, from industrial farms to traditional taro farmers, must work together on these issues.

The film, which will air on PBS, is sponsored by The Hawaii Rural Development Council (HRDC), a statewide nonprofit organization committed to promoting and supporting the rural-based economic welfare of the state. Incorporated in 2003, the HRDC board of directors includes representatives from nonprofit and regional support organizations; federal, State, and county governments; private sector and community representatives; and Native Hawaiians. 

HRDC is also presenting “A Summit on Rural Hawaii: The Data, The Dilemmas, and the Opportunities,” which takes place on Friday, September 24 at the Ag Conference at Ko Olina. The summit will focus on four key issues: local food systems and food security, renewable energy, community economic development, and rural broadband service. HRDC, in collaboration with the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, recently completed a series of neighbor island meetings to obtain input from rural communities regarding these four issues. These initial listening sessions were conducted on Oahu, Hawaii, Maui, Kauai, and Molokai as a prelude to the summit.

With this collective information, HRDC will provide support for a national effort spearheaded by the Partners for Rural America (PRA) to infuse more resources into rural programs and policies. This effort was reinvigorated with the Obama administration and is a currently a key area of focus for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). 

At the local level, a primary goal of the HRDC and the Summit on Rural Hawaii will be the identification of rural programs, policy initiatives, and implementation plans that align with regional and federal priorities and resources.

Speakers include:

• Robin Danner, President & CEO, Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement—rural broadband
• Chris Kanazawa, State Director for USDA Rural Development for Hawaii and the Pacific Basin—rural economic development
• Leanne Okamoto & Kapoe Lewis, Hawaii Future Farmers of America—local food systems
• Jeff Mikulina, Executive Director, Blue Planet Foundation—alternative energy

Participants must register for the conference at http://www.hawaiiagconference.org/registration.htm by Friday, September 17. For more information, contact Matt Johnson at (808) 221-0921.