Hawaiʻi Agriculture Conference 2022 Takeaways

Last month I attended the Hawaiʻi Agriculture Conference and here were my major takeaways from the event:

What can the State of Hawaiʻi do to help local agriculture? Increasing local food production has been discussed for the past 20 years but a roadmap or strategic plan for success is missing. We must call out our politicians and challenge their claims at increasing local food supply when we aren't seeing any real plans or actions taking place.

Collaboration is key for our local food system to thrive. Existing food hub and food cooperative models must stabilize before we try to replicate them.

We must listen to indigenous knowledge and people. Not only did the Native Hawaiians support a population of up to 1 million pre-colonization, they also thrived spiritually and artistically.

How do we encourage more children to take an interest in local agriculture and indigenous food production? The Farm-to-School movement has been doing a great job at exposing our youth to growing their own food and to aloha ʻaina (loving and taking care of the land). However, this exposure to ʻaina in our schools is not enough. I agree with a fellow speaker at the conference who said it is our kuleana (responsibility) to start teaching our keiki these cultural connections at home. Pictured above is a group of us who spoke about our farmer education and why we sought out careers in agriculture. Hearing and seeing other young people passionate about agriculture is another essential driving force to inspiring the future generation.

My biggest takeaway from the conference: despite a long list of issues discussed at the conference, we have passionate and dedicated leaders in our agricultural community working TOGETHER to fight for change! (One of the reasons the ahupuaʻa system was so successful was because everyone, from the mountain to the sea, worked together.)