Introduction
Despite Hawai'i's plentiful agricultural land and year-round growing conditions, we still import more than 85% of our food and have less than a 7-day supply of food in stores at any given time. Many Hawai‘i residents are concerned about community food security due to our food distribution system’s vulnerability to major economic disruptions and environmental disasters. Parallel problems include:
- low availability and high price of locally grown food in markets and restaurants
- stagnation of the local agricultural economy due to cheap imports
- increasingly questionable food safety from imported foods of nearly untraceable origin
- poor nutrition due to overconsumption of cheap processed foods
- skyrocketing medical costs due to nutrition related non-communicable diseases
This project will
- educate community and school groups about our food security, local agricultural production, diversifying farm and garden markets, and nutrition and what we can do to improve them;
- research and demonstrate the feasibility of providing most of a family’s nutritional needs and partial or full income without reliance on imported fertilizer, chemicals, or other inputs; and
- produce a manual for import-free homegrown food abundance for consumption and sale in Hawai'i.
Above photo: More than 85% of Hawai'i's food is imported and distributed by retail outlets such as supermarkets, buying warehouses, and health food stores such as this one in Honolulu. Retail outlets are not in the business of food security and it is well beyond their capacity to provide food during economic and environmental disasters.
Above photo: Throughout Hawai'i people are heavily dependent on a distribution system that imports food and other materials from thousands of miles away. Most people don't grow much food at home, and some subdivisions, such as this one in Kailua-Kona, even disallow fruit trees.
Food security presentations
The project began in March 2008 with presentations for community groups and school classes. Craig Elevitch has given talks at over 15 venues on O‘ahu, Maui, Kaua‘i, and Hawai‘i islands about small-scale food production built on a foundation of traditional Hawai‘i foods and agricultural practices. Audiences include homeowners, students, teachers, gardeners, and farmers. The presentations serve to:
• engage the community in conversations about Hawai‘i’s food security
• present ways each individual can take control of their own food security
• teach methods of growing food without imported inputs
• excite people about growing food for themselves and their community.
The presentation schedule is posted to the Agroforestry.Net events page.
Above photo: Audience of over 100 people in attendance at Craig Elevitch's presentation about food self-reliance that took place at the Kona Outdoor Circle, in Kona, Hawai'i, June 2008. Craig continues to schedule these presentations throughout Hawai'i.
Food security research and demonstration
The project will have five sites of varying sizes in different ecozones to maximize the breadth of useful information produced. Several candidate sites have been proposed by landowners--the final five have yet to be determined. Any Hawai‘i resident who would like to participate is welcome to apply as a formal study site, with the final site selections to be determined based on location and capacity of the landowners.
As one of the research and demonstration sites, the Project Coordinator and Project Advisors are planning to convert a 1/4 acre to an abundant food-producing home garden without imported inputs. The plot is located at Hawaiki Agroforestry Project, a research and demonstration site in Holualoa, on Hawai'i island. Techniques adapted from traditional Hawaiian, low-input sustainable, organic, and biointensive agriculture will be employed to create a garden will have a large percentage of low-maintenance perennial vegetables, fruits, and nuts, and sufficient nutrition to fill most of the requirements of a small family and produce surpluses that can be exchanged or sold locally.
On all five sites, activities will be carefully documented throughout a 1-year period. Production of organic matter and quantity of food produced and consumed will be measured. The nutritional quantity and quality of all produced food will be calculated, as will the commercial value of the food produced. This data and other observations will be published as part of a manual for Homegrown Food Abundance in Hawai‘i.
Above photo: On one of five research and demonstration sites, the project will transform this 1/4 acre area of lawn and ornamentals into a perennial homegarden capable of providing most of the nutritional needs of a small family - without imported inputs of fertilizer, chemicals, or fuel. Others are invited to participate by undertaking a similar project on their land--five locations in all will be involved in parallel projects involving food for home use, community barter, and commerce.
Above photo: Many vendors at locally-grown-only markets such as this one in Keauhou, Kona, sell surplus produce from their gardens or farming operations. Homegrown food abundance is a time-tested springboard for local food exchange and commerce.
Media and outreach
The project web site will provide free access to much of the project’s inner workings such as the five research and demonstration management plans and data collected on food produced and labor invested, as well as other project publications. A progress web blog with photographs and production data will be published at least biweekly. A monthly “Hawai‘i Island Homegrown Food Abundance” column will be published in local newspapers for one year in order to reach a wide local audience. Finally, with contributions from the Project Advisors and research and demonstration participants, the project will publish a manual for growing food on Hawai‘i island without relying on imported inputs, available as a PDF file for free download.
For media inquiries, please contact: Craig Elevitch, Agroforestry Net, PO Box 428, Holualoa, HI 96725; E-mail: craig@agroforestry.net
Above photo: Media and outreach is an integral part of the project. The purpose of the project is to educate Hawai'i's communities about sustainable and locally appropriate food production systems that do not rely on imported fertilizer, fuel, and chemicals. In this photo, Craig Elevitch speaks about food security at the Hawai'i Island Seed Exchange, June 2008.
Project coordinator
The project is coordinated by Craig Elevitch, Director of Agroforestry Net, a 501c3 nonprofit educational organization dedicated to empowering people in food security, agroforestry and resource management. The organization’s internationally recognized publications have guided thousands of readers in becoming more proficient in ecological food production, agroforestry, and reforestation. Craig has published a monthly agroforestry journal with 8,000 subscribers in 185 countries on a volunteer basis since 1998.
He lead the Traditional Tree Initiative (2002–06), a project to educate extension agents, farmers, ranchers and landowners about native and traditional trees of the Pacific. He has coordinated numerous workshops and field days in gardening, sustainable agriculture, and agroforestry, with over 1,700 farmers and resource professionals participating since 1993, including the Hawai‘i Island Homegrown: Food Self-Reliance Workshops in 2008–09, with over 200 participants and 28 speakers.
His books include Agroforestry Guides for Pacific Islands (2000), The Overstory Book: Cultivating Connections with Trees (2004), Traditional Trees of Pacific Islands: Their Culture, Environment, and Use (2006), and Specialty Crops of Pacific Islands (2011), all of which promote diverse agricultural systems that produce abundant food. One of his most recent publications, Pathways to Abundant Gardens: A Pictorial Guide to Successful Organic Growing (2007), highlights Hawai'i Island gardeners and their vibrant, bountiful, and sustainable food gardens. He has just completed the free publication Hawai‘i Island Homegrown: Start-up guide for an organic self-reliance garden, a publication of the Hawai‘i County Resource Center.
Craig currently co-directs the Hawai‘i Homegrown Food Network whose mission is to build and support a new food paradigm in Hawai‘i based on a thriving community network of producers, sellers, educators, and consumers dedicated to a sustainable and diverse local food economy.
Project advisors
Amanda Rieux, teacher at Mala ‘Ai Culinary Garden at Waimea Middle School
Andrea Dean, project manager, How Hawaii Eats, Kapa‘au
Bruce Mathews, professor of Soil Science, UH Hilo
Deborah Ward, retired UH CTAHR extension agent and farmer, Kea‘au
Geoff Rauch, director of Know Your Farmer Alliance and farmer, Kapoho
Hector Valenzuela, vegetable crops extension specialist, UH Manoa
Jerry Konanui, mala 'ai and educator, Pahoa
Joe Kassel, naturopathic physician and farmer, Holualoa
Ken Love, tropical fruit horticulture and marketing specialist, Captain Cook
Lyn Howe, director of Know Your Farmer Alliance and farmer, Kapoho
Mary Lynn Garner, Konawaena High School teacher and farmer, Kealakekua
Nancy Miller, marketing specialist and manager of Keauhou Farmers’ Market
Roen & Ken Hufford, Honopua Farm, managers, Hawaiian Homestead Farmers Market, Waimea
Ted Radovich, crop specialist, Sustainable Farming Systems Laboratory, UH Manoa
Above photo: It takes a community to grow food security. Everyone has to be fed, no one left behind. Here, students at Mala ‘Ai Culinary Garden at Waimea Middle School play a game that teaches collaboration.
Sponsorship opportunities
Community benefits
- empowers people to be in control of their own food security
- boosts availability of locally grown food for local sale or export.
- reduces out-of-pocket expenses for imported food
- increases dietary intake of fresher, more nutritious food compared with imported
- decreases the impact of spiraling fuel costs, which impacts both the cost of food as well as shipping costs to Hawai'i
Volunteer opportunities
The Hawai‘i Homegrown Food Abundance project welcomes individuals interested in contributing to and learning from the project. Please contact the project coordinator for more information.
Co-sponsorship
The educational publications and media outreach will generate community goodwill for sponsors and expand the sponsors' ongoing educational activities. Sponsorship benefits include:
- High-visibility acknowledgment on educational and outreach materials
- Wide exposure in print, CD, e-mail and internet
- Demonstration of sponsoring organizations’ ongoing commitment to community food security
Please contact the project coordinator for more information:
Craig Elevitch
Director
Agroforestry Net
P.O. Box 428
Holualoa, HI 96725 USA
E-mail: craig@agroforestry.net
For information about food security on Hawai'i Island, visit the
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