Hawaii Food and Farmers Series
Madre Chocolate has a quest to make truly amazing chocolate and they are driven by a passion to inspire greater appreciation among consumers for the rich cultural heritage and ecological diversity surrounding cacao. They aim for their selection of organic, fair trade chocolate bars to connect chocolate-eaters directly to the source, and in doing so […]
Ag Research and Renaissance in the Kunia Corridor
Founded in 1895, the Hawaiian Sugar Planters’ Association (HSPA), dedicated to improving the sugar industry in Hawaii, has become an internationally recognized research center. Its name change in 1996 to Hawaii Agriculture Research Center (HARC) reflects its expanding scope to encompass research in forestry, coffee, forage, vegetable crops, tropical fruits, and many other diversified crops […]
Agrofood Initiatives.. What’s the Point?
Mary Mostafanezhad and Eli Litzelman of the University of Hawaii’s Department of Geography, along with Dr. Krisna Suryanata, collaborate on a research project that examines the proliferation of agro-food initiatives (AFIs) in Hawai‘i. Through this research, they ask: How and to what extent do AFI participants contribute to the viability of local agriculture economies in […]
Can Conservation and Agriculture Co-exist?
Conservation and agriculture sometimes conflict with each other, however they can actually work very well together! The Soil and Water Conservation Districts are local units of government established under State law to carry out natural resource management programs at the local level. Districts work with millions of cooperating landowners and operators to help them manage […]
Organic Certification and Education
Oregon Tilth is a leading nonprofit certifier, educator and advocate for organic agriculture and products since 1974. Their mission is to make our food system and agriculture biologically sound and socially equitable. Their work focuses on certification, conservation, social equity, policy and the marketplace. Diane Hennelly is a Senior Certification Officer and Inspector at Tilth […]
Little Tomatoes, Big Ambitions – Little Tomato Farms
Robert and Tasha Wilson are graduates from the second cohort of the GoFarm Hawaii Program. They founded Little Tomato Farms and lease land from Kamehameha Schools within the Punalu’u Ahupua’a Farms. Robert and Tasha serve on the Board of the Friends with Farms Cooperative. Today we will hear from Robert and Tasha how their two […]
Food Stamps in Farmer’s Markets – Everybody Wins!
The GreenWheel Food Hub helps Hawaii’s low-income residents to gain better access to fresh, locally-grown fruits and vegetables by creating a space to accept SNAP/EBT at local farmer’s markets. Nanette Geller shares with us how supporting farmer’s markets benefits local farmers and the community, as well as how some of the farmer’s markets across the […]
The Next Generation of Growers with Sam Durham
Sam Durham, Environmental Science and Agriculture Coordinator at the Asia Pacific International School, shares his experiences as a young non-traditional farmer through the lens of building a farm education program from scratch as well as his own personal farm. We will explore the value of garden education programs as well as challenges and resources for […]
The Role of the Extension Specialist with Hector Valenzuela PhD
At the University of Hawaii, the extension Specialist develops applied educational programs on a statewide level, and supports/interacts with extension agents who are based on the different islands. Hector Valenzuela, Ph.D. will give us more detail on the overall role of Extension (Specialists and agents) as part of the Univ. of Hawaii in terms of […]
Nutritious Knowledge – Agricultural Literacy with ”Aina in Schools
ʻĀINA In Schools is a farm to school initiative of Kōkua Hawaiʻi Foundation launched in 2006 that connects children to their local land, waters, and food to grow a healthier Hawaiʻi. In addition to encouraging the use of locally grown fruits and vegetables in school meals and snacks, the program includes a standards-based nutrition, garden, and compost […]