Issue Position: Food Security and Agriculture

Issue Position

"It's time to rebuild local agriculture to create jobs, boost our economy, and provide us a sustainable food supply."

The Agricultural Leadership Program

Industry leaders understand that a shift away from the traditional plantation-era model of agriculture is rapidly changing everything. Farmers, processors and distributors who hesitate to adapt are often finding themselves closer to failing than ever before. It is within this context that a new class of leaders from across the agriculture industry were selected for leadership training to help spearhead the change that must take place to grow Hawaii's agriculture industry in the 21st century. I am incredibly thankful to have been selected to participate.

Over the course of 16 months of seminars, meetings, and site visits to hundreds of local farms across all islands, I found that virtually everything I thought I knew about Hawaii agriculture from all the meetings and hearings at the State Capitol was different than the reality farmers face on the ground. Even with the best intentions, state policy isn't beginning to address the real issues underlying the challenges the agriculture industry faces. Instead, each year the state has been focused on putting out smaller fires rather than planning ahead responsibly. Talking to farm operators and seeing their challenges first-hand exposed a whole different set of issues that aren't even on the state's radar.

The most important experience was spending months getting to know a diverse array of industry leaders in the program so well that we could openly discuss some of the most controversial issues in agriculture, such as organic versus genetically modified food. At the State Capitol legislators are only exposed to the same tired arguments from opposing lobbyists paid to blindly argue one position -- which offers little substance and little real understanding of the intricacies of many complex issues. This program was a hands-on learning experience that has already proven itself invaluable. I am incredibly thankful to have had help from the Waimanalo Agriculture Association, who supported my application to join the 2010 Agricultural Leadership Program. The program has been run for decades by the Agricultural Leadership Foundation of Hawai"i in conjunction with the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, which recognizes that a healthy, thriving, sustainable agricultural sector is an important component of Hawai"i's future. Find our more about the Agricultural Leadership Foundation here.

Hawaii Food Security And Local Agriculture Goals

Hawaii has set targets for becoming energy independent which have been met with great success. One of the first things we can do to pursue food self-sufficiency and a rebirth of local agriculture is to establish targets for locally growing a rising percentage of the food we consume. These goals will allow state and county policies to be crafted with a broader goal in mind, and set a definitive timetable for achieving them.

In 2012 I introduced House Bill 2703, written by a collaboration of stakeholders including myself and people from the agriculture, distribution, environmental and government sectors. It established a goal of doubling local food production by 2020. 37 other Representatives signed on to co-sponsor the bill and it jump-started the conversation about prioritizing local food production with hundreds of people flocking to the State Capitol to testify in support. The following year we passed Senate Bill 237 which prioritized the purchase and consumption of locally grown food as a goal Hawaii must achieve. In the long run we are going to have to commit real resources to our local farmers and agricultural industry if we want to see it thrive. We will have to address the high cost of land, feed, availability of water, invasive species, and market reach. The state has the resources to do this, but we must keep this is a priority and commit the resources and effort to make it happen.

Founding The Local Food Caucus

It's amazing that in Hawaii we don't grow more of our own food. To jump-start progress I founded the Local Food Caucus together with Senator Russel Ruderman in 2014. This is Hawaii's first officially-recognized working group in the Legislature specifically focused on increasing local food production. In our first year we brought together local farmers and policy-makers to write some of the state's most aggressive legislation to push local agriculture forward. One of the measures discussed was modeled after groundbreaking New Mexico legislation that is creating a local market by mandating that state and county agencies purchase locally-grown food, helping local farmers find a market and expand their businesses to the benefit of everyone.

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