Logo of the Hawaiʻi Public Health Institute
The state’s farm-to-school program wants 30% of school meals to be locally sourced by 2030, but that goal lost momentum in the last school year.
In the 2023-24 school year, 5.43% of school meals came from local farms, according to the annual Department of Education farm-to-school report. This was a decrease from 6.14% from the previous school year.
State lawmakers hope to turn the farm-to-school initiative around with an array of proposed bills.
Kawika Kahiapo, farm-to-school program coordinator at the Hawaiʻi Public Health Institute, said the success of the program and a sustainable future are reliant on the general public.
“I honestly think the biggest change will be coming from regular community people, understanding the need and importance of agriculture independence for Hawaii, ” Kahiapo said. “Being able to grow our own food so that we can support our own eating habits here. I can talk to these people as much as I can until I’m red in the face, and I normally do. If that’s what our community wants, that’s what the legislators are, that’s the direction they should have to go into.”
HB 110, HB 1293, and SB 894 would align requirements for the farm-to-school program with farm-to-state programs, simplify the procurement process, and appropriate funds to expand DOE regional kitchens.
The bills hope to give a boost to the farm-to-school program in a state that imports roughly 90% of its food while clarifying and aligning goals between various state departments. By 2050, at least 50% of all food bought by these departments must be locally grown.
“We have a whole bunch of different types of growing environments where we can grow a bunch of different things and can grow on the mainland,” Kahiapo said. “Because of land and labor costs, you can pretty much grow anything that we grow here in Hawaii, someplace else for cheaper.”
The Hawaiʻi Department of Agriculture echoes this sentiment while acknowledging the goals may be attainable but the timeline may not. Deputy Director of Agriculture Dean Matsukawa said barriers include per-plate cost limits, knowledge of types and amounts of produce that are sought after, available land and water, and affordable capital for farmers.
“The goals are attainable but it may take more time than anticipated for proper infrastructure to be developed and for farmers to scale up production,” Matsukawa said.
The DOE report states that the decline in locally sourced food was due to inflation, decreased farm productivity caused by climate and pests, and the inclusion of daily foods in the newest report.
According to an article published in January by Honolulu Civil Beat, the DOE estimates it costs roughly $9 to produce a single school lunch. Right now, elementary and middle school students pay $2.50, while high school students pay $2.75. The state has proposed to increase those prices to $4.75 and $5.
“The public, legislators and farmers will have to work together to put fresh produce on the table not only for students but for the state,” Kahiapo said. “It’s really about creating an infrastructure for small farms working together to be able to produce large amounts of produce, unlike traditional, conventional ag farms now, where they all are monocrops that create these food deserts for insects and natural pests that we need.”