Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 26, Number 10, 1 October 2009 — FIELD OF DREAMS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FIELD OF DREAMS

MA'O goes organic on a larger scale By Liza Simon Public Affairs Specialist The acquisition of an 1 l-acre parcel by MA'O Organic Farms is part of a sustainability movement that has significance far beyond Wai'anae's Lualualei Valley, said managing director Gary Maunakea-Forth. Against this sun-baked backdrop, during a Sept. 17 ceremony to bless the addition of new 'āina that will more than triple the farm's acreage, Maunakea-Forth enthused to a gathering of neighbors, staff and nonprofit partners: "You are all part of this movement, so pat yourself on the back. In a nutshell, we are producing food while we are also growing new young leaders." Calling this a change to the "industrial agricultural model that Hawai'i and the Western world have followed for the last 150 years," he added, "We also mean to change the world - as cliched as that might sound." Not a eliehē at all, remarked Gov. Linda Lingle, one of several dignitaries who spoke at the occasion. "Never doubt that a small group of individuals ean change the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has," said Lingle, attributing her words to a quote from anthropologist Margaret Mead. The flurry of congratulatory speeches culminated 20 months of toil by MA'O staff to elean up the 1 1 acres that onee comprised the Takahashi 'ohana ehieken farm. The land is adjacent to the five-acre property leased by MA'O since 2002. The additional acreage is expected to quadruple MA'0's capacity to provide Leeward Coast residents with high-quality organic produce and to satisfy a rising demand by loeal distributors and restaurants throughout Hawai'i for the MA'O brand, said MaunakeaForth.

The increased productivity is also expected to be a boon to MA'0's educational program for high school graduates from the Leeward Coast, home to 0'ahu's largest concentration's of Native Hawaiians and also one of the isle's most economically depressed eommunities. MA'0's web site says it aims to improve the community's future by providing monthly stipends and Leeward Community College tuition waivers for up to 30 interns in exchange for their 20

hours of farm work a week. During a tour of the freshly cleared acreage, MA'O education specialist Kamuela Enos pointed out areas of the new parcel where interns will soon have a hand in cultivating everything ranging from corn to citrus fruits to sweet potatoes, whieh will find their way to loeal dinner tables - a sharp contrast, Enos said, to industrial monocropping that relies on fertilizers and chemicals and "artificially induces the land to grow beyond capacity so that the soil is ruined for the sake of produce exported thousands of miles away." Enos said that MA'0's interns, mostly Native Hawaiian and typically the first in their family to attend college, are often more comfortable working the land than sitting in a classroom. "They eome from families that understand the practices of traditional farming, whieh have a lot in eommon with organic farming. However, we want to create a skilled workforce so we use the farming to contextualize college, so that they will

want to continue to learn and be our leaders in the future," said Enos, adding that through LCC, MA'O now offers a certificate in sustainability. Already some program graduates have earned management positions at the Wai'anae farm, said Enos. MA'0's plans for the 1 1 acres include new classrooms and facilities for agritourism, product preparation and packing. In support of MA'0's land acquisition, OHA provided a grant to cover the cost of constructing new facilities, including a puhlie meeting space, from all natural and locally-sourced materials. OHA's previous support of MA'O programs include a $73,800 grant toward the intem program — MA'O Youth Leadership Training, and a grant for a MA'O conference on food security. "We face so many inter-related challenges in this community," said Enos, a Native Hawaiian who calls Wai'anae home. "We have poor heahh that is a function of poverty; poverty is a function of low education. Education is function of cultural dispossession. But what we've done through MA'O is to strengthen the assets already in the community," he said, referring to the proportionately large number of young adults in Wai'anae whose roots go back for generations in the onee predominately rural Leeward Coast. MA'O acquired the ll-acre parcel through a $737,300 grant from the State Legacy Land Conservation Fund, whieh is funded by a percentage of conveyance tax from real-estate transactions. The Tmst for Puhlie Land, whieh helped to create the land fund in 2005, assisted with the grant process. TPL also helped MA'O negotiate the real-estate transaction and resolve environmental issues to comply with state regulations. A $750,000 grant from the Pierre and Pamela Omidyar Fund through the Hawai'i Community Foundation helped create this first permanent land base for MA'O. The acronym stands for māla 'ai 'ōpio, 'ōlelo Hawai'i for "youth food garden." The organization was originally formed by the Wai'anae Community Re-development Corporation. ■

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At the dedication of an expanded MA'O farms, exchange of ho'okupu took plaee between student interns led by MA'O educator Malia Morales (third from left) and puhlie officials on right: Kevin Chang of 0HA's Land Management Hale, Kāwika Burgess and Lea Hong from the Trust for Puhlie Land. and Gov. Linda Linale. - Photos: Liza Simon

The MA'O movement to bring sustainability to Wai'anae includes MA'O farms edueahonal specialist Kukui Enos and MA'O farms founder Kukui Maunakea-Forth.